Studying Arts at Monash: a guide

[Joseph41]

First thing’s first

Spoiler

Arts graduates are unemployed, or work in fast food restaurants for life, are unintelligent, unmotivated and have no direction, are slack, couldn’t get into ‘proper’ degrees like Medicine or Laws, yada yada yada, dum-di-dum, di-dum. I’ve heard it all. It’s all rubbish.

I won’t lie: when I first started my Arts degree, I was slightly embarrassed to talk about it. When people asked me what I was studying, I would preface Arts with words like just. Granted, some of this is due to a slight stutter that discourages me from starting sentences with words starting with vowels. But still, the fact remains that I saw studying straight Arts as something about which not to be overly proud.

Now, I’m embarrassed at that embarrassment.

I’m proud of what I’ve studied and what I’m studying. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved in this degree, and how it has changed me as a person. So that’s really the core idea behind this thread. Too many people I know have avoided Arts due to prestige, or status, or other socially constructed bull-shitteries that shouldn’t, but do affect the perceptions of prospective students.

Too many people I know don’t study Arts due to an alleged lack of job opportunities, opting instead for Science, or Commerce, or Laws. But where do such degrees get you, really, that Arts doesn’t? There is no guarantee of employment after studying Science, or Commerce, or Laws. And at the end of the day, if you don’t *enjoy* what you’re studying, what’s the point in the first place?

And so, here I am, ranting again. Arts is fantastically stimulating and wide. If you don’t know what you want to do, Arts is a brilliant option. If you wish to broaden your knowledge further to deepening it, Arts is a brilliant option. And if you just want to enjoy studying a cool bunch of stuff, Arts is equally brilliant.

My view is this: in Arts, it’s okay – preferred – to think differently. There are no correct answers, as such. This I have thoroughly enjoyed, for throughout VCE I was focused so heavily on ‘success’ to the detriment of actual learning. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still (unhealthily) impacted by grades and numbers, but at least, now, I genuinely enjoy the learning process.

Sorry – I’ve digressed again. Let me actually tell you something about the degree.

What can I do with an Arts degree?

Spoiler

Good question. I'm probably not in the best position to answer this, because I'm still studying myself. But I do know that many employers value Arts degrees. You need a certain mindset and way of thinking to do well in Arts, and a lot of those skills (both critical and creative thinking, for example) are applicable to the workplace.

I'm going to directly quote 'Career FAQs', here. "The flexibility and versatility of an arts degree means that graduates have the lion's share of choices when it comes to which industry they can enter. In 2011 bachelor’s graduates from the humanities most frequently found employment in business, human resources, marketing, arts and media, as well as the legal, social and welfare professions. Arts graduates were similar, typically finding work in business administration, sales, management, media, hospitality and government agencies. In other words, the possibilities are endless and it’s really up to you where you choose to take your degree and apply your skills."

What am I doing with my Arts degree? Well, I'm using it as a foundation for further study.

Course structure

Spoiler

The Bachelor of Arts at Monash University is a three year course when studied full time, and a six year course when studied part time. Like most degrees, each year comprises of two semesters. For straight Arts, it is conventional to study four units per semester; however, one can also ‘overload’ (five units) or ‘underload’ (three units). Both of these options are still considered a full time load.

One of the great things about the Bachelor of Arts is its flexibility. In fact, it can be teamed up as part of a double degree in a number of ways, with a number of other degrees. This adds more time to your studies, but is also a super opportunity to study with more than one faculty. In the spoiler below are the double degrees available, listed here.

Spoiler

-   Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering/Bachelor of Arts;
-   Bachelor of Business/Bachelor of Arts;
-   Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Business (Accounting);
-   Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance);
-   Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Business (Marketing);
-   Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Economics;
-   Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Music;
-   Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Social Work;
-   Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Visual Arts;
-   Bachelor of Arts Scholars Program/Bachelor of Commerce Scholars Program;
-   Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Arts;
-   Bachelor of Education (Honours)/Bachelor of Arts;
-   Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Arts;
-   Bachelor of Environmental Engineering (Honours)/Bachelor of Arts;
-   Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/Bachelor of Arts;
-   Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts; and
-   Bachelor of Social Work (with Honours)/Bachelor of Arts.

