BA/Law - - Journalism? International Studies? (1 Viewer)

[d.i.m.e Babii]

I went to the Open Day on Saturday and I was really interested in their International Studies there. I liked the prospects of going over to a different country for a year and just living there. So I was wondering is International Studies worth it? What do you do in it?

How about Journalism? What's it like? What did you like most about the courses?

UTS' rep for Law? What do people doing a combined law degree think about it?

UAC Applications are due in about a month but I'm tossing up between ;

Law/Journalism
Law/International Studies
Journalism/International Studies

Which is the best bet?

 

[kami]

Communications (Journalism) - what you do
If you do the Journalism degree then you will do the following:

• Cultural Studies. Basically where you discuss contemporary cultures, how everything from a milk carton to a hobo is a text, faith, poetics, telling stories and so on. If you do Law as well then you will only do 1 subject of this in first year, however if you do a single degree or international studies in combination then you must do 2.
• Social Science. Basically discuss social needs, history and politics especially from an Australian perspective. We look at things like British colonialism, the plight of the disabled, power of the state and so on. If you do Law as well then you will only do 1 subject of this in first year, however if you do a single degree or international studies in combination then you must do 2.
• Communications. This is basically analysing how information is distributed and interpreted. We discuss things from Murdoch's control of the media to theories of Marxism and Liberalism etc. This subject will be part of your journalism major and thus you will continue with it for a fair while.
• Journalism. In first year this is divided up into modules like radio, print, television etc with proffessionals in each area acting as your tutor for the duration of that module. In later years you can specialise in radio or magazine editing etc.
• Electives. If you do either the single degree, or the international studies degree combined with this[*not* law], you will have a decent amount of electives at your disposal which you can take in pretty much any humanities subject at UTS or if you wish you can take your electives at another uni.

Something that might also interest you is that the communications course itself has no exams...just assessments.

International Studies - what you do
International Studies always works as part of a double degree program. You start your International Studies stuff in second year and you will do the following:

• A single subject where you study the culture of your chosen country, assessment is mainly essays I think.
• A subject on comparative social change, which is sort of a sociology type subject that looks at things on a more international scale. If this is combined with law, then instead you will do a subject on international legal studies.
• Four language subjects in your given language. Classes will be offered for all levels of foreign language competency. French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese or Thai will be taught at UTS campus in seminar form (ie in classes and workshops as opposed to lectures). If you wish to major in another language then UTS will make arrangements with another university for you and you may study that language subject there.
• In country study: You will spend two semesters in your chosen country in the second last year of your degree, with the subjects that you are able to choose constrained mainly by the language competency achieved at UTS previously. The countries you can choose include: Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latin USA, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the Phillipines, Vietnam and certain others pending individual arrangements.

I know very little about law so can't really comment on that.

 

[d.i.m.e Babii]

Hey Kami thanks for the rundown! But I just wanted to know, cos in the International Studies bit you said we have to learn 4 languages of the lot you gave us there. Is that right? Or issit only one subject?

 

[Kanga]

Hey,
You only have to learn 1 language! Phew!
Language classes start in 2nd year, continue into 3rd year, and then in your 4th year you get to go overseas, then back again to Australia for your final year. UTS pay for your airfare which is pretty sweet. I'm an ex UTS person with loads of friends who are doing International Studies - they love it. I've just been overseas to visit one of my friends who is in Italy at the moment as part of her degree - I don't think she'll ever come back!

 

[snickerdoodle]

I'm a Journo student and I'd say don't do journalism unless it's a seriously viable career path. I've seen loads of students just go "What the hell are we doing here?"

The good part is UTS is awesome if journalism is what you're passionate about. The tutors are fantastic and from the get go you're hustling to find sources and ring contacts for news stories. I just finished my radio module for journo2 and the equipment used is of a really professional standard.

The worst part of it is the first year core subjects suck the penis (I'm sure kami will vouch for this). But that's what we all have to go through as UTS humanities students so it's something you can live with til you get to the really good stuff.

 

[d.i.m.e Babii]

So what's Journalism in first year like? What do you learn? Very pratical? Or Very theory?

 

[snickerdoodle]

Journalism class itself (every Thursday or Friday for 3 hours) is about 30/70 theory/practical. So you learn how to construct a news story (etc) but the whole point of the assignments are to find a story, find sources, record interviews with sources, and put together a conceivably publishable piece of work. It's awesome if journalism is what you want to do in life.

The other subjects (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) are completely theory laden. They're core subjects that bring together all strands of the degree, so you'll be doing Communication and Information Environments, Power and Change in Australia and Contemporary Cultures 1 in 1st semester.