The objectives of the Bachelor of Arts degree are at present under review. The teaching and learning objectives set out below should be regarded as an interim statement.
The broad teaching and learning objectives of the Monash BA degree ask of students that they satisfy the requirements of study within some elements of the very wide range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences offered by the faculty, and of some disciplines offered by other faculties. In the process of satisfying these requirements, students are enjoined to grasp the very special opportunity provided by the BA to open their horizons of understanding and imagination to the many new materials, ideas and values with which they will be confronted.
Graduates in arts are expected to have:
* come to a self-conscious understanding of the present interpretations and (in the case of honours students) future likelihoods of the major issues underlying the content of and approaches to the disciplines they study;
* developed the intellectual capabilities inherent in reading and interpretation, written argument, quantitive analysis, qualitative critique and creative thinking required of scholarship and practice in various humanities, arts and social science disciplines;
* mastered the practical skills (including computing skills and those of oral presentation) determined by the various departments and centres as necessary to operating in the student's chosen spheres of study and interest;
* become aware of the kinds of personal and cultural understanding, ethical attitudes and, where appropriate, physical and aesthetic appreciations that underpin the traditional liberal education provided by the faculty;
* demonstrated the flexibility needed to apply these studies in the rapidly changing circumstances of intellectual life and the world of the professions they are likely to inhabit.
Graduates with a Bachelor of Arts degree are expected to be able to pursue further formal learning and to apply their understanding, no matter their walk of life or wherever in the world they choose to study or work.
Under the present regulations, students in the faculty are given a wide variety of paths by which they can achieve the objectives set out above. This breadth constitutes one of the great strengths of the Monash BA, which offers the largest range of humanities, social science, creative and performing arts courses of any university in Australia.
The teaching of all disciplines is structured in such a way that, in general, students find they are led from an elementary appreciation of the objectives set out above in their first year to a relatively sophisticated understanding by the third year. Honours students, in fourth year, will begin to test themselves on the possibility that they may make a certain original contribution to the learning and scholarship of their chosen discipline or combination of disciplines.
Not all disciplines, however, work in exactly the same way. Some - especially languages and creative arts - build on skills and abilities incrementally acquired over the years of the degree, and are quite tightly structured and layered. After the first year, others will revisit similar texts or issues, asking more of students' understanding and critical ability on each encounter. Students are sometimes likely to find themselves in a class with both second and third-year students, or third and fourth-year students. In such a situation, they will discover that the third or fourth-year students will be expected to show a deeper understanding and an ability to discuss more extensively the literature on the topic.
Requirements for the BA degree
Prerequisite
Applicants to the faculty must satisfactorily complete the Victorian Certificate of Education (or its equivalent) by obtaining a grade average of C in units 3 and 4 of English (grade average of D for BA/BTeach; grade average of B for BA/LLB), and a grade average of D in at least three other studies. Interstate and overseas applicants must complete a qualification regarded as comparable to the VCE. Those who have completed Year 12 in Victoria are no longer required to have a pass in a foreign language or in a branch of mathematics at VCE level. However, those who have passed in one or more VCE foreign language subjects automatically receive a bonus of four points of score on their aggregate scores. The Faculty of Arts has one of the most liberal policies regarding the VCE and will accept any approved study to be counted in a student's `best four' subjects used to calculate the score for university entry. Students in the middle band should note, however, that consideration will be given to performance in English and the best other humanities/social sciences results, and the full range of the applicant's VCE studies and results.
Course structure
The various courses of study leading to the degree are defined in terms of disciplines, interdisciplinary programs, subjects and sequences. A discipline for the purpose of these regulations is an area of study normally taught by a department. An interdisciplinary program is also an area of study, normally involving related subjects from different disciplines and controlled by a centre. A subject is a prescribed amount of work extending over a semester at a certain year level within a discipline or interdisciplinary program.
The disciplines from which students may select subjects for inclusion in an arts degree are not confined to those taught by departments within the Faculty of Arts. The disciplines from which, within certain limitations, subjects may be chosen are shown in the lists included in the section `Availability of subjects in 1995' in this handbook. In most disciplines there is more than one subject at a given level. A student must spread first-year work over at least three disciplines.
The value of a subject is expressed in points and a normal year's work by a full-time student is valued at forty-eight points.
Major, minor and first-year sequences may be completed within a discipline or in an interdisciplinary program. The current list of approved disciplines and interdisciplinary programs which have these sequences is as follows:
Disciplinary majors or minors
(Subjects marked with an `(A)' are those included in the Arts list of subjects): ancient Greek (A); ancient history (A); anthropology (A); applied mathematics; applied statistics (A)*; archaeology (A); art history and theory (A); biochemistry; botany; Cambodian (Khmer) (A); chemistry; Chinese (A); cinema studies (A); classical civilisation (A); comparative literature and cultural studies (A); comparative sociology (A); computer science; earth sciences; econometrics; economics; economic history; English (A); English in use (A); film and television studies (A); French (A); genetics; geography (A); German (A); Hindi (A); history (A); Indonesian and Malay (A); Italian (A); Japanese (A); Jewish civilisation (A); Korean (A); Latin (A); linguistics (A); management; mathematical statistics; microbiology; Modern Greek (A); Music (A); philosophy (A); physics; physiology; police studies; politics (A); psychology (A)+; pure mathematics; Russian (A); Sanskrit (A); Slavic languages (A); sociology (A); Spanish (A); Thai and Lao (A); Ukrainian (A); Vietnamese (A); visual arts (A); zoology.
* First two years = (A)
+ Students majoring in psychology must complete an additional major in a discipline marked `(A)'.
Interdisciplinary majors or minors
American studies (A); Chinese studies (A); drama and theatre studies (A); economic studies; environmental science (A); European studies (A); Greek studies (A); Indonesian studies (A); Japanese studies (A); Koorie studies (A); Korean studies (A); religious studies (A); Russian studies (A); Thai studies (A); women's studies (A).
A first-year sequence is a pair of first-year level subjects specified in the outline of studies as the first part of a major or minor sequence in a discipline or from an interdisciplinary program.
A minor sequence shall comprise two successive parts, being either a first-year sequence followed by a second part comprising second-year level subjects totalling at least sixteen points, or second-year level subjects totalling at least sixteen points followed by a second part comprising third-year level subjects totalling at least twelve points.
A major sequence shall comprise three successive parts, the first part being a first-year sequence, the second part comprising second-year level subjects totalling at least sixteen points and the third part comprising third-year level subjects totalling at least sixteen points, provided that the second and third parts shall jointly total at least forty points.
To ensure both depth and breadth in a program of studies a candidate for the degree is expected to include in the course subjects to a total of at least 144 but not more than 162 points including:
(1) a minimum of eight and a maximum of ten subjects taken at first-year level;
(2) first-year sequences in at least three different disciplines, or interdisciplinary areas, including at least three from List A (I);
(3) not more than two first-year level subjects that do not form part of a first-year sequence;
(4) a subject in computer literacy which can be satisfied by completing a course conducted by the Computer Centre or by demonstrating to the faculty that the necessary computer skills have already been acquired; and
(5) such additional subjects at the second and third-year levels as are required to complete a major sequence in an `Arts' discipline and a minor sequence in another `Arts' discipline.
To satisfy the requirements of the degree, students must complete at least 92 points of work in disciplines included in List A (I) in this handbook. This work must take the form of at least a major sequence, a minor sequence and an additional first-year sequence.
The course of study must be completed over not less than three years and normally not more than eight years.