So four units per semester, two semesters per year, and three years. That equals 24 Arts units for a straight Bachelor of Arts. Now, this may change should you wish to complete a double degree. But don’t worry; there are fantastic course maps available, produced by the Faculty of Arts. These can help you to plan your degree; personally, I have used them extensively, because it can otherwise become a little messy and confusing.

For straight Arts, there are further requirements. Important to note, here, is that each unit is the equivalent of six credit points. I have no idea why, so don’t ask me; in my mind, six is a completely arbitrary and unnecessary number. But it’s important to remember, because the further requirements use this silly terminology. For example (from the Bachelor of Arts course map):

-   Students must not complete more than 60 credit points at first-year level (10 units);
-   Students must complete a minimum of 36 credit points at third-year level (usually 6 units);
-   Students must complete a total of 144 credit points (usually 24 units); and
-   Students must complete all requirements within 8 years.

To use my degree as an example, then, this is how it might pan out:

Year 1, Semester 1: ATS1314, ATS1325, ATS1371, PSY1011
Year 1, Semester 2: ATS1315, ATS1326, ATS1339, PSY1022
Year 2, Semester 1: ATS1371, ATS2637, ATS2667, ATS2676
Year 2, Semester 2: ATS3639, ATS3679, ATS3681, ATS3872
Year 3, Semester 1: ATS2640, ATS2683, ATS3627, ATS3673
Year 3, Semester 2: AMU1311, AMU2450, AMU2906, AMU3630

These codes may seem confusing. For now, just focus on the first number of each. This denotes the year level of the unit. For example, ATS1314 is a first year unit, ATS2637 is a second year unit, and ATS3639 is a third year unit. You can see, then, that I have completed a total of ten first year units (60 credit points), seven second year units (42 credit points), and seven third year units (42 credit points).

Usually, a Bachelor of Arts comes with a major and a minor. Basically, these terms just refer to areas of study that you undertake more heavily. A major is comprised of eight units of the same area of study, whilst a minor is comprised of four. You should be able to see these in the columns of the course maps provided earlier. I actually took the option of studying two majors (a ‘double major’), which just means that I used some of my electives (units not relevant to either your major nor minor) to change my minor into a second major. Something called an ‘extended major’ is also available, but I don’t know much about this. Don’t worry if you’re confused – you don’t really need to know this for now.

Is there a course map I can use if I want to do two majors?

Spoiler

I don’t think so. At least, I haven’t found one suitable. What I did during my three years of studying Arts was just use the regular course map, and move the last four elective units over to the minor in order to make it a second major.

But the way I see it, the new course maps are confusing as anything; I much prefer the vertical versions (available slightly below on the same website). As such, I have created my own (for both major/minor and major/major setups). They are attached to this post.

Can I study three minors?

Courtesy of Ask Monash University

You can complete one major and three minors as part of our straight Bachelor of Arts, view the course map here.  Within the Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education (Hons), you can complete one major and two minors, however won't have space for a third.  View the course map here.

What can I study, then?

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I’ve just spoken of ‘areas of study,’ but what does this actually mean? Basically, an area of study is sort of like a subject – it’s the general umbrella term for what you’re studying. So things like Criminology, History, Korean, Psychology and Religious Studies are all areas of study in Arts. Below is the full list of areas of study available as a major:

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-   Ancient cultures;
-   Anthropology;
-   Art history and theory;
-   Chinese studies;
-   Communications;
-   Criminology;
-   English as an international language;
-   Film and screen studies;
-   French studies;
-   German studies;
-   History;
-   Human geography;
-   Human rights;
-   Indigenous cultures and histories;
-   Indonesian studies;
-   International relations;
-   International studies;
-   Italian studies;
-   Japanese studies;
-   Journalism practice;
-   Journalism studies;
-   Korean studies;
-   Linguistics;
-   Literary studies;
-   Music;
-   Philosophy;
-   Politics;
-   Psychology;
-   Religious studies;
-   Sociology;
-   Spanish and Latin American studies; and
-   Theatre.

