Program Overview

La Trobe's Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/Bachelor of Arts lets you enrich your legal education by pursuing your interests and passions. Open doors to a diverse range of rewarding careers, while exploring how to make a difference in your community.

Learn the fundamentals of criminal, constitutional, property and company law. Explore the legal system and understand how it can be used as a powerful and positive force in society. Develop key skills in advocacy, negotiation and dispute resolution.

You'll also choose from our list of arts majors and explore your area of interest. Broaden your knowledge and experience by studying areas like politics, languages, sociology, history, philosophy and media studies. Learn how to communicate effectively and think critically, analytically and creatively.

You can also choose to complete law electives that complement your arts specialisation. For example, a politics major can be matched with related subjects like public international law and human rights law. While a language or philosophy major could be augmented by subjects in areas like Indigenous Australians and the law, intellectual property law or family, society and law.

Enhance your classroom learning by taking advantage of optional internships, work experience, and our study abroad program*. Gain hands-on experience working with community legal centres, law firms and government agencies. Find out what it takes to interview clients, prepare legal advice and work with senior lawyers to develop legal solutions.

Graduate ready to make a positive difference. With combined expertise in law and arts, you can build a career as a solicitor or barrister, in-house counsel or corporate consultant, working in commercial law firms or community legal centres. You could also work in the public service as a government lawyer or support social justice initiatives in the not-for-profit sector.

You'll learn:

• Evidence and criminal procedure: Build your understanding of the criminal legal system and process. Learn how to apply the law to factual scenarios and provide legal advice.
• Contract law and company law: Learn how to apply the legal principles governing the creation, interpretation and termination of a contract. Develop the skills to specialise as a corporate legal expert through studies in incorporation, corporate governance and the various methods of financing.
• Constitutional law: Discover how government power is distributed, exercised, and controlled. Learn about federalism, the €˜external affairs' power, and express and implied constitutional rights.
• Dispute resolution: Build key skills in negotiation and mediation to support your future practice. Learn about the processes of arbitration, conciliation, mediation, and negotiation in private and commercial disputes.
• Critical and creative thinking: Delve into complex problems. 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: Classics and Ancient History

In a Classics and Ancient History major you will study the ancient Greek and Roman worlds from the Mediterranean to regions as far afield as Britain and Persia. You will learn about the classical ‘reception’ of Greece and Rome in subsequent societies through the study of literature, art and popular culture and study how ancient Greek and Roman cultures have had a profound influence on later societies, including their political systems, art and writings, as well as many modern languages. In this major you will analyse how themes from classical mythology inform modern superhero tales and psychological theory, and how ancient empires and social institutions, such as slavery, have helped to justify both revolutions and dictatorships.

The rich choice of subjects available in the Classics and Ancient History major will teach you about gladiatorial games, epic heroes, the afterlife and ancient death rituals as well as Greek and Roman histories, mythologies, languages, art, archaeology, literature and societies. As well as being taught how to read and analyse ancient sources, you will be trained to analyse films, television and other modern interpretations of the ancient world. These textual analysis skills will enable you to better understand aspects of ancient cultures including warfare, gender roles, social status and ethnic identity. Upon completion of this major you will have a solid understanding of the ancient world, as well its importance for later history and contemporary society.