Graduate Profile for
Bachelor of Arts (BA)

2006

Preamble

The papers offered by the University of Waikato towards the Bachelor of Arts (BA) have been designed to achieve the mastery of content, acquisition of skills and development of attributes. Learning experiences are incorporated into the programme to bring about these desired outcomes, and assessment is designed to ensure that students have the opportunity to demonstrate their achievement.

The University has developed strong relationships and networks with communities and businesses to ensure that its programmes and qualifications are relevant and responsive to our students’ needs as well as their needs. The University is also responsive to a range of social and economic goals which have been identified as priorities by Government. The generic capabilities developed by our graduates are of critical importance, as are specialist knowledge and skills. This graduate profile includes an outline of its links with other education sector groups, community groups, industry and employers who have an interest in the capabilities of graduates of this qualification, who contribute to programme planning and development and who also, in many cases, provide workplace experience opportunities.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences seeks in all its qualifications to familiarise students with central bodies of knowledge in the subject areas of Arts and Social Sciences, to encourage the development of the ability to analyse such knowledge critically, to provide the skills needed to articulate their knowledge and positions and to contribute to the extension of knowledge by research.

The BA is a three-year programme of study of subjects in the area of human culture and society. It entails the detailed study of one such subject while allowing candidates to choose supporting subjects from a wide range of other related areas of knowledge.

Mastery of Content

Bachelor of Arts graduates have advanced knowledge in at least one of the following Humanities subjects:

American Studies
Asian Studies
Chinese
Drama (Theatre Studies)
Education Studies
English
French
German
History
Japanese
Linguistics
Te Reo Māori
Tikanga Māori
Māori and Pacific Development
Mathematics
Music
New Zealand Studies
Philosophy
Political Science
Religious Studies
Screen and Media Studies
Spanish

• They also develop breadth of knowledge through study of a supporting subject or subjects. The supporting subjects are those listed above together with Art History, Classical Studies, English for Academic Purposes, Pacific Studies, Population Studies/Demography, Social Science Research, Te Tiriti O Waitangi and Women’s and Gender Studies.
• Because of the flexibility of the BA degree programme, graduates may have taken up to eight papers outside the Arts subjects or have completed a double major with in an Arts subject and another outside the Arts subjects.
• Graduates will have knowledge of the main methods of enquiry in their subject(s) of choice.
• Graduates will have knowledge of the different approaches to solving problems and the techniques applicable to research in their area(s) of study.

Acquisition of Skills

Bachelor of Arts graduates will have critical thinking skills, oral and communications skills, self-directed learning skills and more specific skills relevant to their subject(s) of choice. These skills will include:

• the ability to engage critically with information presented in a range of media and styles.
• the ability to analyse and evaluate information and the ability to formulate reasoned arguments leading to rational conclusions.
• the ability to solve problems by synthesizing and critically assessing information and applying it appropriately.
• the ability to apply a high level of communication skills in English and/or Māori or other languages, such as Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.
• a familiarity with the appropriate conventions for formal academic communication in the Humanities disciplines.
• the ability to structure their communication clearly and to express sophisticated and subtle concepts and arguments in an articulate manner and in a variety of forms to specialist and non-specialist audiences .
• the ability to access information from a range of media (including electronic media) and evaluate its relevance to a situation or topic.
• the ability to utilise their learning skills to provide them with the means of continuing learning throughout life.
• the ability to be self-directed in their approach and to plan their work to meet time and other constraints.
• the ability to apply underlying concepts and principles outside the context in which they were first studied, including, where appropriate, the application of those principles in an employment context.
• the ability to evaluate critically current scholarship in the discipline.
• the ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project and to adjust the project in the light of unforeseen problems.
• And skills, depending on their particular area of study, in the performing arts.

Development of Attributes

Bachelor of Arts graduates will have:

• intellectual judgement, flexibility and adaptability due developed by their exposure to rival perspectives, approaches, and theories, and their experience of grappling with open-ended questions.
• an ability to judge and assess, and to integrate knowledge. These attributes equip them to confront a wide variety of unanticipated tasks and situations (in employment and elsewhere).
• the capacity for cross-cultural communication.
• the capacity for working cooperatively with diverse groups and individuals and contributing effectively to collective projects.
• an ability to determine criteria for evaluating their own and others’ performance in relation to a task.
• an awareness and understanding of ethical issues that relate to their area of study and its application.
• an international, bicultural and multicultural perspective and understanding fostering tolerance and respect.

