BA

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Please note: This page refers to the 2013 academic year unless otherwise specified.

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) equips students with a number of important life skills. These include an ability to communicate clearly, an ability to think critically and creatively, an ability to solve problems across a wide range of domains, and general leadership abilities.

What makes the Victoria Bachelor of Arts degree distinctive is its strong emphasis on the humanities, creative arts, languages and social sciences, its flexible structure, and its broad range of opportunities for exploring a variety of disciplines.

The humanities include subjects where we explore what it means to be human; for example, languages, History, English Literature, Media Studies, Film, Theatre and Music. Social sciences include subjects where we explore how humans interact with each other, such as Cultural Anthropology, Criminology and Sociology.

Choose subjects that are closely related – like Asian Studies and an Asian language – for a focused, specialised degree. Or major in one subject that suits your career ambitions, while keeping your passions alive with study in other areas.

A BA may lead to postgraduate study in a wide range of subject areas.

Career Opportunities

BA graduates are employed in almost every part of the workforce, both in jobs relating to their specialty subject and by employers who value their analytical and communication skills. Policy analyst, journalist, teacher, translator, diplomat, artist, market researcher, social worker, librarian, criminologist, aid worker... a BA is suited to hundreds of careers.

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A BA at Victoria

Features of the BA:

• three years of full-time study
• 360 points in total
• maximum of 180 points at 100 level
• minimum of 180 points at 200/300 level, including at least 75 points at 300 level
• no course numbered 300-399 may be counted towards more than one major or minor
• at least 240 points must be in subjects from Part A of the BA Schedule
• the exception is if you choose a starred major from the table below (listed in Part B of the BA Statute). In this case, you only need to take 180 points in Part A subjects (but you must still take at least 360 points total)
• must complete at least one listed BA major
• may complete a second major taught by another faculty. You must confirm the requirements with your Student Adviser
• you may choose up to two minors towards your BA.

Students may select up to two minors in an undergraduate subject area offered by the University for the BA, BAS, BCom, BDI and BSc degrees and not taken as a major or from additional minor subject areas listed in these degree statutes.

A minor comprises at least 60 points from the major requirements from the relevant subject area at 200 level or above, of which at least 15 points must be at 300 level and not counted towards a major or another minor.

If you are considering a second major taught by another faculty or adding a minor to your BA, you must contact your Student Adviser for degree planning advice.

See the Calendar or the Course Catalogue for further details.

For entry requirements to the BA please see the Admissions page.

Majors

Students must meet the requirements of a major in at least one subject. Each subject has specific courses you need to take to meet the requirements of a major and involves in-depth study at 300 level.

If you are not sure which subject to choose as your major, you can include a number of different options in your first year, and make a more specific choice in your second year.

Many students combine a BA with another degree. Because a number of courses can be credited to both degrees, it is possible for able students to complete two three-year degrees in four to five years.

The Faculty also offers conjoint Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) degrees.

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BA Subjects

Part A

Part A of the BA Schedule includes all the non-starred majors listed in the table below as well as the "Other BA Subjects (not majors)" listed.

BA Listed Majors

Art History Asian Studies Chinese Classical Studies Criminology Cultural Anthropology Development Studies* Early Childhood Studies*^ Economics* Education* Education and Psychology* English Literature English Studies Film French Geography* German Greek History International Relations Italian Japanese

Latin Linguistics Māori Resource Management Māori Studies Mathematics* Media Studies Modern Language Studies Music* Pacific Studies Philosophy Political Science Psychology* Public Policy* Religious Studies Samoan Studies/Fa'asamoa Second Language Education Social Policy Sociology Spanish Te Reo Māori Theatre

*majors listed under the BA Statute, but administered by other faculties

^students will only be permitted to take this subject as their sole major through the BA if they are enrolled in the conjoint BA/BTeach(ECE)

Other BA Subjects (not majors)

Creative Writing Deaf Studies Museum and Heritage Studies

Text Technologies Writing (Academic and Professional)

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How To Find Out More

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Degree Examples

Please note: the timetable is subject to change and the courses shown in the examples below may not all be available in any given year.

Please see the examples listed below and in the BA section of the Guide to Undergraduate Study.

All PDF documents require Acrobat Reader.