Further to that, the following areas of study are available as a minor*:

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-   Australia in the world;
-   Behavioural studies;
-   Bioethics;
-   Holocaust and genocide studies;
-   Islamic studies;
-   Jewish studies;
-   Performance;
-   Ukrainian studies

*Modern Greek, too, is available as a level-1 sequence.

Pretty neat, huh? And within each of these areas of studies, there often is a huge range of units available. You can browse these in the 2016 Arts Undergraduate Handbook.

For case of point, I have double majored in Linguistics and International Studies. This means that I have completed eight units of each of these areas of study. But over the course of my degree, I have had experience in (but not limited to) Linguistics, International Studies, Psychology, Human Rights, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Bioethics, Communications, History, Ecology, International Relations, and Politics. Have I mentioned that Arts is really great?

Can I study non-Arts units?

Spoiler

Sure, so long as you have space for them (which you will, up to a point). Some units from other faculties are actually recognised as Arts units. This mainly occurs in the disciplines of Psychology, and Art history and theory.

Other non-Arts units, however, are widely available to study as part of the Bachelor of Arts. To quote the Monash website, students "should refer to individual faculty sections… to obtain detailed information or the choices available and consult with the faculty that owns particular units regarding unit prerequisites or quotas.”

Faculty of Art and Design

You will need permission from the Faculty of Art and Design should you wish to study its units. The faculty’s website is available here.

Other faculties

For the following faculties, students may take units without written permission (on the assumption that all other prerequisites are met):

-   Faculty of Business and Economics;
-   Faculty of Information Technology; and
-   Faculty of Science.

What are gateway, cornerstone and capstone units?

Spoiler

Good question. If not for writing this guide, I would really have no idea myself (they were introduced after I started my degree, so they’re not really relevant). Basically, this page here is going to be your best friend. In summary:

Gateway unit: First-year unit.

Cornerstone unit: Second-year unit.

Capstone unit: Third-year unit.

And from what I can glean, you must complete the relevant gateway/cornerstone/capstone units for your major. This may depend on what your major in. Let’s consider Linguistics, for example.

For the major, you will need both gateway units (ATS1338 and ATS1339). You will also need one cornerstone unit out of the three available (ATS2676, ATS2681 and ATS2683). And finally, one of the three capstone units (ATS3666, ATS3677 or ATS3816).

What is 'Arts specified study'?

Courtesy of EulerFan101

It's basically electives, but with two catches:

1. They must be from the faculty of arts.
2. You must complete a minor.

Vertical degree

Spoiler

So this is a really, really, really cool opportunity that I really think I would have leapt on should have it been available in 2013. Basically, you finish your undergraduate degree *and* your Masters in four years. That’s the sickest. You can find more information here. But seriously, that’s a really great opportunity. For context, I’m in my fourth year and haven’t even started Masters, and I’m studying straight Arts.

At this stage, the available Masters are limited, but still. Check it out. From the page linked above, here is how it works:

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You complete 2 years of your Bachelor of Arts course and then:

1.   In third year you take Masters level units as your electives,
2.   In fourth year you complete the remainder of the Masters course.

And you can find a sample course structure here.

Why not study a concurrent Diploma?

Spoiler

Sometimes, you can study a Diploma concurrently with your degree. There are two on offer: Diploma in Languages, and Diploma in Liberal Arts. It will generally add one more year to your study period.

Arts internships

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If you’re looking for something a bit different, you might be interested in an internship. Internships allow you to gain more experience whilst still achieving credit toward your degree. Some really great opportunities can be found at this link (I actually had no idea that most of these existed).

Eligibility

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So perhaps you have decided that you want to study Arts at Monash, or you are at least considering it. What do you need to do to be eligible?

For domestic students, the ‘clearly-in’ ATAR for the Bachelor of Arts is 81.00 at Caulfield, and 85.00 at Clayton. There is no real advantage of studying at Clayton over Caulfield, all other things equal. There are more subjects available at Clayton, but many students take units across the two campuses (there is a shuttle bus connecting them). A study score of at least 25 is required in an English, or at least 30 in EAL. No mathematics or science subjects are necessary as prerequisites.