Graduate Pathways in Further Education

Bachelor of Arts graduates are equipped to proceed onto a wide range of qualifications, including the following offered by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences:

Bachelor of Arts with Honours
Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours
Graduate Diploma in Arts
Graduate Diploma in Social Sciences
Graduate Diploma in Applied Ethics
Graduate Diploma in Religious Studies
Graduate Diploma in Screen and Media Studies
Graduate Diploma in Social Science Research
Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations and Security Studies
Postgraduate Diploma in Public Policy
Postgraduate Diploma in Second Language Teaching
Master of Arts
Master of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy

Or the following qualifications offered by the School of M āori and Pacific Development:

Bachelor of Arts with Honours
Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours
Postgraduate Diploma in M āori and Pacific Development
Postgraduate Diploma in Interpreting and Translating Māori
Master of Arts
Master of Māori and Pacific Development
Master of Social Sciences
Master of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy

Community and Workplace Prospects

Many of the subjects studied by Bachelor of Arts graduates equip graduates for specific careers. For instance, Screen and Media Studies graduates might become arts marketing administrators, directors and producers, media relations advisor, media research executive, professional fundraiser, public affairs specialist, public relations consultants or journalists. History graduates might become historians, museum curators, heritage researchers or work in community development (for instance, with tribal authorities). Foreign language graduates might work in the diplomatic service or become international marketing managers, trade commissioners, interpreters or translators.

Further examples of possible workplace prospects include the following: author, musician, politician, international product manager, academic administrator, communications coordinator, educator (at all levels: primary, secondary, tertiary), ESL teacher, tertiary education advisor, events manager, publicity administrator, reporter, researcher, media reviewer, film music production, human-computer interface research, music technician, policy officer, strategist or analyst in government departments (for instance, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Treasury, Te Puni Kokiri) or for the NZ Defence Force or for non-governmental organisations, research design and analysis consultant and television presenter.

However, more generally the breadth of the overall skills and attributes Bachelor of Arts graduates have acquired through their studies provide them with the critical analysis skills and the understanding to make a positive, relevant and innovative contribution to the social and economic development, the labour market and community of New Zealand.

Networks into Other Sectors

There are subject areas within the Bachelor of Art and departments and individual staff members that have networks and relationships with a diverse range of business, community and other relevant sectors, the support and input of which are invaluable to the disciplines. These include, for instance, networks and relationships with the wider education sector, particularly with secondary schools, linguistic and cultural groups, iwi bodies (i.e. Marae committees),creative, theatrical and performing groups, embassies, government, business organisations, historical organisations, international organisations, and industrial and professional groups or organisations. These networks are dynamic and range from local and regional networks to links with national and international bodies. Music and Drama (Theatre Studies), for example, have links directly with the public at large through the Performing Arts Academy. Screen and Media Studies have links at present to Big TV, which is a free community service, and to the New Zealand Association for Media Education (NAME) and the New Zealand branch of the Australasian Teachers of Media (ATOM) . History has close links with the New Zealand Historical Association and English with Creative New Zealand and the Fulbright Foundation. M ā ori have close national and international links with organisations such as Te Taura Whiri te reo M ā ori, the Ministry of Education, and Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE).

These networks and relationships contribute to the learning of the students and to the ongoing development of the programmes. The breadth of experience, relevance and access to the community brings home to the students that what they are studying is a society of which we are part. These also ensure the students are informed by and about the wider society and world of which we are a part through research related teaching.

The emphasis on literacy and communication skills, not only within specific subjects, but also in specific papers (such as English.Confidence) has been and continues to be developed in response to clearly articulated demands from a wide range of sectors for literacy.

More generalised links and networks exist as many subject areas provide consultancy services using their expertise to the greater community.

Workplace or other sector experience opportunities are provided through these networks and relationships, particularly in the case of Screen and Media Studies, Drama (Theatre Studies), Music and the foreign languages programmes.