The Bachelor of Arts is the most diverse, most flexible, and most popular degree at The Australian National University. Each of its some forty majors, in fields throughout the arts, humanities and social sciences, is taught by truly outstanding scholars to ensure that each student receives the very best education, is engaged with cutting-edge research, and learns to think like a researcher. These majors can be coupled with more than seventy minors and specialisations to broaden or deepen your study. Regardless of your choices, your Arts degree will provide you with core skills in critical analysis and in written and oral communication, while developing your adaptability and ability to help shape change and prepare you for a multifaceted career or further study.

Do you see yourself shaping Australia's foreign policy decisions? Or working with elite international organisations like the United Nations or our top spy agencies? The Bachelor of International Security Studies can help you make your dream career a reality.

When you study the Bachelor of International Security Studies you will delve deeply into the contemporary security threats facing nations, international organisations and businesses around the world – including the threat of military power, civil war, terrorism, cybercrime, environmental degradation and food security to name just a few.

Employment Opportunities

Graduates of the Bachelor of Arts may find work in publishing, policy, education, international development, politics, media, information technology, communications, journalism, aid, advertising, art conservation, government and many other fields.

Graduates of the Bachelor of Arts may find work in publishing, policy, education, international development, politics, media, information technology, communications, journalism, aid, advertising, art conservation, government and many other fields.

Learning Outcomes

1. critically apply theoretical frameworks and research techniques to understanding national and international issues and problems;
2. identify, including through interrogation of databases, relevant sources of information from across a variety of media (print and digital, written and audio-visual) and judge the importance and reliability of those sources;
3. evaluate ideas and develop creative solutions to problems, including through independent pursuit of knowledge and making connections between different disciplinary approaches and methods;
4. communicate and debate both orally and in writing, and work with others, using a variety of media; and
5. understand the ethical implications of ideas, communications, and actions.

1. Identify and explain the key concepts, ideas and principal actors in international security.
2. Evaluate the major theoretical frameworks for understanding the complexities of contemporary international security challenges.
3. Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the historical and contemporary dimensions of international, internal and transnational security, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.
4. Analyse the key challenges facing Australian security and defence policy in the ‘Asian Century’.
5. Reflect critically on the principal factors that determine the security policies of Australia and the major Asia-Pacific powers
6. Employ communication and presentation skills (oral, written and electronic)
7. Demonstrate teamwork and interpersonal skills
8. Exhibit the ability to write for both academic and professional audience

Further Information

APAC accreditation and pathway to Honours in Psychology

The Bachelor of Arts is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) when students complete the accredited sequence of psychology courses.

• Students admitted to an ANU BSc, BARTS or PhB prior to 2023 who wish to be eligible for Honours in Psychology must complete the courses from the Psychology major and specialisation in order to satisfy the APAC accredited sequence of courses and achieve the minimum required learning in Psychology. The minimum required learning is achieved by successful completion of PSYC1003 , PSYC1004 , PSYC2001 , PSYC2002 , PSYC2007 , PSYC2008 , PSYC2009 , PSYC3018 , PSYC3025 , PSYC3026 and an additional 2 x 3000 level PSYC courses (or, for PhB students, 3000 level SCNC courses with a psychology supervisor). It is strongly recommended students also complete PSYC2012 and PSYC3020 (PSYC3020 will contribute towards the additional 2 x 3000 level PSYC course requirement).
• Students admitted to an ANU BSc, BARTS or PhB from 2023 onwards who wish to be eligible for Honours in Psychology must complete the courses from the Psychology major and specialisation in order to satisfy the APAC accredited sequence of courses and achieve the minimum required learning in Psychology. The minimum required learning is achieved by successful completion of PSYC1003 , PSYC1004 , PSYC2001 , PSYC2007 , PSYC2008 , PSYC2009 , PSYC2012 , PSYC3018 , PSYC3020 , PSYC3025 , PSYC3026 and PSYC3202.

APAC accreditation and pathway to Honours in Psychology

The Bachelor of Arts is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) when students complete the accredited sequence of psychology courses.

