Who else plans on doing a Bachelor of Arts at USYD in 2012? (1 Viewer)

[fakermaker]

85 is the requirement, I received 96.65 so I'm pretty certain to be accepted.

Anyone else? What subjects do you plan on selecting?

Also, can anyone tell me how many subjects we get for the first year, I've been told 8 but I am yet to confirm this.

Thanks

 

[OzKo]

Yes, you indeed get 8 different units of study within a calender year in most cases. The credit points for some units may differ from the standard 6 in certain cases.

 

[Valdek]

I am! I'm undecided as to what actual units i'm going to take..
But, I plan on taking one unit each from:

-Political Economy
-Gvt/Int. Relations
-Philosophy
-and History

 

[fakermaker]

I am! I'm undecided as to what actual units i'm going to take..
But, I plan on taking one unit each from:

-Political Economy
-Gvt/Int. Relations
-Philosophy
-and History

Remove Political Economy and I'm the exact same. I attended the P.E lecture today but I wasnt engaged...too much economics.

Any general idea of what topics you plan on studying in the other three?

For Govt, I think I might take something middle eastern. I have a really broad interest in history and pretty much anything from the middle east, soviet union, communist china or either world wars will suffice. Not entirely sure about the philosophy one yet, I've seen a few on political philosophy which is my main interest, and some on German theorists like Nietzsche and stuff, but most are senior levels.

There's still time to make decisions, just annoying that the open day had a really narrow range of arts lectures.

 

[Aerath]

First year Political Economy was pretty amazing.

 

[Croompets]

are you sure you need an 85, because i was hoping to do it and got 83.55

 

[OzKo]

are you sure you need an 85, because i was hoping to do it and got 83.55

Last year the cut-off was 84.0 but this is obviously subject to change between rounds as it assumed that demand for a degree program is different in every case.

 

[Croompets]

yeah, i'm hoping it drops a bit, but if i don't i'll probably do agricultural economics and transfer

 

[Valdek]

Remove Political Economy and I'm the exact same. I attended the P.E lecture today but I wasnt engaged...too much economics.

Any general idea of what topics you plan on studying in the other three?

For Govt, I think I might take something middle eastern. I have a really broad interest in history and pretty much anything from the middle east, soviet union, communist china or either world wars will suffice. Not entirely sure about the philosophy one yet, I've seen a few on political philosophy which is my main interest, and some on German theorists like Nietzsche and stuff, but most are senior levels.

There's still time to make decisions, just annoying that the open day had a really narrow range of arts lectures.

I love the idea of ECOP with it's anti-neoclassical economics tendency so definitely sticking with it

In int. relations I wanted to do something middle eastern as well, if only I had the units space I would definitely do 'Arab World, Islam and the Middle East', but to no avail. I'm very interested in the very much geopolitical side of things and the varying role of governments/corporate actors in influencing stabilities in the region etc.
I have a huge passion for human rights as well so that kind of made me lean towards gvt/int. rel.

Philosophy --> I have no clue, probably something in the political philosophy side of things but then again as you say, they are the senior units. I've just been caught up in reading existentialist authors in my holiday break so that kind of sparked my interest in taking it. Not too sure if i'm going to end up going with philosophy but we shall see after some more research on the units.

History --> I love the Spanish civil war (/rant: it stems from an interest in how the anarcho-syndicalist and anti-authoritarian socialist tendencies within the country managed to temporarily set up an actual socialist society that was/is nothing like the Stalinist regimes around the world. Very captivating in my opinion.) So I definitely plan to take that unit at the earliest opportunity (probably 2nd year because it has prereqs). I'm definitely a modern history person so I might do modern diplomatic history...But still lots of research to do I guess.

But yeah I agree It was very annoying with the limited arts lectures. Although I've been told that they hand out a 'counter course' manual on the unit-signing-up day which has student reviews on subjects and units which should be quite helpful so I might use that to help me make a last-minute decision.

I'll see you there

 

[OzKo]

I love the idea of ECOP with it's anti-neoclassical economics tendency so definitely sticking with it

In int. relations I wanted to do something middle eastern as well, if only I had the units space I would definitely do 'Arab World, Islam and the Middle East', but to no avail. I'm very interested in the very much geopolitical side of things and the varying role of governments/corporate actors in influencing stabilities in the region etc.
I have a huge passion for human rights as well so that kind of made me lean towards gvt/int. rel.

Philosophy --> I have no clue, probably something in the political philosophy side of things but then again as you say, they are the senior units. I've just been caught up in reading existentialist authors in my holiday break so that kind of sparked my interest in taking it. Not too sure if i'm going to end up going with philosophy but we shall see after some more research on the units.

