The Faculty of Arts at Monash University is one of the largest, most diverse and dynamic arts faculties in Australia. We deliver arts programs across six campuses: Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland, Malaysia and South Africa. Our courses are increasingly available via off-campus learning over the internet. We also offer intensive units at our Monash Prato Centre in Italy that students can take as part of their degree.
Our offerings include a broad range of humanities, languages and social sciences, from history to human rights, Japanese to journalism, and philosophy to politics. Courses offered range from undergraduate diplomas and degrees, through to postgraduate coursework and research degrees. Monash Arts is justly proud of the research capacity of its staff. Our lecturers are working at the cutting edge of scholarship in their fields, and they carry their expertise and their enthusiasm into their teaching.
The Faculty of Arts is composed of eight schools as well as a number of centres, including:
Visit the faculty website for more information about arts at Monash.
The faculty has administrative offices on the Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton and Gippsland campuses, as well as contact staff on the Sunway and South Africa campuses. Students are encouraged to visit or contact these offices if they require assistance with any matter relating to their studies with the faculty. Contact details and location information for all campuses is available on the faculty website.
Information on course structure, unit choices and an online progression check request facility are available in the Course and unit information section of the Arts faculty website. Students are strongly encouraged to seek advice regarding any problems they experience with studies or workload. The faculty has experienced course progression advisers who can assist students with all administrative inquiries or direct them to the correct service for academic difficulties. At most times during the year, students who wish to speak with a faculty course adviser will need to make an appointment; students should come to these interviews as prepared as possible. Refer to the faculty website for details on how to make an appointment with a faculty course adviser, or follow the link in your my.monash portal. Students should observe the relevant course requirements listed in this handbook to avoid getting into course-related difficulties, which might result in a delay in completing their course.
The faculty provides services and resources to those who want to improve their academic learning skills, including the quality of their academic English and approaches to study, at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, through the Arts Academic Language and Learning Unit (AALLU). Assistance is offered in such areas as oral communication and presentation, reading, study and exam preparation, effective listening and note-taking in lectures and seminars, analysis, problem-solving and critical thinking, and academic essay, report and thesis writing.
Contact: Caulfield +61 3 9903 1196; Clayton +61 3 9905 5069; or visit the AALLU website.
Having a mentor/buddy as you start your university journey can be a big help. The Arts Peers Ambassadors Leaders (PAL) program matches you with a senior Arts student who will help you find your feet as you begin your studies. Your mentor can answer questions, give you study tips, and introduce you to new people.
The PAL program is open to domestic and international undergraduate Arts students at Caulfield and Clayton campuses.
Contact: arts-transition@monash.edu or visit the faculty's Student support website.
Being the first in your family to attend university is something to be truly proud of. The Arts First in the Family program is for Arts students who are the first of their generation to attend university, and is designed to provide support, help you make new friends and make a smooth transition into university life.
Contact: arts-transition@monash.edu or visit the faculty's Student support website.
The university offers a wide variety of support services for students. For a comprehensive list of these services visit the Student life and support services website.
At Monash, unit codes are made up of a three-letter prefix followed by four numbers. The three-letter prefix identifies the faculty, and the first of these four numbers refers to the year level of the unit, i.e. ATS1010 is a first-year-level Arts unit, and ATS2010 is a second-year-level Arts unit.
In 2011 all undergraduate Arts units moved to the ATS generic prefix coding. Prior to this, Arts units had individual prefix codes to identify individual Arts disciplines. For further information and a translation table consult the faculty's Unit code conversion utility.
Occasional reference is made to desirable or prerequisite studies in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) - those students who did not study the VCE should seek advice about unit choice for students with qualifications other than the VCE.
In addition to their Arts discipline major and minor and other Arts requirements, students undertaking some Arts courses can study another major in a non-Arts discipline. If students wish to undertake the 60-point APAC accredited major in psychology in addition to counting 48 points towards a non-Arts major, they will be permitted to count the additional 12 points as the further 12 points in Arts units.