• Students admitted to an ANU BSc, BARTS or PhB prior to 2023 who wish to be eligible for Honours in Psychology must complete the courses from the Psychology major and specialisation in order to satisfy the APAC accredited sequence of courses and achieve the minimum required learning in Psychology. The minimum required learning is achieved by successful completion of PSYC1003 , PSYC1004 , PSYC2001 , PSYC2002 , PSYC2007 , PSYC2008 , PSYC2009 , PSYC3018 , PSYC3025 , PSYC3026 and an additional 2 x 3000 level PSYC courses (or, for PhB students, 3000 level SCNC courses with a psychology supervisor). It is strongly recommended students also complete PSYC2012 and PSYC3020 (PSYC3020 will contribute towards the additional 2 x 3000 level PSYC course requirement).
• Students admitted to an ANU BSc, BARTS or PhB from 2023 onwards who wish to be eligible for Honours in Psychology must complete the courses from the Psychology major and specialisation in order to satisfy the APAC accredited sequence of courses and achieve the minimum required learning in Psychology. The minimum required learning is achieved by successful completion of PSYC1003 , PSYC1004 , PSYC2001 , PSYC2007 , PSYC2008 , PSYC2009 , PSYC2012 , PSYC3018 , PSYC3020 , PSYC3025 , PSYC3026 and PSYC3202.

Admission Requirements

Prerequisites

Adjustment Factors

Adjustment factors are additional points added to an applicant's Selection Rank (for example an applicant's ATAR). ANU offers adjustment factors based on performance and equity principles, such as for high achievement in nationally strategic senior secondary subjects and for recognition of difficult circumstances that students face in their studies. 

Selection Rank adjustments are granted in accordance with the approved schedules, and no more than 15 (maximum 5 subject/performance-based adjustment factors and maximum 10 equity-based adjustment factors) can be awarded. 

You may be considered for adjustment factors if you have:

• applied for an eligible ANU Bachelor degree program
• undertaken Australian Year 12 or the International Baccalaureate
• achieved an ATAR or equivalent at or above 70
• not previously attempted tertiary study.

Please visit the ANU Adjustment Factors website for further information.

Scholarships

ANU offers a wide range of scholarships to students to assist with the cost of their studies.

Eligibility to apply for ANU scholarships varies depending on the specifics of the scholarship and can be categorised by the type of student you are.  Specific scholarship application process information is included in the relevant scholarship listing.

For further information see the Scholarships website.

Program Requirements

The Bachelor of Arts flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:

A maximum of 36 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

The 96 units must consist of:

48 units from the completion of one of the following majors

MAJORS

Disciplines and Fields

Anthropology

Archaeology

Art History and Curatorial Studies

Australian Indigenous Studies

Biological Anthropology

Classical Studies

Composition

Composition for Film and Video Games

Criminology

Demography

Development Studies

Digital Humanities

Economic Studies

English

Environmental Studies

Gender, Sexuality and Culture

Geography

Global Security

History

Human Evolutionary Biology

Human Rights

International Communication

International Relations

Linguistics

Mathematics

Music

Music Technology

Musicology

Peace and Conflict Studies

Performance

Philosophy

Political Science

Popular Music

Psychology

Screen Studies

Sociology

War Studies

Languages

Ancient Greek

Arabic

Chinese Language

French Language and Culture

German Language and Culture

Hindi Language

Indonesian Language

Italian Language and Culture

Japanese Language

Japanese Linguistics

Korean Language

Latin

Persian

Sanskrit Language

Spanish

Thai Language

Vietnamese Language

Geographically Defined Area Studies

Asian Studies

Asian History

Asian and Pacific Culture, Media and Gender

Chinese Studies

Indian and South Asian Studies

Indonesian Studies

Japanese Studies

Korean Studies

Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies

Middle East Politics and Security

Northeast Asian Studies

Pacific Studies

Southeast Asian Studies

EITHER:

48 units from completion of a second major from the list above

OR

24 units from completion of one of the following minors, which must have a different name to the major

MINORS

Disciplines and Fields

Advanced Studies

Anthropology

Applied Linguistics

Archaeology

Australian Indigenous Studies

Biological Anthropology

Classical Studies

Climate Science and Policy

Criminology

Demography

Design

Development Studies

Digital Humanities

Economic Studies

English

Environmental Policy

Environmental Studies

Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Linguistics

Gender and Sexuality

Geography

Global Security

Health, Medicine and the Body

Heritage and Museum Studies

History

Human Ecology

Human Evolutionary Biology

Human Rights

Indian and South Asian Studies

International Communication

International Relations

Linguistics

Mathematics

Music

Peace and Conflict Studies

Philosophy and Science

Philosophy

Political Science

Screen Studies

Social Psychology

Social Research Methods

Sociology

Sustainable Development

Visual Arts Practice

War Studies

The Bachelor of International Security Studies flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:

