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Graduates can plan a career in media, public relations, journalism or advertising companies with skills adaptable to many environments.
This combined degree ensures that your future work appeals to the right target audience.
Study options
FULL TIME
4 years
PART TIME
8 years
Start times
Spring
July
(2023)
Autumn
March
(2024)
Available campuses
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Communication and Creative Industries at Western
The Bachelor of Communication component covers all areas of creative communication, enabling you to understand how your field of study is connected to other disciplines.
The Creative Industries degree partners with creative industries to provide an interdisciplinary, experiential degree that combines a core of entrepreneurship with major studies including culture and society, creative writing, design, enterprise innovation, journalism, literature, media arts, music performance and photo media.
The program is designed for those who wish to pursue a creative practice while gaining the business and legal acumen to become a successful part of the creative economy on their own terms.
Program structure
The program structure is outlined in our handbook. Here you can view all of the subjects you will be studying.
The Advertising major gives students a thorough grounding in general principles of communication as well as practical skills in advertising.
The major offers a balance of advertising theory and practice and focuses on real, project-based outcomes.
Areas of study include advertising strategy, advertising creative and art direction, client and account management, digital and social media contexts, advertising campaigns.
The Journalism major combines an understanding of how the news media work with practical experience in broadcast, print and online journalism.
Students develop journalism skills suitable for newspapers, magazines, internet, radio and TV, corporate and community media.
The major in Media Arts Production is designed to provide students with production skills, complete with practical hands-on experience together with a theoretical foundation in the moving, visual media.
From 2017 this specialisation is available on Parramatta campus only.
The Public Relations major covers the skills and knowledge required in the profession of public relations, including event management, issues and crisis management and campaign development.
The major focuses on the role of the public relations practitioner or adviser and provides a theoretical framework of the industry. Students engage with both theory and practical projects and complete an internship placement.
The Creative Writing major provides students the opportunity to produce their own creative writing and to edit and publish their work.
Students study with professional authors, editors and publishers from the Writing and Society Research Centre and staff from the School of Humanities and Communication Arts.
In addition, students have the opportunity to study contemporary approaches to language and literary studies, including literary criticism and theory, linguistic analysis, genre and textual study, and to read and examine a wide selection of modern and classic literatures.
Cultural and Social Analysis is an interdisciplinary major developing knowledge, research skills and analytic capacities relevant to understanding and interpreting landscapes of cultural diversity and social difference in our contemporary world, both in terms of the broad contours, as well as specific micro-social environments.
This major provides grounding in contemporary debates and methodologies in cultural studies and social theory, and draws on various disciplines including history, sociology, communications, and linguistics.
Topics include popular culture, everyday urban life, cultural and social impacts of scientific theories and new technologies, multiculturalism, and contemporary spirituality.
Study in this area is relevant for work involving commentary and analysis of contemporary social issues and cultural practices (e.g. journalism, teaching, activism) and fields concerned with designing, delivering and evaluating cultural and artistic productions, and education, communication, welfare or health services, in culturally diverse communities.
The Digital Cultures Major offers students the opportunity to learn about how cutting edge technology and digital practices are changing society.
By analysing new media, visual arts, and digital design and the effects that the use of these new technologies have on culture and society, students will gain the necessary skills to position themselves for careers in a wide variety of contexts that require understanding of technology or digital media and its impact.
Complementing these analytical skills, students will also gain practical skills in the creation of digital media and design.
The English major invites students to explore contemporary approaches to language, literary study and writing, including literary criticism and theory, linguistic analysis, genre and textual study, and creative writing.
The English major focuses on the imaginative workings of language, and students can study a wide selection of modern and classic literature, as well as the relationships between written texts and other media such as film and information technology.
Students also have the opportunity to produce their own creative writing and to edit and publish their work. Career prospects include publishing, editing, teaching, writing and advertising.
The Enterprise Innovation major equips you with the expert skills to create a career as a management specialist.
You will be prepared to succeed in a range of roles in contemporary private, public, and not-for-profit organisations in Australia and abroad. In this major you will develop strategic management knowledge to enable effective organisational decision making.
