Bachelor of Arts

Breadth subjects

What are breadth studies?

Breadth studies are a feature of Melbourne's New Generation undergraduate degrees. If you are studying the Bachelor of Arts, Breadth allows you to study up to 25 per cent of your program, usually six subjects, outside the area of Arts.

Why is breadth important

Breadth subjects are a feature of Melbourne's New Generation undergraduate degrees. They enable you to tap other bodies of knowledge, methods of enquiry, personal and professional skills, and ways of knowing. In today's workplaces technologies keep changing, knowledge is renewed and extended rapidly, and innovative and professional work relies on an international outlook, and the ability to collaborate across wide and diverse networks.To succeed and make lasting contributions, tomorrow's leaders will be those who can appreciate and orchestrate the efforts of experts from many different fields, stay current with new technologies and be attuned to different cultures and contexts.

Employers have endorsed the Melbourne Model approach, explaining that while graduates still require a profound understanding of their discipline, they must appreciate the broader context in which their skills will be employed and be ready to apply their knowledge to an increasingly wide range of situations.

Visit the University's Handbook to search the full range of breadth subject offerings offered to Bachelor of Arts students.

Choosing your Breadth subjects

As you explore your breadth options, you should consider questions such as:

• What subjects interest me most?
• What kind of career may I want to pursue?
• Do I want to keep studying a language or maths?
• What subjects would be useful to me in the future?

Other practicalities to consider when making a choice about which breadth subjects to pursue include:

• Do you have the VCE or equivalent prerequisites for the subjects you wish to study (only some Breadth subjects will have extra prerequisites)?
• Do your first year Breadth subjects meet the prerequisites for what you wish to study in second or third year?
• Will your first year timetable will allow you to attend all the classes for the mix of subjects you have chosen?
• Do your Breadth subjects have quotas? If yes, are spaces available?

Students who cannot decide which Breadth subjects to study can speak with an advisor from the Arts Student Centre after they have accepted their offer to study the Bachelor of Arts and anytime during their studies.

Learn more about Breadth at the University of Melbourne from this link.