A Message from the Dean
UNSW is a progressive university that engages, in a practical way, with key contemporary social issues. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences shares that worldly ethos. It informs our teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and it is reflected in our research and scholarship.
As an undergraduate student, you will not only mix with students from across Australia and around the world in lecture theatres and seminar rooms. You are just as likely to find yourself designing Websites in computer labs, learning a foreign language in our language laboratories, extending your creative and performance talents in music practice rooms or dance studios, or out in schools and workplaces gathering experience of some of the careers you might pursue.
There is an atmosphere of change and progress in the Faculty, as we have been rethinking many of our programs and adapting them to your needs and ambitions in the twenty-first century. The UNSW Bachelor of Arts now offers an exciting range of topics and disciplines to study, but the degree is now more systematically organised around the skills and knowledge that you will need to succeed in a rapidly changing world of work. You will develop the capacity for critical thinking, logical argument, effective communication and targeted research. Still firmly grounded in the traditional Humanities and Social Science disciplines, the UNSW BA allows you to test out the application of the disciplines to pressing topics, such as environmental management, global development, international relations and the media. We particularly encourage you to study a foreign language as preparation for life in a globalised world, and a global economy. Among our more specialist degrees are the Bachelor of International Studies, three Bachelor of Media programs, and professional programs in teaching and social work.
As a postgraduate coursework student, you may well be looking to enhance your professional skills and qualifications, or to prepare for a change of career. Study at this level, again, combines rigorous academic standards with contemporary social engagement. In 2010, we introduce new programs in Public Relations and Advertising, Educational Leadership, and University Learning and Teaching. These join existing offerings that include Interpreting and Translation, Journalism and Communication, Social Development, Couple and Family Therapy, and Policy Studies.
As a Higher Degree Research student, you will be developing not only research and professional skills, but also a level of broad intellectual sophistication that is increasingly prized by employers in industry, the public sector, not-for-profit organisations, and education.
Among our Faculty members, you will meet scholars who are established leaders in their fields, and also the best and brightest of a rising generation of teachers and researchers. The distinctiveness worldliness of the UNSW Faculty is again evident from the focus of our research centres. They include the Social Policy Research Centre, the National Centre for HIV Social Research, the Journalism and Media Research Centre, the Centre for Refugee Research, and the Creative Practice and Research Unit.
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UNSW is a vibrant community of scholars and students, buzzing with challenging ideas and focused activity. We are supported by an outstanding team of professional and technical staff, who will ensure that you receive a high level of service and support. As Dean, I am happy to welcome you to the Faculty!
