Program Overview

With our flexible Bachelor of Arts, you can choose from an incredible array of majors and minors. You'll have access to around 50 majors and minors from humanities, social sciences, business, health and science, keeping your career options open. Pursue your passion and your profession.

Shape your own future with this interdisciplinary degree. You'll choose one arts major, then explore your interests or build an essential skill when you choose secondary majors, minors and electives from across the university. You'll graduate with your primary major on your academic transcript, so future employers can recognise your expertise.

Create your own path. Want to major in sociology, with a second major in psychology, then take Chinese as an elective? Go for it. Or perhaps you'd like to pair economics and English. Or crime, justice and legal studies with linguistics. Build your own future – we're here to help you achieve your dream. No matter which path you choose, you'll learn from world-class academics and leading researchers.

In your first year, you'll explore your interests and passions. Try a language; or get a taste for history, English, politics or creative writing. In your second and third years, you'll delve deeper while also choosing electives and minors that broaden your skills and knowledge. You may also choose to develop professional skillsets in areas like psychology, public health, marketing, science, sport management and more.

This flexible degree also offers a range of study options. You can choose to study face-to-face at our Melbourne Campus and enjoy our on-campus facilities, or you can study online – knowing your experience will mirror on-campus students, with tutorials delivered in a synchronous manner. Unlike many other online degrees, at La Trobe you can login to live sessions and engage directly with academics and your fellow students in real time.

Gain real-world experience and build valuable connections that will shape your career. Take on an industry placement at organisations like SBS Radio, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre or the United Nations Association of Australia or travel overseas for an international sustainability experience.* Many of our exchange programs are financially supported. Your dedicated course advisor will help you to find your path and explore new opportunities.

You'll learn:

• Critical thinking: Delve into complex problems. Experts say critical thinking will be a highly valued skill in the workforce of tomorrow.**
• Emotional intelligence: Understand what drives our decisions. Learn how to connect to others with emotion and intelligence.
• Creativity: Learn how to see new possibilities and turn them into reality.
• Communication: Learn how to connect, communicate and collaborate with your university peers and future colleagues.

Major: Sustainability and development

The Sustainability and Development major trains you to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It is an interdisciplinary major that incorporates the perspectives of Development Studies, Anthropology, History, Politics, International Relations, Sociology, Environmental Studies and Economics. By combining relevant theory, with practical skills and experience, you will gain knowledge and competency in the sustainability and development sector.

Throughout the major, you will explore social, cultural, economic, political and environmental objectives and consider why the world is imbalanced and prone to power differentials that extend from global decision makers right down to the level of the individual. You will also consider how some objectives are more highly valued than others, for example, should industrial growth be privileged over biodiversity? Or, can clean water and air undermine higher profits and outputs? It is in the interest of all of us to strike the right balance between development and sustainability.