A maximum of 36 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

The 96 units must consist of:

The 144 units must consist of:

24 units from completion of the following compulsory course list:

STST1001 Introduction to International Security Studies

STST1003 Coping with Crisis: The Practice of International Security

STST2001 Security Concepts in the Asia-Pacific

STST3002 Australia's Security in the Asian Century

Minimum of 6 units from completion of a course from the following concepts and methods course list:

HIST2110 Approaches to History

POLS2123 Peace and Conflict Studies

POLS2125 Game Theory and Social Sciences

SOCY2043 Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods

POLS2044 Contemporary Political Analysis

WARS2001 Theories of War: An historical and global perspective

POLS3001 Foreign Policy Analysis

POLS3017 International Relations Theory

Minimum of 36 units from completion of courses from the following list of Security Studies courses:

Asia-Pacific Security

ASIA2060 Southeast Asian Security

ASIA2111 Indonesian Foreign and Security Policy

INTR2012 Chinese Foreign and Security Policy

INTR2014 Indian Foreign and Security Policy

INTR2016 US Foreign and Security Policy in Asia

INTR2018 Japanese Foreign and Security Policy

INTR2020 (In)Stability on the Korean Peninsula

INTR2024 The Politics of Nuclear Weapons

STST2020 Study tour: Southeast Asia's Security Choices

Global Security

MEAS2001 New States of Eurasia: Emerging Issues in Politics and Security

HIST2240 Democracy and Dissent: Europe Since 1945

POLS2132 Current Issues in International Security

STST2124 Politics of Nuclear Weapons

Australian Security

STST2003 Australia and Security in the Pacific Islands

STST3003 Honeypots and Overcoats: Australian Intelligence in the World

Non-traditional Security

ASIA2093 Natural Resource Conflicts in Asia and the Pacific

DIPL2000 Leadership and Diplomacy

INTR2047 Human Security: Conflict, Displacement and Peace Building

POLS3004 Emotions in International Politics

POLS3033 Environment, Human Security and Conflict

POLS3036 International Terrorism

History and Security after 1945

HIST2141 The Cold War: 1945-1989

STST2004 Special Topic in International Security

STST3003 Honeypots and Overcoats: Australian Intelligence in the World

WARS2002 Vietnam Wars: 1941-1989

WARS2003 The Korean War

A maximum of 30 units from the completion of courses within the following Language, Security and Area Studies minors:

Language

Advanced Arabic

Advanced Chinese Language

Advanced French Studies

Advanced German Studies

Advanced Italian Studies

Advanced Japanese Language

Advanced Korean Language

Advanced Sanskrit Language

Advanced Spanish Studies

Arabic Language

Burmese Language

Chinese Language

French Language and Culture

German Language and Culture

Hindi Language

Indonesian Language

Italian Language and Culture

Japanese Language

Korean Language

Mongolian Language

Persian

Russian

Spanish

Tetum Language

Thai Language

Tibetan Language

Tok Pisin Language

Vietnamese Language

Area Studies and Methods

Asian Studies

Asia-Pacific International Relations

Contemporary Europe

Gender and Sexuality

International Communication

International Relations

Latin American Studies

Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies

Northeast Asian Studies

Pacific Studies

Philosophy

Political Science

Social Research Methods

Southeast Asian Studies

Sustainable Development

Security

Criminology

Historical International Security

Peace and Conflict Studies

Technology, Networks and Society

War Studies

A maximum of 6 units from the completion of courses from VCUG Vice Chancellor’s Undergraduate Courses or the following list:

ANIP3003 Australian National Internships Program Internship A

ASIA2110 International Affairs Internship

ASIA2098 Asian and Pacific Studies Internship

ASIA3023 Asia Pacific Week Internship

LING2107 Advanced Academic English

Majors

Bachelor of Arts Majors

Minors

Bachelor of Arts Minors

Bachelor of International Security Studies Minors

Study Options