The ATAR required for double degrees including Arts will likely be different, depending on the other branch of the degree. As a quick sample, for example (nice rhymes!):

-   Business/Arts: 85.05
-   Commerce/Arts: 92.75
-   Laws/Arts: 98.00
-   Science/Arts: 85.00

Workload

Spoiler

One thing I will say is this: the contact hours of Arts are nowhere near those of, say, Laws or Medicine. My experience is that each unit typically demands about three hours of classes per week, but it does depend a little on the unit. This may be divided into something like 1x two-hour lecture, and 1x one-hour tutorial. What’s the difference between the two?

In lectures, you sit in a lecture theatre and listen to your lecturer. You take notes (or not, if you don’t want to), and there is limited if any interaction. Perfect, if you’re anything like I. Some lectures are particularly large (hundreds).

Tutorials are more like classes at school, and have up to twenty-five or so students. You set in a regular classroom, discuss the readings for the week or other content. Tutorials often include discussion and group work. Sometimes, you are graded on your level of participation (or lack thereof). Not at all perfect, if you’re anything like I.

Other class types, like seminars, lectorials and labs, are also possible, but those are the main two in Arts. Again, though, it doesn’t really matter at all presently.

The thing that most people seem to fail to grasp with Arts is that the majority of work occurs independently; it’s possible to get by just going to the lectures and tutes, but if you want to do well, you have to work hard. You do all of your readings (some of which are lengthy), you do independent research, and you spend a lot of time on your assessment tasks. The *hidden* work of Arts is what makes it so rewarding and interesting, and, perhaps, is what results in its perceived ‘easiness’.

Assessment tasks

Spoiler

This, too, is a little dependent on the area of study, and even on the individual unit at hand. The bulk of my units have had end-of-semester exams, but some have not; some are assessed entirely during the Week 1 to Week 12 period. Exams aside, typical assessment tasks include essays (lots of, in my experience), research activities, and short-answer exercises. Personally, I have avoided units comprising group work and presentations, but these are also possibilities.

Readings

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question about readings. Readings are quite long and tedious, but are they absolutely necessary? or are lectures alone sufficient?

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Good question. This depends on the unit a bit. You can usually gauge how much emphasis is placed on readings (for each unit) by about Week 2 or 3, I've found. My experience is that there is great variation. In some of my units, the readings have been absolutely essential for basically all tutorials and assignments. For others, I didn't do a single one, and got by more than comfortably with just the lectures and tutorial discussions.

So yeah, I'm afraid there's no real definitive answer, here. If I had to generalise, I'd say that readings are usually important, but often not absolutely essential.

If you were asking about a particular unit, you could try the subject review thread to see if somebody has more specific advice.

Writing a good Arts essay

Spoiler

Arts is rife with essays - particularly some areas of study. You have probably written essays before, but things change a little when you get to uni. (Or, indeed, when you begin an Arts degree.) There is great variation between Arts essays and essays of, say, Science or Laws. But more than there, there is great variation even within Arts. You will get the hang of essay writing soon, and the library can always help you if you feel overwhelmed. But if you want to read more about writing essays in Arts, try this thread.

How about other unis?

Spoiler

Yep, a whole bunch of unis offer similar Arts degrees. Honestly, I am in no position to compare them, for my views would be clouded entirely by bias and my liking of Monash as an institution. In saying that, I have friends studying Arts at both the University of Melbourne and Deakin University, and they are happy thus far. The University of Melbourne in particular has had excellent reviews. Of course, your decision may depend on what precisely you are interested in; different universities may offer slightly different areas of study.

But that’s not really what this thread is about. Rather, I encourage you to consider Arts wherever. If you are interested, these boards are a great place to begin your research. So, too, are the relevant university faculty websites. Here are a few that may be of interest:

-   Monash University Faculty of Arts: http://future.arts.monash.edu/
-   University of Melbourne Faculty of Arts: http://arts.unimelb.edu.au/
-   Deakin University Faculty of Arts and Education: http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed
-   Swinburne University School of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/health-arts-design/schools/arts-social-sciences-humanities/
-   La Trobe University School of Humanities and Social Sciences: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/humanities

Study abroad

Spoiler

Another huge benefit of Arts at Monash (and Monash in general, really) is its flexibility in regard to studying abroad. Arts units are generally malleable, and the degree is conducive to international study.

