Arts

High-achieving graduates of the Bachelor of Arts can enhance their degree with a one-year honours qualification.

An honours degree enables you to:

• deepen your understanding of a specialist topic
• produce an in-depth dissertation or creative work
• enhance your research, analytical and communication skills
• join a community of like-minded, inspiring researchers
• increase your appeal to future employers
• support your eligibility for doctoral level studies.

Specialise in a research area
In your honours year you’ll deepen your knowledge of your chosen area, with the guidance of an honours supervisor.

Your research topic will be related to your undergraduate studies.

After completing an in-depth independent study (with the support of your supervisor) you’ll apply the concepts learned to a dissertation or creative project.

Please refer to the handbook for additional course overview information.

Why study

This innovative program offers students the opportunity to develop a unique individual research project in a critical and supportive learning environment. Our on-campus facilities are among the best in Australia and the supervision, academic and technical support structures are widely recognised in Australia and overseas.

Our Honours programs in Humanities have established one of the most successful achievement profiles for graduates in the Southeast Asian region with a high proportion of graduates moving to MPhil, MFA and PhD studies at leading universities in Australia and overseas. Honours graduates who choose to enter higher degrees by research are able to apply for government and university scholarship support.

A Curtin Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree is an internationally recognised indicator of academic success. Graduating students may choose to apply for entry to a Master of Philosophy, Doctor of Creative Arts or Doctor of Philosophy higher degree by research, available at Curtin or elsewhere. For those who choose to establish professional practice in the creative industries, the opportunities for employment with an Honours degree are thoroughly enhanced.

How this course will make you industry ready

Humanities Honours will enable students to deepen their knowledge in their chosen area of specialisation through the support of a supervisor and coursework units designed to develop skills in research and analysis. This one-year program 'adds value' to an undergraduate degree by developing students' research, analytical and communication skills, preparing successful graduates for higher degree by research or industry employment.

Student profile

View our student profile table to get an indication of the likely peer cohort for new students at Curtin University. This table provides data on students that commenced undergraduate study and passed the census date in the most relevant recent intake period for which data are available. It includes those admitted through all offer rounds and international students studying in Australia.

What you'll learn

• apply knowledge of abstract ideas to the investigation of a research or creative research outcome
• critically evaluate the effectiveness of research techniques to apply an appropriate analytical mode of investigation
• formulate a research question, apply an appropriate methodology to provide an informed address to that question, and assess the evidence gathered to reach a conclusion
• effectively communicate orally, visually, and in written format an argument based on research and/or creative findings
• access and apply in an accurate manner the appropriate information and communication technology resources for a research project
• work independently to produce a dissertation or a combination of an exegesis and creative project
• generate new understandings and interpretation of issues by drawing on a range of perspectives
• employ new understandings within the field of Humanities to achieve research objectives
• apply research skills both collaboratively and individually in a discipline