Want to be an international space lawyer? Here are seven degrees you’ve never heard of

School’s nearly out, and for year 12s, the ATAR waiting game is about to begin.

While some graduates will undoubtedly take 2024 off to experience the world (or simply take a break from 12 years of schooling) for many, the prospect of university – and the choices that come with it – looms large.

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, there are 12 broad areas of study available, broken down into many sub-fields. From natural and physical sciences, information technology, architecture and health all the way to society and culture, and the creative arts, the options are endless. Yet there are many other unusual, fun and sometimes forgotten degrees available to choose from.

Festivals, foxes and new frontiers ... there’s no shortage of university degrees to choose from.Credit: Aresna Villanueva

Among the usual law, arts, commerce, science, medicine and IT courses – which actually contain some pretty unusual units worth looking at – there are the bachelors, diplomas, masters and certificates that are often hidden, yet offer incredible insight into some of life’s most significant issues.

The 12 broad fields of education

• Natural and physical sciences
• Information technology
• Engineering and related technologies
• Architecture and building
• Agriculture, environmental and related studies
• Health
• Education
• Management and commerce
• Society and culture
• Creative arts
• Food, hospitality and personal services
• Mixed field programs

Here’s a small list to give new graduates some food for thought — immediately and down the track.

International space law (masters/diplomas of law), University of Sydney

While a law degree is not exactly a groundbreaking choice, humanity’s slow creep into space is shaking up the boundaries of what we understand to be lawful and legal – and universities are starting to catch up.

Billionaire Elon Musk quietly rolling out his satellite internet service Starlink – and revelations in September that he refused to allow Ukraine to use Starlink to launch an attack on Russian forces – raise interesting questions about who governs space, and what role private entities have in launching space flights and exploration activities.

Offered as part of a wide range of degrees, including the graduate diplomas in business law, environmental law, international law and law, plus masters of business law, environmental law and international law, this six-month unit offers a new perspective on the law.

Humanity’s slow creep raises interesting questions about who governs space.

Bachelor of animal ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast

Your love of animals doesn’t have to stop at adopting them or patting them in the park.

With Australia’s track record of mammal extinctions – since colonisation, about 100 of Australia’s unique flora and fauna species have been wiped off the planet – an understanding of conservation and management has never been more urgent.

In the three-year, full-time bachelor of animal ecology, animals lovers can learn how different creatures are impacted by the environment and humans, and how to protect their future in light of climate change, fragmentation of habitat, the introduction of feral species (particularly rabbits, cats and foxes) and changes to traditional fire patterns.

The degree can lead to a variety of careers, including environmental educator, museum curator, ranger or manager in wildlife management and conservation organisations, and research assistant.

Bachelor of creative industries (festivals and arts production), Flinders University

They can be pure entertainment, or they can open doors to deeper cultural and social understanding – festivals are the ultimate in celebrating creativity, artistic exploration and connecting communities. And now you can learn how to stage one.

Flinders University offers a bachelor of creative industries (festivals and arts production), so keen festival lovers who want to work in the creative industries can develop business acumen and entrepreneurial, marketing and leadership skills in this course which emphasises real-world experience as you study.

Close links to industry and a plethora of festivals to choose from (South Australia has been dubbed ‘the Festival State’ for its slew of weird and wonderful events, from WOMADelaide and Adelaide Fringe Festival to the Santos Tour Down Under and Tasting Australia), the three-year course culminates in pitching, delivering and leading your own project. On completion, graduate occupations include artistic director, festival director, grant administrator and arts policy and programs manager.

The Flinders University degree teaches festival lovers how to stage their own event.Credit: Rick Clifford

Bachelor of security studies, Macquarie University

With two major wars under way – the recent Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine – and predictions of a dry summer with increasing climate disruptions, an understanding of security in all its forms has never been more pertinent.

Learning to think critically about security – whether it’s through the framework of risk management, emergency response, national resilience, business continuity planning, law enforcement or the use of military force – will equip anyone with a suite of skills that translates to most career paths in analytics, diplomacy, policy and more.

Units in the three-year, full-time degree include cybercrime, modern warfare, Australian national security and ethical practice in security studies. There’s also an opportunity to learn operational planning, innovation and policy evaluation through real scenarios.

Bachelor of fashion and textiles (sustainable innovation), RMIT University

We know that Australians are the second-largest consumers of textiles in the world. We each purchase about 27 kilograms of new clothing every year and throw away 23 kilograms to 31 kilograms, depending on who you ask.

Those numbers represent mountains of clothes, many worn fewer than seven times, shipped off to countries such as Africa or dumped into acres-large areas.

As the western world begins to grapple with the consequences of throwaway culture, technology may hold some of the answers. RMIT’s bachelor of fashion and textiles (sustainable innovation) attempts to address how the fashion industry can adopt technological and science-based solutions to some of its most wasteful and unsustainable practices.

Indulge in your passion for fashion, while helping the industry curb some of its wasteful practices.Credit: Aresna Villanueva

From the integration of 2D and 3D virtual fashion and textile design and digital production methods, to material innovations, smart textiles and the need for improved transparency, this three-year, full-time course offers some food for thought for fashion lovers. It offers alternative pathways to working in the industry, while still using traditional fashion and textile craft-based knowledge and skills. Future careers include sustainable sourcing manager, materials designer, production manager and fashion design engineer.

Certificate IV in Aboriginal performance, Edith Cowan University

Live performance, film and literature play an integral role in shaping our understanding of Indigenous cultures and peoples, and the issues that affect Indigenous Australians.

We know from previous reports that art produced in different regions of Australia varies according to the complexities of different inherited cultural traditions, and that particularly in remote communities, the unique cultural content of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music, dance, visual art and literature is an essential feature of Indigenous artists’ work.

As Australian films continue to evolve – from cliched depictions of Indigenous peoples to First Nations creatives using the arts to tell their own stories – this one-year, full-time course prepares Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students for a career in acting, dance and singing, while accounting for the role of Indigenous culture in relation to contemporary performance.

Master of urban and cultural heritage, The University of Melbourne

City planning is about more than urban renewal and building heights, transport planning and density ratios. It involves understanding a city’s past, the people who live there now and what they want that city to be tomorrow.

Challenges such as the pressures of rapid urbanisation, issues of economic, social and environmental sustainability as well as social and cultural change have become the mainstay of global cities worldwide, and require a nuanced approach that goes beyond that of a standard architectural degree.

As author Greg Clarke writes in Global Cities: A Short History, the current wave of globalisation – kick-started by the mid-’80s IT revolution and initially led by a small group of cities (New York, London) – has led to a new generation of cities re-establishing themselves as the financial, “information and media capitals in their respective regions”.

The University of Melbourne’s master of urban and cultural heritage, available on a one-year full-time or two-year part-time basis, is ideal for graduates passionate about the social and cultural dimensions of the built environment in the 21st century.

More from Campus, a new student hub

The big ATAR mystery: How, exactly, is the ATAR calculated? Finally, a straight answer – which may lead to more questions.

Give it a break: Comedian Lizzy Hoo says a commerce degree can wait. In her gap year she mastered snowboarding, living off obscenely small amounts of cash, and bailing friends out of jail. Valuable life skills, she argues.

Face time: Being allowed to attend lectures and tutorials online may be convenient, but is it time to bring back punitive measures so students attend university IRL?

Result driven: From a hands-on paid gap year in the defence forces to scaling the tech world, get a pay packet sooner with these fast-track career qualifications – no university required.

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