See this thread for more information on studying abroad at Monash.

I wanted to get into Laws but didn’t

Spoiler

Well that’s okay. There’s a grouse new option in 2017, namely the Bachelor of Arts (Law Pathway). You might be interested in the relevant flyer, found here.

Basically:

Spoiler

You enrol in the Bachelor of Arts (Law Pathway). In your first year, you study four Arts units and four Laws units. And then, if you achieve a credit average (60%) in all four Laws units, you are guaranteed a place in the second year of a double degree of Laws/Arts.

The ATAR requirement is 90.00 (plus SEAS, I think).

Didn’t get into Arts?

Spoiler

There are lots of different pathway opportunities. Don’t give up!

These include:

-   Single unit studies
-   TAFE
-   Monash College
-   MAP – Monash Access Program
-   Indigenous pathways

More on each of these is available at the link above.

Scholars Program

Spoiler

EDIT: According to the Faculty of Arts (July 2016), this no longer seems to be an option.

Spoiler

Scoring highly at VCE level does not mean that you need to study a degree with a very high ATAR. However, a high ATAR may be of benefit to you. If eligible (and in your preferences), you may be awarded with a place in the Dean’s Scholars Program.

I was lucky enough to be part of this program. The clearly-in for my year of graduation (2012) was 99.25, but it likely changes from year to year. The benefits of being a Dean’s Scholar as part of your Bachelor of Arts include but are not limited to:

-   A full scholarship ($6,000 per year);
-   Greater course flexibility;
-   Social and academic events with other Scholars; and
-   Access to a private Dean’s Scholars’ room, including a small computer lab, lounge, and other facilities (located in the Menzies building, accessible by swiping student ID card).

I highly recommend this program to anybody who is interested. If you have questions about this but don’t feel comfortable posting them in this thread, please feel free to message me privately.

First in the Family

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If you’re the first in your family (of your generation) to attend university, you are likely eligible for the First in the Family Program. According to the page linked above, eligible students are:

Spoiler

1. Those with parents or guardian who did not complete post secondary education.
2. Students with sibling(s) who have attended post secondary institutions, but your parents or guardian did not.

And the program offers:

Spoiler

1. A chance to meet new friends with similar interests and backgrounds at social events.
2. An opportunity to gain expert knowledge in your area of study from an academic mentor.
3. Survival tips, support and meet new friends through a social mentor and seminars.

Peers Ambassadors Leaders (PAL) Program

Spoiler

Also available to Arts students is the Peers Ambassadors Leaders Program. Peers (first year students) are “assigned a student mentor who helps their transition to university life.” Ambassadors are second and third year students who mentor their peers, and also participate in a number of leadership activities. Leaders are third year students, and receive further training still.

Training for the program includes a three-day (two night) camp, run by the Faculty of Arts. The training camp involves guest speakers on a range of topics, including mental health support, and issues of genders and sexualities. The camp is a great way to get to know your fellow Ambassadors and Leaders (and that's coming from somebody who very much dislikes camps).

Ambassadors and Leaders may be involved in a portfolio. There are four portfolios: academic, development, social, and visibility. Eac portfolio is responsible for different parts of the program. For example, the academic portfolio might run a study skills session; the social portfolio might organise a PAL trivia night.

In summary, it is a wonderful initiative, and a great opportunity to get more involved in university life.

What is involved in Honours?

Spoiler

For straight Arts, Honours is an optional year (full-time)/two years (part-time) of study. Typically, you undertake Honours in the area(s) of study in which you majored. Honours at Monash can be undertaken even if you didn't study at Monash for your undergraduate degree.

The structure of Honours will differ slightly from discipline to discipline. However, you will likely "complete 24 credit points coursework (2 coursework units, 12 credit points each)... and a research thesis worth 24 credit points, usually 15,000-18,000 words in length, supervised by an academic staff member."

If you're interested in Honours, you may like to attend an information session (I think these are last year's dates, but keep an eye out for the new ones).

Summer/Winter Research Scholarships

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Between Semester 1 and Semester 2 (and, indeed, between Semester 2 and Semester 1), there tend to be scholarships for Summer and Winter research. I really, really recommend pursuing something along these lines if you're interested. They're not limited to Arts - in fact, the vast majority are specific to other disciplines - but several are generic enough that anybody could realistically apply.

