Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies

The Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies with Sydney College of the Arts will allow you to develop the conceptual, theoretical and technical skills you will need to succeed as a practising artist or in a range of careers in the creative industries.

First year develops your creative practice through projects designed to expand your awareness of the potentialities of contemporary art practice. You will be introduced to two-dimensional, three-dimensional and four-dimensional realms of studio based creative practice in a range of contemporary art disciplines in SCA’s well equipped studios. You will be introduced to interdisciplinary principles and relevant theories designed to blend conceptual and technical proficiencies, in order to develop your own critical and visual language, ideas and mode of expression.

In addition to your studio studies, you will also be required to undertake units in Art History in your first and second years of study. These units will widen your cultural and historical awareness as well as your literacy with both historical and contemporary art. You will also have the option of doing a major in Art History, which is strongly encouraged if you wish to pursue fourth year Advanced Coursework or Honours studies.

In second year, you will select one area of emphasis through focused assessment projects. The areas of emphasis are:

• Ceramics
• Glass
• Jewellery
• Painting
• Photomedia
• Printmedia
• Screen Arts
• Sculpture

Here you will explore and develop emerging ideas and a personal artistic voice. Your studies will be supported by tailored technical workshops across all areas.

Third year is the consolidation of your creative practice. You will work on self-directed projects that continue to develop and extend concepts, theories and methods learned first and second year. You may take a disciplinary or interdisciplinary approach to a refined body of work appropriate for the graduate exhibition, a public event held at the conclusion of semester two.

Degree structure and requirements

Bachelor of Visual Arts

To qualify for the award of Bachelor of Visual Arts, a candidate must complete 144 credit points including:

• 72 credit points of Studio units from the Visual Arts table
• 24 credit points of Art History units, of which 12 credit points must be from 1000 level and 12 credit points must be from 2000 or 3000 level from the Visual Arts table
• 48 credit points from elective units in the:
  –Visual Arts table or
  –Table O or
  – Table S Electives which may include a minor or major excluding the Visual Arts major or minor from Table S

Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Advanced Studies

To qualify for the award of Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies, a candidate must complete 192 credit points including:

• 72 credit points of Studio units from the Visual Arts table
• 24 credit points of Art History units, of which 12 credit points must be from 1000 level and 12 credit points must be from 2000 or 3000 level from the Visual Arts table
• A 48 credit points major excluding the Visual Arts major from Table S
• 12 credit points of Open Learning Environment units of study from Table O
• A minimum of 24 credit points at 4000 level as listed in the Visual Arts table
• Where appropriate, elective units of study from Table O or Table S Electives

Majors and minors

A major consists of 48 credit points in a single subject area. A minor consists of 36 credit points in a single discipline area.

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Visual Arts may choose to complete a major or a minor (excluding the Visual Arts major and minor) from Table S (shared pool) to meet degree requirements.

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Visual Arts and Bachelor of Advanced Studies must complete a major (excluding the Visual Arts major) from Table S.

Note: Students undertaking the Bachelor of Visual Arts / Bachelor of Advanced Studies (BVA/BAdvSt), pass or honours, are strongly encouraged to complete the Art History major. The skills and knowledge earned in doing so will equip students with the higher levels of understanding required in the final stages of their study. Students undertaking an Art History major will have space to undertake up to 24 credit points of BVA elective units. Students undertaking a major other than Art History will need to take 48 credit points in that subject area as well as the mandatory 24 credit points from Art History. This would preclude taking Bachelor of Visual Arts studio electives.

Advanced coursework

The Bachelor of Advanced Studies in SLAM offers students a program tailored to their disciplinary interests. Through units of study and individually designed projects, each student, guided by a disciplinary expert, will engage in advanced seminars that complement their individual research in project units. In SLAM this may be within the study of arts-based practices such as visual art, film, performance and writing, as well as literature, linguistics, or live and digitised media. Each student will be encouraged to develop and apply advanced disciplinary knowledge and methodologies to researching the past, present and future at local, regional and global levels in creative ways. In the Bachelor of Advanced Studies, students will have the opportunity to apply disciplinary knowledges and methodologies to the legacies of the past, the complexities of the present and possible futures in the areas of communication, literature and art.

Requirements and units of study for advanced coursework can be found on the Visual Arts advanced coursework units of study page.

Elective units of study

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Visual Arts, and in the Bachelor of Visual Arts / Bachelor of Advanced Studies can complete elective units of study from the subject areas listed in Table A (Arts and Social Sciences), Table S (shared pool), and Table O (Open Learning Environment).

The available units of study are listed in Table A Subject Areas of this handbook and Table S in the Interdisciplinary Studies handbook.

Details of available OLE units can be found in Table O in the Interdisciplinary Studies Handbook.

Honours

The honours year allows you to extend your potential in studio-based and written research. You may continue to work in the area of your undergraduate study or undertake research in a different area.

You can choose to complete honours in Visual Arts either by studio practice and research paper; or by dissertation.

Your final examination will take place at the graduate exhibition at the end of the honours year. You are required to present your research paper and studio work; or dissertation with an oral examination, both to a panel of two examiners.

To allow for the level of critical awareness requisite for a successful completion of BVA/BAdvSt (Honours), both in the reflections on the studio project and in the shaping of the written component, it is strongly advised that students follow the Art History major pathway from the first year of the BVA/BAdvSt onwards. See the example pathway below.

Honours admission requirements

Admission into Honours is via the Bachelor of Advanced Studies or Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) and requires the following:

- completion of the Bachelor of Visual Arts with an average of 70% or above;

- completion of a second major* where undertaking the Bachelor of Advanced Studies;

- presentation of a research proposal outlining the proposed topic of investigation;

- for students with a pass degree from an institution other than the University of Sydney, the presentation of a portfolio of creative work demonstrating a level of expertise of for honours level is also required.

Prior to commencing honours, you will need to ensure you have completed all other requirements of the Bachelor of Visual Arts or other bachelor degree, including Open Learning Environment (OLE) units.

* Students entering honours from the University of Sydney BVA who have not completed a second major can enrol in up to 12 credit points to complete the requirements for a second major concurrently with honours in fourth year.


Requirements for honours
The requirements for honours in Visual Arts are described in the degree resolutions for the Bachelor of Visual Arts/Bachelor of Advanced Studies.

Requirements and units of study for honours can be found on the Visual Arts honours units of study page.

Contacts and further information

Website: Sydney College of the Arts
Website: School of Literature, Art and Media

Example Pathway

*Table S major or minor excluding Visual Arts major or minor

Bachelor of Visual Arts / Bachelor of Advanced Studies advanced coursework and Art History major

Bachelor of Visual Arts / Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Honours) with an Art History major