BA and Bachelor of Social Work - Studies in Religion in Darlington Australia | The University of Sydney

This five-year program provides an extensive and adaptable combined degree that certifies you as an accredited social worker, while enabling you to broaden your expertise with complementary majors and minors alongside the Bachelor of Social Work. Although the combined degree mandates a major or minor in Sociology, or a minor in Social Policy, you can select additional majors or minors in diverse fields like diversity studies, gender studies, Indigenous studies, or philosophy. The curriculum integrates social sciences, social policy, and social work theory and practice, with a focus on Australian and international social welfare studies. During the final two years, all students complete the professional social work program, featuring two supervised fieldwork placements in various settings under expert practitioners. The program establishes field education learning goals and cultivates values, skills, and knowledge to progress from beginner to a practitioner meeting the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Practice Standards.

Explore the principles that individuals and communities prioritize to make sense of their lives, encompassing religions, philosophies, belief systems, and cultural narratives. You'll engage with diverse methodologies such as sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, philosophy, textual analysis, and history. The program delves into fundamental questions of human existence, investigating how compelling stories and profound personal experiences shape both individual and collective perceptions of reality. The Studies in Religion major enables you to research how humans assign meaning to their lives, societies, and core values—from family to national identity, personal fulfillment, and concepts of the afterlife. You'll analyze how these values and aspirations have evolved into organized communities and influential institutions across human civilization. With developed critical thinking skills, you'll be able to analyze and question religion's significant role—both visible and subtle—in wider sociocultural contexts. Additionally, you'll gain a discerning understanding of academic approaches used to evaluate the narrative, ethical, legal, and institutional dimensions of religion that sustain societal functioning and are regarded as sacred.