This combined degree seeks to augment the value of the professional study of Information by broadening student's awareness and understanding of other languages and cultures. The enormous technological advances that have occurred over the past decade in the management of information have placed a great deal of pressure on information professionals and their environment. Not only is there more information to access and organise, but the wealth of information is increasingly less likely to be produced in English or from a cultural background immediately accessible to Australian information professionals. This combined degree provides students of information studies with a knowledge and understanding of another language and culture. Apart from its wider educational goals, the program should also help graduates become more effective as information professionals, whether in Australia or overseas.
Students spend the fourth year of study at a university overseas.
For details on patterns of study of the Information Studies section of this combined degree, please consult the 2001 handbook for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Students study Language and Culture for at least two years in Sydney, and this is followed by a period of study overseas. Chile, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Spain and Thailand. There is also a Heritage Major that permits students with previous exposure to a language and culture to continue their study in countries such as Greece, Hong Kong, Korea, Poland, Taiwan and Vietnam. International students may access one of the other majors offered provided that the country they choose as their major is able to grant them a visa to study there.