Major structure
Overview
Your course structure
The Bachelor of Arts requires the successful completion of 24 subjects (300-points), including at least one major. Most students study eight subjects each year (usually four subjects in each semester) for three years full-time, or the part-time equivalent.
Most Arts majors require 100 points of study (usually eight subjects) for attainment. This means out of your 300-point program, you have the opportunity to achieve two majors in your course.
COMPLETING YOUR MAJOR
If you are taking Media and Communications as a major, you must complete:
- One Level 1 subject and one Arts Foundation subject
- 37.5 points (usually three subjects) of level 2 elective subjects
- 25 points (usually two subjects) of level 3 elective subjects and
- One level 3 capstone subject
If you are taking Media and Communications as a minor, you must complete:
- One level 1 subject and one Arts Foundation subject
- 25 points (usually two subjects) of level 2 elective subjects (usually at second year)
- 25 points (usually two subjects) of level 3 elective subjects (usually at third year)
BREADTH STUDIES
Breadth is a unique feature of the Melbourne curriculum. It gives you the chance to explore subjects outside of arts, developing new perspectives and learning to collaborate with others who have different strengths and interests — just as you will in your future career.
Some of our students use breadth to explore creative interests or topics they have always been curious about. Others used breadth to improve their career prospects by complementing their major with a language, communication skills or business expertise.
Ashleigh Barraclough
Ashleigh Barraclough is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Media and Communications.
Media and Communications has given me a good background knowledge for journalism. It has raised a lot of broad questions about the meaning of journalism, reporting, and the media within democracy and has raised lot of background questions on ethics.
I started working at Farrago (the student publication of the University of Melbourne) as a campus reporter, and the following year became the editor. Working at Farrago I get to put both publishing and journalism into practice.
I was actually in a Media and Communications class, called Introduction to Media Writing, when the editors came in and were talking about all of the different positions they had on offer at Farrago the following semester. The campus reporter role appealed to me as a quite journalistic role, where I could put what I was learning in the classroom into practice, and would have an editor keeping me accountable!
A couple of the more practical journalism subjects in the course include Introduction to Media Writing, a first year subject, that offers a really good way to gauge how to write in many different genres. And then there’s Text and Audio Journalism in second year - a very practical subject that includes digital and mobile journalism.
Explore this major
Explore the subjects you could choose as part of this major.