For further information, see the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences section of this handbook, or contact ug.psych@monash.edu; telephone +61 3 9905 3965.
Visual culture is offered by the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture with a number of units being taught by the Faculty of Arts.
Students may complete single units, a major or minor in visual culture towards the core Arts component of their Bachelor of Arts degree or associated double degrees. Honours is also available. Refer to the 'Areas of study' section in this Handbook for information on the units required for a major, minor or honours in visual culture.
For further information, see the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture section of this Handbook; email theory@artdes.monash.edu.au; telephone +61 3 9903 1857; visit Department of Theory of Art and Design website.
In addition to their Arts discipline major and minor and other Arts requirements, students undertaking some Arts courses can study another major in a non-Arts discipline. The faculties offering disciplines and units that are of interest to Arts students include Art and Design, Business and Economics, Information Technology, Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences and Science. Students should refer to individual faculty sections in this handbook to obtain detailed information on the choices available and consult with the faculty that owns particular units regarding unit prerequisites or quotas.
The Faculty of Arts offers double-degree programs with most other faculties of the university. These degrees are of particular interest to students who wish to pursue disciplines from different faculties.
Students wishing to undertake units from the Faculty of Art and Design must obtain written approval before enrolling in units. Students are encouraged to consider a specialisation in the area of Theory of Art and Design by choosing units with a TAD code.
For contact details, see the Faculty of Art and Design entry in this Handbook, or visit the faculty's website.
Arts students can take units from the following faculties without requesting any special permission from the teaching faculty (note that students must still meet any stated prerequisites or corequisites). Students wishing to take units from faculties other than these must obtain written permission before enrolling.
Arts students can take units from the Faculty of Business and Economics from the discipline areas of accounting, business law and taxation, econometrics and business statistics, economics, finance, management and marketing. Students wishing to take econometrics or accounting and finance units must have achieved the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) ATAR (or equivalent) score necessary to gain admission to a Business and Economics degree, as well as be able to satisfy the stated mathematics prerequisites for the relevant units.
For contact details, see the Faculty of Business and Economics entry in this Handbook or visit the faculty's website.
Arts students can take first-year information technology units without requesting special permission from the Faculty of Information Technology. However, the Faculty of Information Technology advises that all students seek course advice from the faculty as to the suitability of certain units of study. For some computer science units, it is highly recommended that students have studied VCE Mathematical Methods (or equivalent) at Year 12 level.
For contact details, see the Faculty of Information and Technology entry in this Handbook or visit the faculty's website.
The Faculty of Science offers a wide range of units in disciplines of interest to Arts students. Disciplines offered by the Faculty of Science that may be taken without special permission include astronomy, atmospheric science, biological sciences, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics and statistics, and physics.
For contact details, see the Faculty of Science entry in this Handbook or visit the faculty's website.
While course regulations specify the basic structure of any major or minor in the Faculty of Arts, different schools and centres may have specific requirements for their own discipline. Students need to be familiar with the major and minor requirements below and in addition check individual discipline requirements in the Arts areas of study section of the Handbook.
A major is three years of study in a single discipline, totalling 48 points. The major consists of:
(a.) no more than 12 points at first-year-level
(b.) no less than 12 points of second-year-level studies
(c.) no less than18 points of third-year-level studies.
Each major has specific gateway, cornerstone and capstone units that must be completed.
A minor is units in a single discipline totalling 24 points, including no more than 12 points at first-year level.
Normally students complete two first-year gateway units (12 points), followed by at least 12 points (normally two 6 point units) of study at second-year level.
NOTE: It is possible to study all units towards the minor at an advanced level. Where schools only offer a minor in this form, this will be indicated under the relevant area of study in the Handbook.
NOTE: The course details provided in the entries below are for those students who began their studies in 2014 - students who commenced their studies prior to this date should consult the archived Handbook edition for the year in which they started their course.
* At Sunway.
** At South Africa.
Enrolled students should refer to the handbook for the year in which they commenced the following courses. Archived handbooks are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/archive.html: