Honours

WHY DO HONOURS IN ASIAN STUDIES?

• Choosing to do Honours in Asian Studies gives you a chance to conduct real, in-depth research on an issue relating to Asia.

• Supervisors in Asian Studies have an intimate knowledge of Asia–staff speak an Asian language fluently and have considerable experience in living in and researching Asia.

• An Honours degree distinguishes you from regular graduates–better career opportunities and higher starting salaries.

• An Honours degree also gives you the research skills needed for jobs involving research and entry into postgraduate programs such as Master of Arts or the PhD.

WHO CAN DO HONOURS?

• Prospective students should have completed a 3-year BA (Asian Studies) degree or 3-year BA degree with a major in Asian Studies from UWA.

• Students doing joint degrees should complete both degrees before doing Honours in Asian Studies with the exception of Asian Studies and Law where students who have completed the Asian Studies component may interrupt their Law degree to take Honours in Asian Studies.

• Students will not be admitted to Honours unless they have achieved 65% and above in at least 72 points in the pass degree, of which at least 36 points should be taken at higher level in the Asian Studies major.

• Students who do not meet this requirement may still apply but will need to make a special case.

HONOURS IN AN ASIAN LANGUAGE

• Students may also take Honours in Chinese, Indonesian or Japanese if they have taken a language as a major in the BA (Asian Studies) degree. Students must have achieved 65% and above in at least 72 points in the pass degree, of which at least 36 points should be taken at higher level in the relevant language.

HOW TO ENROL FOR HONOURS

• All students enrolling for Honours will be required to discuss their programme with the Asian Studies Honours Coordinator and/or Discipline Chair.

• Current UWA Arts students should apply to the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science.

• Students who are completing an undergraduate degree at another university must apply for admission to the UWA honours program through the UWA Admissions Centre. Further details and the Honours Application (EXTERNAL APPLICANTS) Form are available from http://www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/undergrad/international/honours.

• Students may enrol as full-time or part-time, or a combination thereof.

CAN I DEFER THE HONOUSR YEAR?

You may defer the honours year after completing your Bachelor degree for up to seven years.

WHAT DOES AN HONOURS DEGREE ENTAIL?

• If you enrol full-time, your timetable will resemble the following (if you enrol part-time it will be spread out over 3 or 4 semesters):

• Asian Studies Seminar Unit: Issues and Problems in Asian Studies (6 points)

• One other unit of your choice (either an Honours Seminar unit in another programme, an Honours level language topic, or an individually designed special reading and research topic) (6 points)

• Thesis (12 points)

• Asian Studies Seminar Unit: Theory and Methodology in the Social Sciences (6 points)

• One other unit of your choice (either an Honours Seminar unit in another programme, an Honours level language topic, or an individually designed special reading and research topic) (6 points)

• Thesis (12 points)

JOINT OR COGNATE HONOURS PROGRAMMES

• Students who are eligible for Honours entry in more than one discipline (i.e. those who have completed their BA with a double or triple major) may wish to consider a joint Honours programme.

• Joint Honours requires the approval of both disciplines involved.

• Joint Honours programmes will normally incorporate seminars from both disciplines, along with a dissertation on a topic related to both disciplines and jointly supervised by staff from both disciplines.

• Students who are not qualified or do not wish to take a joint Honours programme may still take a seminar from outside their home discipline. The Special Approval forms for students taking a cognate seminar should be signed by both Honours Coordinators or Discipline Chair.

RECENT HONOURS DISSERTATION TOPICS IN ASIAN STUDIES

• Adelescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in Indonesia: Investing in the Future?
• Identity of Young 'Korean Japanese'
• Protest in Contemporary China: A Review of the Political and Socio-Economic Consequences
• Eager to Leave: China and the Transnational Flow of People
• Questioning the Benevolence of Civil Society: A Case Study of Society and Exclusion in the Arab Gulf
• Australia's Involvement in Peace Operations in South Asia: Interests, Contributions and Potential
• Perceptions of Marginalisation: Issues surrounding the Islamisation of the Malay/Muslim Community of Singapore
• Japanese Corproate Change: The Challengers of Employers and Employees from the Miracle, to the Recession, and now the current Day
• Mendicancy with Chinese Characteristics. An Image problem? A Threat to Social Stability? or Symptomatic of Something Else?