History --> I love the Spanish civil war (/rant: it stems from an interest in how the anarcho-syndicalist and anti-authoritarian socialist tendencies within the country managed to temporarily set up an actual socialist society that was/is nothing like the Stalinist regimes around the world. Very captivating in my opinion.) So I definitely plan to take that unit at the earliest opportunity (probably 2nd year because it has prereqs). I'm definitely a modern history person so I might do modern diplomatic history...But still lots of research to do I guess.

But yeah I agree It was very annoying with the limited arts lectures. Although I've been told that they hand out a 'counter course' manual on the unit-signing-up day which has student reviews on subjects and units which should be quite helpful so I might use that to help me make a last-minute decision.

I'll see you there

Well usually the counter-course handbook is uploaded online well within the year but it seems the SRC website is down at the moment so it is inaccessible. Nonetheless, keep a watch out if it comes back online.

 

[fakermaker]

History --> I love the Spanish civil war (/rant: it stems from an interest in how the anarcho-syndicalist and anti-authoritarian socialist tendencies within the country managed to temporarily set up an actual socialist society that was/is nothing like the Stalinist regimes around the world. Very captivating in my opinion.) So I definitely plan to take that unit at the earliest opportunity (probably 2nd year because it has prereqs). I'm definitely a modern history person so I might do modern diplomatic history...But still lots of research to do I guess.

As someone who loves socialist theory and history, this sounds fucking awesome.

However, I'm a bit cautious to do such an isolated history subject. Although there are many events I'd love to study, it seems like a lot of other topics have a more practical value. For example; Iran's 1979 revolution, the 1991 fall of Soviet Russia, and the formation of the Communist Party of China are all events which still greatly influence modern political relations, and a vast knowledge of them would aid in greatly understanding today's world.

But I guess its a personal choice and if you do well enough, there's always post-graduate opportunities.

Have fun at USYD, If I see the anarcho-syndicalist-anti-authoritarian socialist, I'll be sure to buy them a drink

 

[Valdek]

As someone who loves socialist theory and history, this sounds fucking awesome.

However, I'm a bit cautious to do such an isolated history subject. Although there are many events I'd love to study, it seems like a lot of other topics have a more practical value. For example; Iran's 1979 revolution, the 1991 fall of Soviet Russia, and the formation of the Communist Party of China are all events which still greatly influence modern political relations, and a vast knowledge of them would aid in greatly understanding today's world.

But I guess its a personal choice and if you do well enough, there's always post-graduate opportunities.

Have fun at USYD, If I see the anarcho-syndicalist-anti-authoritarian socialist, I'll be sure to buy them a drink

I definitely share your caution, I only picked that out because when I was looking at the units of study it got me particularly excited, and I've heard very good things about the lecturer who teaches the Spanish Civil War unit at USYD. Anything cold war-esque sounds good too, I'm just going to be shying away from anything ancient history. Not sure if i'll even end up doing senior history to-do-Spain, but yeah...
I love anarchist and socialist theory as well as philosophy of all persuasions so it's all fun fun fun.

I doubt I'll just be doing arts, I'm definitely the pseudo-intellectual type so I'll be pursuing post-grad if my marks suffice!

Definitely seek me out, i'll be the guy who is madly fending off or debating Socialist Alternative members who are known to rabidly hand out pamphlets to USYD students. Not a huge fan of them.

What do you think you will be doing as your fourth subject? Or are you sticking with just the three?

 

[fakermaker]

Definitely seek me out, i'll be the guy who is madly fending off or debating Socialist Alternative members who are known to rabidly hand out pamphlets to USYD students. Not a huge fan of them.

What do you think you will be doing as your fourth subject? Or are you sticking with just the three?

Haha, I really cant stand the SA. I used to subscribe to Green Left Weekly, but I found myself reading less and less of it as I skipped all of the sensationalised bullshit. By the end I had lost interest completely and would just throw it out as soon as it came. Plus talking to those kind of people is seriously mind-numbing. They are so anti-authoritarian and plain retarded, not to mention that the SA would turn up to the opening of an envelope if it gave them an opportunity to scream their bullshit.

I'm definitely doing four subjects, just not quite sure what. Since its my first year, I would prefer to branch out and try a range of different subjects and just get a feel for what my interests are, and would I could pursue in future study. I was considering choosing an english subject, but I'm not so sure. I love reading, but not so much analysing texts (it kinda kills them)...plus I hate creative writing and poetry, so I think english might be a bit of a waste.

But History, Politics and Philosophy are massive subjects. I could look into Islam and China at the same time, or pick up a course on ethics or metaphysics. Definitely going to have to look into it.