Program Overview

Foundation Studies prepares you for a successful transition to degree-level study, providing a pathway to the first year of study of a bachelor’s degree at Murdoch University.

This course is suited to you if you:

• Need an entrance qualification for Murdoch University
• Want to accelerate your university preparation after Year 11, or equivalent
• Want to change your degree stream after Year 11, or equivalent

Course Structure
For Foundation Studies you will complete eight units over two study periods, studying a combination of core and elective units. The units you will undertake will be determined by your chosen degree. All students must complete the two English units and at least one unit from each Discipline Group.

Each unit of study builds concepts from an introductory level through to university entrance level. The units are designed to develop your learning techniques as well as bridging gaps in your unit knowledge.

• English
  • Essential Australian Studies
  • Introduction to Academic Communication
• Mathematics
  • Introductory Mathematics
  • Mathematics for Science
• Science and Technology
  • Information Technology for Academic Studies
  • Computer Science
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
• The Arts
  • Introduction to Media
  • Media Production
• Business and Legal Studies
  • Accounting
  • Management
  • Economics

Leading to: Bachelor of Arts
Develop the kind of communication, creative-thinking and interpersonal skills that will make you highly employable across a range of careers.

You could be a tourist in your own city to get a new perspective. You could study community development or international aid – or learn to put your creative thinking to work for government agencies, corporations or organisations anywhere in the world.

The Bachelor of Arts embraces new directions in teaching and practice-based learning to train the thinkers and researchers of the 21st century. Many of the biggest and most vital issues we face today are about human society and the human condition. How can we understand who we are, how we want to live, or what kind of society we want to create, without the insights, knowledge and skills provided by the humanities?

Major: Philosophy
Philosophy is the foundation of all other disciplines. It focuses on the very scope and limits of human understanding and deals with the most fundamental knowledge of the world and ourselves.

All systematic enquiry is ultimately grounded in philosophy. It’s the art of clear thinking, the ability to address the most fundamental questions in life and an understanding of how to revise our conceptual frameworks in order to elicit change in the world, which sets up you as a philosophy student to become a competent thinker, leader, and innovator who makes a real impact. The Philosophy course at Murdoch introduces students to the major strands of philosophical thought as well as offering three special focus areas: ethics and political philosophy, 20th century European philosophy, and history of metaphysics.

3 reasons to study Philosophy at Murdoch

• You’ll learn critical thinking and analytic skills – identified by employers as two of the most important attributes for the future workforce.
• Studying philosophy is immensely rewarding – it sets you up on a life-long trajectory of taking pleasure in learning and enables you to think outside the box.
• Philosophy at Murdoch is focused on real-world issues: study contemporary problems in ethics and justice, the relationship between philosophy, politics, and economics, or the relationship between power and knowledge.

What you’ll learn
Build the knowledge and skills you need to meet your career or study goals. Here are some of the things you’ll learn:

• Critical and creative thinking
• Logical reasoning
• Advanced communication skills
• Ethical problem-solving
• History of ideas and their impact on the sciences, literature, art and society