 

Document	File size	File type
BA Section of Guide to Undergraduate Study	206 KB	PDF

Example 1

BA Double Major Example (both BA listed majors)

BA with a double major in Classical Studies and History

Year 1
Course	Points
CLAS 101 Greek Literature, Myth and Society	20
HIST 117 Empires and Peoples: North America	20
RELI 107 Religion, Law and Politics	20
CLAS 102 Greek Art: Myth and Culture	20
HIST 118 Making Europe Modern: Citizens, States and Nations	20
RELI 108 The World's Religions	20
Total Points	120

Year 2
Course	Points
CLAS 202 Etruscan and Roman Art	20
CLAS 207 Roman Social History	20
HIST 245 Peoples of the Soviet Empire	20
CLAS 204 Greek Mythology	20
HIST 247 New Zealand Political History	20
RELI 252 Political Islam	20
Total Points	120

Year 3
Course	Points
CLAS 302 Etruscan and Roman Art	20
HIST 323 Colonialism and Postcolonialism	20
RELI 226 Psychology of Religion	20
CLAS 307 Roman Social History	20
HIST 337 Wild China, People's China: Environment and Society in Chinese History	20
HIST 334 The Great Sacrifice: Social and Cultural Perspectives on World War One	20
Total Points	120

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Example 2

BA Double Major Example (one BA listed major, one outside major)

BA majoring in Sociology with an outside major in Information Systems

Year 1
Course	Points
SOSC 111 Sociology: Foundations and Concepts	20
INFO 101 Foundations of Information Systems	15
ANTH 101 Foundations of Society and Culture	20
SOSC 112 New Zealand: Sociological Perspectives	20
INFO 102 Business Application Programming	15
ANTH 102 Social and Cultural Diversity	20
Total Points	110

Year 2
Course	Points
SOSC 211 Interpreting Society	20
INFO 201 Introduction to Information Systems Management	15
INFO 241 Introduction to Database Management and Programming	15
SOSC 217 Special Topic: Sociology of Dying and Death	20
INFO 232 Business Systems Analysis	15
ANTH 204 Modern Anthropological Thought	20
SOSC 215 Reproducing Gendered Bodies	20
Total Points	125

Year 3
Course	Points
SOSC 305 Social Organisation	20
INFO 322 Information Systems Implementation	15
SACS 201 Methods in Social and Cultural Research	20
SOSC 318 Social Movements and the State	20
INFO 395 Case Studies in Information Systems	15
INFO 320 Project in Information Systems	15
INTP 113 Introduction to International Relations	20
Total Points	125

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Example 3

Conjoint BA/BCom with a BA listed major and a minor and a BCom major in Marketing

BA major in English Literature and a minor in Spanish and a BCom major in Marketing (565 points)

Year 1
Course	Points
SPAN 111 Introduction to the Spanish Language	20
ENGL 111 Past Masters	20
ACCY 111 Accounting	15
MGMT 101 Introduction to Management	15
SPAN 112 Elementary Spanish	20
FCOM 111 Government, Law and Business	15
INFO 101 Foundations of Information Systems	15
MARK 101 Principles of Marketing	15
Total Points	135

Year 2
Course	Points
SPAN 113 Introduction to Hispanic Studies	20
SPAN 215 Spanish Language 2A	20
ECON 130 Economic Principles and Issues	15
MARK 202 Buyer Behaviour	15
SPAN 216 Spanish Language 2B	20
ENGL 112 Cultural Encounters: The Literature and Theatre of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific	20
MARK 201 Marketing Management	15
QUAN 102 Statistics for Business	15
Total Points	140

Year 3
Course	Points
SPAN 315 Spanish Language 3A	20
ENGL 209 The Novel	20
ENGL 234 New Zealand Literature	20
MARK 203 Market Research	15
ENGL 221 Classic Theatre	20
ENGL 330 Postcolonial Literature	20
ENGL 201 Sea Changes: A History of English Literature	20
MARK 302 International Marketing	15
Total Points	150

Year 4
Course	Points
ENGL 335 Contemporary Fiction	20
ENGL 308 Renaissance Literature	20
MARK 301 Marketing Communications	15
MGMT 202 Organisational Behaviour	15
ENGL 241 Dramaturgy of the Real	20
ENGL 332 American Literature: Twentieth Century	20
MARK 303 Strategic Marketing Management	15
MARK 316 Social Marketing	15
Total Points	140