Bachelor of Arts (Second Major: Business)

3 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

University of Notre Dame Sydney

Program Overview

This program is perfect for students who want the flexibility and creativity of a Bachelor of Arts while gaining practical business knowledge that employers value. You’ll explore core business concepts alongside your chosen arts disciplines, learning to think critically, communicate effectively, and solve real-world challenges.

Curriculum Structure:

Year 1:
You’ll start by building a strong foundation in both arts and business. In courses like Introduction to Management, Principles of Marketing, and Academic Skills, you’ll learn how organisations operate, how to present ideas clearly, and how to approach problems with confidence. This first year is all about discovering your interests and developing versatile skills that will guide the rest of your degree.

Year 2:
The second year deepens your understanding and starts blending theory with practical application. Through units such as Accounting and Finance, Organisational Behaviour, and Business Law, you’ll explore how businesses make decisions, manage people, and navigate legal frameworks. You’ll also tackle case studies and group projects, learning how to apply what you know in realistic scenarios.

Year 3:
In your final year, it’s all about refining your expertise and preparing for the professional world. Units like Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, and Business Ethics challenge you to think strategically, innovate, and lead responsibly. You’ll complete capstone projects that integrate your arts and business knowledge, leaving you ready to make an impact in your chosen career.

Focus Areas:
Management, Marketing, Accounting, Organisational Behaviour, Strategy

Learning Outcomes:
Critical thinking, problem-solving, effective communication, business decision-making, leadership skills

Professional Alignment (Accreditation):
The program is designed with real-world business expectations in mind, giving you skills that align with professional practices across industries.

Reputation (Employability Rankings):
Notre Dame Australia enjoys strong employability recognition, with graduates benefiting from the university’s solid standing in QS and other global rankings for producing work-ready, adaptable professionals.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

It’s easy to imagine yourself thriving in the Bachelor of Arts (Second Major: Business) at The University of Notre Dame Australia — because it’s designed not just to teach you business ideas, but to let you use them in real‑world settings, while still following your passion in the arts. Through this program you don’t just read about marketing, management or business law — you get to apply those lessons practically, in real workplaces, paired with the creative or scholarly discipline of your first Arts major. That means by the time you graduate, you’ve already had a taste of what working in business feels like, and built skills employers value.

Here’s how the program gives you that hands‑on, career‑ready grounding:

150 hours of work experience: you’ll complete a structured work placement as part of the degree — a valuable chance to apply what you learn in real workplace settings.
A mix of core business courses and electives — including units like Business Law; Principles of Marketing; Principles of Management; Economics or Accounting — give you foundational business knowledge applied from day one.
Advanced elective choices such as Strategic Management, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Human Resource Management, Change Management or Psychology of Work — letting you explore different facets of business practice depending on your interests.
The flexibility to combine the Business second major with any Arts first major (e.g. Film & Screen Production, Theatre Studies, Journalism, Psychology, English Literature, History) — so you graduate with a unique blend of creative or scholarly skills + business acumen.
A broad core curriculum that includes liberal‑arts courses, philosophy/theology electives and other humanities contexts — ensuring you develop well‑rounded skills (critical thinking, ethical reasoning, communication) alongside commercial competencies.

Progression & Future Opportunities

If you choose the Bachelor of Arts with a Second Major in Business at The University of Notre Dame Australia, many alumni go on to meaningful and varied careers — you could find yourself working as a marketing specialist, working in media or advertising, engaging in community or social-impact work, or joining government or NGO organisations. Some also move into roles in business development, strategic planning or nonprofit management.

Here’s what this means for you:

The program includes around 150 hours of real‑world work experience — that means as you study, you’ll get hands‑on exposure to workplaces, which makes you more job-ready by the time you graduate.
Notre Dame Australia’s Business‑second‑major delivers broad business fundamentals (courses like Business Law, Marketing, Management, Entrepreneurship or HR), giving you versatile, transferable skills that many employers value — whether you want to work in a corporate business, public service, or nonprofit environment.
Employers across sectors — private companies, media agencies, government bodies, NGOs — often welcome graduates of this program because of their combination of creative Arts training plus commercial/business awareness.
The degree also offers flexibility: because Business is a “Second Major,” you first choose an Arts major (it could be something like Journalism, English, Psychology, Film & Screen Production, etc.). That means you don’t need to give up a field you love — you get to combine creativity or humanities with business acumen.
On top of immediate employment, this mix of skills builds a strong foundation for long-term career growth — you’ll be comfortable in strategic, managerial or leadership‑type roles down the line, especially if you combine your Arts interests with business knowledge.

Further Academic Progression:
After finishing this BA + Business combination, you could decide you want to deepen your business expertise or move into a more specialised area. For example, you might enrol in a Master’s in Business, Management, or a related postgraduate program. Alternatively, if your first Arts major lends itself to fields such as social policy, media, communication, or psychology, you could pursue graduate‑level studies in those areas to build on your arts foundation. The combination gives you the flexibility to go either way — into business or further Arts/ human‑science–based education.