Graduate Profile for the
Bachelor of Arts with Honours (BA(Hons))

Preamble

The papers offered by the University of Waikato towards the Bachelor of Arts with Honours (BA (Hons)) have been designed to achieve the following particular outcomes involving 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 relationships and networks with national and international academic and professional musical communities 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(Hons) is the culmination of a one-year programme of advanced study in one or two Arts subjects which candidates have already pursued to a high level in their first degree.

Mastery of Content

Graduates of the BA (Hons) will have a detailed and advanced knowledge of at least one of the following Humanities subjects:

Chinese
Education Studies
English
French
German
History
Japanese
Māori
Mathematics
Music
Philosophy
Political Science
Romance Languages
Screen and Media Studies

• Because of the flexibility of the BA (Hons) degree programme, graduates may have taken up to two papers from a second subject (both within and outside the Humanities subjects including Theatre Studies and Religious Studies).
• Graduates will have advanced knowledge of the main methods of enquiry in their subject(s) of choice.
• Graduates will have advanced knowledge of the different approaches to solving problems and the techniques applicable to research in their area(s) of study.

Acquisition of Skills

Graduates of the BA (Hons) 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 develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts in their subject(s).
• ability to apply the methods and techniques that they have learned.
• ability to present, evaluate, and interpret qualitative and quantitative data.
• ability to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.
• ability to effectively communicate information, arguments, and analyses in a variety of forms, to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• 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.
• ability to evaluate critically current scholarship in the discipline.
• ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project and to adjust the project in the light of unforeseen problems.
• ability to work effectively in a team.
• ability to negotiate effectively.
• information literacy - ability to locate, evaluate and use information in a range of contexts.

Development of Attributes

Graduates of this degree will have had the opportunity to develop:

• an advanced level of appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge.
• the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility.
• confidence to make decisions in complex and unpredictable contexts.
• the learning ability needed to undertake appropriate further education and/or training.
• self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.
• confidence to act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks.
• an advanced awareness of ethical issues

Graduate Pathways in Further Education

Various postgraduate diplomas

Master of Arts
Master of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy

Community and Workplace Prospects

Many of the subjects studied by Bachelor of Arts (Hons) 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 (with Honours) 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 (with Honours) 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, 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.

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.

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.