I did a Winter Research Project in 2016, between Semester 1 and Semester 2. It was essentially full-time for four weeks (others were more part-time, others still were different in length). My team (of five, from a range of faculties) worked on re-designing a study space on campus, and ended up producing a ~180 page brief. And the reimbursement is, in my opinion, extremely generous.

VCE Extension Studies

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Game changer!

“If you’re a high achieving Year 12 student, Monash Extension will give you a taste of uni before finishing school – and you’ll be rewarded for it. You’ll complete two first year university subjects as part of your final year of school studies.” In 2017, you can study:

Spoiler

- Accounting
-   Biology
-   Biomedical science
-   Chemistry
-   Global Cultural Literacies*
-   History (Medieval & Renaissance)*
-   International Studies*
-   Mathematics
-   Mobile applications development
-   Musicology*
-   Physics
-   Principles of Commerce*
-   Psychology*

*New in 2017.

Conclusion

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Studying Arts is rewarding, exciting, and stimulating. If you are interested in studying Arts, don’t let anybody (yourself included) or anything (hello, very high ATAR) tell that you can’t. Or, indeed, that you shouldn’t. Deep down, we all know that doing so is wrong. My own view is that it will also, ultimately, be counter-productive to society at large.

I will likely expand this thread throughout the year as more thoughts come to mind. For now, though, I wanted to put something up, because it is an important time of year, and I am passionate about this cause (could you tell?). I have struggled internally with the ridiculous stigma that unreasonably falls on Arts students, and I am committed to crushing it. It needs to be crushed.

If you want to study Arts, do it. If you have any questions about it, please ask! And if you’re going to make jokes about Arts graduates, please at least try to make them humorous and original.

All the very best,
Nick.

[brenden]

Mate, you're on absolute fire with these posts.

#someonemakethisguyamod

[keltingmeith]

Mate, you're on absolute fire with these posts.

#someonemakethisguyamod

If only someone here had that power...

Also, fantastic work! Better watch out, I might turn into JosephFan.

[extremeftw]

 Good post, again!

 To those people who are concerned about doing Arts because of the apparent lack of employment opportunities, I cannot recommend enough doing a double degree. You can really synergise your Arts interests very well with degrees from other faculties; for example I am studying politics as part of an Arts degree and it combines extremely well with economics. Just something to consider!

[SlothPlays]

Thanks much enjoyed

I like studying. Imma study Arts. I wanna get a feel of university and I don't want to commit to something like Law, MD just yet. Its true what you saw about the apparent "unemployability" of Arts students. Im yet to decide what i wanna be in life, i like John Grisham novels so im turning towards law, maybe a JD in the future? Or a Masters in a business? I dont know :') I just think tho its important to keep an open mind in regard to future pathways and Arts helps me do that.

[heids]

Mate, you're on absolute fire with these posts.

#someonemakethisguyamod

+1, my sentiments precisely.

[Clockwork]

Great post Nick!

A study score of at least 30 is required in an English, or at least 25 in EAL. No mathematics or science subjects are necessary as prerequisites.

Just a small typo, it's actually 25 for an English and 30 for EAL.

[Joseph41]

Mate, you're on absolute fire with these posts.

#someonemakethisguyamod

What is amod? Is it tasty?

If only someone here had that power...

Also, fantastic work! Better watch out, I might turn into JosephFan.

Thank you, Euler. And please don't do that; it's taken me four years to teach myself how to pronounce 'Euler' correctly in my head.

Good post, again!

 To those people who are concerned about doing Arts because of the apparent lack of employment opportunities, I cannot recommend enough doing a double degree. You can really synergise your Arts interests very well with degrees from other faculties; for example I am studying politics as part of an Arts degree and it combines extremely well with economics. Just something to consider!

Bang on. Great point.

Thanks much enjoyed

I like studying. Imma study Arts. I wanna get a feel of university and I don't want to commit to something like Law, MD just yet. Its true what you saw about the apparent "unemployability" of Arts students. Im yet to decide what i wanna be in life, i like John Grisham novels so im turning towards law, maybe a JD in the future? Or a Masters in a business? I dont know :') I just think tho its important to keep an open mind in regard to future pathways and Arts helps me do that.