The units in this major focus on organisational learning and development and behaviour, operations management, leadership and entrepreneurship, change and innovation, and policy. You can look forward to a range of careers in the broad and complex field of management.
The Graphic Design major provides students from outside the Design program with a comprehensive introduction to fundamental skills and knowledge in graphic design.
The major is delivered through a series of practice-based and theoretical units and you will study areas such as image design, contextual design studies, web design and branding.
In addition, you will have the opportunity to choose a practice-based specialisation from the areas of interactive design; digital design; illustration; and photomedia.
The Law and the Creative Industries major equips you with specialised legal skills and knowledge to support your career in the creative industries in Australia.
In this major you will develop tailored, strategic knowledge to enable you to effectively contribute to business decision making and to appreciate the legal and regulatory challenges within the context of creative and innovative enterprises.
The units in this major focus on the fundamentals of Australian law, critique and analysis of law, contracts, torts, alternative dispute resolution and media law, with the option to also incorporate studies in competition and consumer law, intellectual property and law within the employment context.
The legal and regulatory focus of this major will provide you with specialised knowledge and skills designed to enhance your access to a range of careers within the creative industries sector.
Students are advised that this specialisation does not qualify students for admission to legal practice in NSW. Students wishing to pursue a career in legal practice should apply for one of the relevant Bachelor of Laws courses. For further information, please contact the Academic Course Advisor for the Bachelor of Laws as noted below.
The Music major provides students from outside the Music program with a comprehensive introduction to current practice in the fields of music, performance and sound production for sound design, composition and performance.
Foundation level units examine the fundamentals of music performance, acoustics, stereo recording and mixing, MIDI systems and sequencing, sound synthesis, and composition utilising environmental sound.
Technical concepts are contextualised within a survey of electroacoustic music and sonic arts practice.
Students will also examine studio techniques, new performance technologies, and composition and design for screen media.
Fees and delivery
Fees: Varies depending on subjects selected. View available subjects in our handbook.
For further information on University fees, please visit Fees and University Costs.
Delivery: On campus
Fees: AUD $29,488*
Delivery: On campus
Start your unlimited journey today.
Your career
As a Communication and Creative Industries graduate, you can look forward to career opportunities in:
- Creative Writing
- Advertising
- Music Performance
- Photo Journalism
- Social Media Management
- Graphic Design
Your career
Advertising Professional
Advertising Professionals develop and coordinate advertising strategies and campaigns, determine the market for new goods and services, and identify and develop market opportunities for new and existing goods and services.
Graphic Designer
Graphic and Illustrators design information for visual and audio communication, publication and display using print, film, electronic, digital and other forms of visual and audio media.
Media Producer
Media Producers plan, administer and review activities concerned with producing artistic media and determine artistic policies for performing arts organisations.
Writer
Authors, and Book and Script Editors write, edit and evaluate literary works for publication and scripts for film, television, radio and stage productions.
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Facilities
Explore your potential in our $2 million, purpose-built media studio and industry-recognised television production unit at Parramatta South campus.
Industry partnerships
Semi Permanent is a global design platform that connects leading creators andthought-leaders, with brands and audiences - across live events, content and aspecial projects. Through this partnership, Western Sydney University students are able to access, learn from and be inspired by global leaders in the creativeand business worlds.
Apply now and start your unlimited journey.
*The tuition fees quoted above are the fees for the normal full-time study load of the program (80 credit points) per annum. International students will be subject to a variable fee regime; i.e. enrolled students will be required to pay fees during their program based on the approved fee for each calendar year. Fee changes (if any) will occur at 1 January each calendar year. Students who extend their program past the normal finish date of the program will be required to pay additional fees based on the prevailing fee level. Western Sydney University is a multi-campus institution. The University reserves the right to alter the location of its programs between campuses and other locations as necessary. Students should be aware of the possibility of change of location for the whole or part of programs for which they enrol and should plan for the need to travel between Western Sydney campuses.
