Build the perfect course in Arts

At La Trobe University, we help students nurture their passion as well as their careers. 

Recently, our arts degree went through a major revamp. Students told us they needed more choice and flexibility, so we listened. We removed many of the compulsory ‘core’ degree subjects, then increased the number of specialisations to a whopping 50 majors and minors – the largest choice of any Victorian university. 

That means students can build a degree that’s right for their future – a real-life ‘choose your own adventure’, if you will. 

So, they can dive deep into what they love or even mix-and-match with another discipline to maximise their career opportunities, as Head of Humanities and Social Sciences Professor Nick Bisley explains. 

‘We want students to spend their time studying the things they love, the areas they’re passionate about and not unnecessary core requirements. So that means you can spend all your time studying politics, philosophy and economics if that’s the thing you love. Or combining your passions with environmental humanities and the environmental sciences or with creative writing and literary studies.’ 

Students can also opt to explore different disciplines or match majors and minors as a way of specialising. Here are a few combinations to help inspire you. 

• Environmental humanities and environmental geoscience 
• International studies and international business 
• Chinese studies and management 
• Visual cultures and marketing 
• Sociology and public health 
• Crime, justice and legal studies and psychology 
• Sustainability and development and economics 
• Politics and statistics 

It’s important to note, there’s nothing stopping them from mixing any of the 50 majors and minors on offer to specialise for the job they want – even if it doesn’t exist yet. 

Of course, studying arts is about more than just technical specialisations. It’s about the way you see the world and how you move through it. So we also focus on the human skills that help students on their journey, like collaboration, creativity and ethical problem-solving. 

 ‘Studying arts gives you a huge range of skills and opens your mind in ways that are about understanding the world better, experiencing different cultures and being able to think for yourself critically in an increasingly globalized world,’ Professor Bisley says. 

Students can put these skills into practice as they gain practical experience in the workplace. Our connections with industry mean there’s a huge range of options for work integrated learning – past students have placed with SBS Radio, the UN Association of Victoria, CERES, Australian Students Representative Council and the AFL Players’ Association. As Professor Bisley puts it: 

‘The opportunities off campus are also fantastic regardless of whatever area you study. If you’re studying international relations, we have NGOs and international organisations we partner with. If you’re studying literary studies or media, we have links with media industries. Wherever you are in your studies, we’ll find a work placement for you.’ 

There are opportunities to expand their horizons with study abroad and exchange opportunities. As an arts student, you can also undertake specially designed international travel subjects relating to your studies and credited towards your degree. 

These travel subjects include: 

• International Sustainability Experience 
• Planning Issues in the Philippines 
• Product Co-Design Workshop in Sarajevo in Bosnia 
• Ottoman History in and around Istanbul in Turkey 
• Southern Culture in the Mississippi Valley in the USA 
• Renaissance Italy taught in Tuscany 
• Sicily Through the Ages 

‘By studying arts, you’ll understand the world better, have a much broader sense of the horizons and opportunities in front of you and be able to thrive in any environment the world throws up,’ says Professor Bisley. 

If students haven’t decided what career they want, that’s totally okay. With our arts degree, they’re not just setting themself up for a job – they’re setting themself up for any job. 

Adapted from Nest by La Trobe