I love it! There are so many directions you can go with Arts. Best of luck with it.

Thanks for this post!

A pleasure.

+1, my sentiments precisely.

Well done, and thank you.

Great post Nick!Just a small typo, it's actually 25 for an English and 30 for EAL.

Champion. Thank you, I knew something wasn't quite right there. Amended.

[Smiley_]

Thank you, Euler. And please don't do that; it's taken me four years to teach myself how to pronounce 'Euler' correctly in my head.

Haha I've been reading it as "you laarr" for a good while.

[Alter]

Mate, you're on absolute fire with these posts.

#someonemakethisguyamod

#illuminati

[DeezNuts]

arts is just as amazing like every other field out there

pure creative and emotional freedom



keep up the good work!

[Joseph41]

***UPDATE: I have added to the opening post all that is below. A big disclaimer for the course maps: I'm not 100% of their accuracy. If somebody wanted to cross-check and/or confirm, that'd just be swell. Please let me know if they're unusable for whatever reason.***

Can I study non-Arts units?

Spoiler

Sure, so long as you have space for them (which you will, up to a point). Some units from other faculties are actually recognised as Arts units. This mainly occurs in the disciplines of Psychology, and Art history and theory.

Other non-Arts units, however, are widely available to study as part of the Bachelor of Arts. To quote the Monash website, “[ s]tudents should refer to individual faculty sections… to obtain detailed information or the choices available and consult with the faculty that owns particular units regarding unit prerequisites or quotas.”

Faculty of Art and Design

You will need permission from the Faculty of Art and Design should you wish to study its units. The faculty’s website is available here.

Other faculties

For the following faculties, students may take units without written permission (on the assumption that all other prerequisites are met):

-   Faculty of Business and Economics;
-   Faculty of Information Technology; and
-   Faculty of Science.

Is there a course map I can use if I want to do two majors?

Spoiler

I don’t think so. At least, I haven’t found one suitable. What I did during my three years of studying Arts was just use the regular course map, and move the last four elective units over to the minor in order to make it a second major.

But the way I see it, the new course maps are confusing as anything; I much prefer the vertical versions (available slightly below on the same website). As such, I have created my own (for both major/minor and major/major setups). They are attached to this post.

What are gateway, cornerstone and capstone units?

Spoiler

Good question. If not for writing this guide, I would really have no idea myself (they were introduced after I started my degree, so they’re not really relevant). Basically, this page here is going to be your best friend. In summary:

Gateway unit: First-year unit.

Cornerstone unit: Second-year unit.

Capstone unit: Third-year unit.

And from what I can glean, you must complete the relevant gateway/cornerstone/capstone units for your major. This may depend on what your major in. Let’s consider Linguistics, for example.

For the major, you will need both gateway units (ATS1338 and ATS1339). You will also need one cornerstone unit out of the three available (ATS2676, ATS2681 and ATS2683). And finally, one of the three capstone units (ATS3666, ATS3677 or ATS3816).

[Glasses]

Joseph/Nick (or any other Monash students geniuses), do you know if you're able to undertake a double major in a double degree? E.g. - I looked at a course map for arts/law and with the arts part, you have 8 major units, 4 minor units and 4 arts electives. - Would that mean that you could have all of your law units (and law electives), and have a double major in x and y??

Assuming that it all works with timetabling?

EDIT: I just wanted to clarify that the example included overloading for two arts electives

[DeezNuts]

yup!

I asked a similar question before and it appears so!

e.g. you'd end up with:
Bachelor of Laws + bachelor of arts (Major in x.....major in y)

[extremeftw]

Joseph/Nick (or any other Monash students geniuses), do you know if you're able to undertake a double major in a double degree? E.g. - I looked at a course map for arts/law and with the arts part, you have 8 major units, 4 minor units and 4 arts electives. - Would that mean that you could have all of your law units (and law electives), and have a double major in x and y??

Assuming that it all works with timetabling?

EDIT: I just wanted to clarify that the example included overloading for two arts electives

 Yes, you definitely can. (doing 2 arts majors in a double degree, that is).