Emma Larouche
15 August 2024: A reimagined Honours program was unveiled at the University of Canberra, aimed at equipping students with skills in demand across government departments, not-for-profits, Fortune 500 companies and other largescale private corporations.
The program will be offered through the Faculty of Business, Government and Law from Semester One, 2025. The Faculty’s original Honours program was established by Professor Mary Walsh in 2003, with politics, economics and society as its primary focus and was aimed at students within the Faculty.
Now, undergraduate students from all faculties, as well as alumni and students from other universities, can apply for the new program.
Program Director Dr Jean-Paul Gagnon said the program has a distinct point of difference in that students will have the option to complete their thesis by publication. Working with two supervisors, students undertaking BGL Honours will be supported in writing an article that they would submit to an appropriate journal of national or international repute.
“Although having the article accepted by a journal is not a compulsory part of the program, there is a chance the student will become a published author, which would be a wonderful achievement,” Dr Gagnon said.
Other new additions to the reinvigorated course include the option to undergo a 90-hour postgraduate internship during Winter Term and the opportunity to gain paid experience in teaching and research roles.
“We not only want to connect promising undergraduate students to a higher degree of research, but also provide them with the skills to relate well with others in professional environments and have the capacity to look at various sorts of complex information and to connect the dots in that complexity. That’s a very challenging accomplishment, but each one of our Honours candidates has the capacity to do it and we will support them until they see it for themselves,” Dr Gagnon said.
“These students can then go on to further research or enter the workforce. They will be able to see the big picture and bring out critical information for those who need it.”
Over 50 undergraduate students from various faculties at the University recently attended a special event to learn more about the opportunity.
Riley Porombka was one of the students attending, and is currently studying a Bachelor of Politics and International Relations.
“I wasn’t considering doing an extra year of study until I heard about this program,” he said.
“Positions in the international relations field like roles with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), are highly competitive to get into and I think this program will help me to get further ahead, as well as boosting my skills in research and analysis.”
Rhys Meredith graduated from the University with a Bachelor of Politics and International Relations and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He is also interested in the program.
“I really like the sound of furthering my studies through research, and getting to deep dive into a particular topic I found interesting during my undergraduate degree,” he said.
In addition to information about the new-look program, students heard about various projects from the Faculty’s research centres, the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance and the Centre for Environmental Governance.
Find out more about the program here or by contacting Dr Gagnon directly at jean-paul.gagnon@canberra.edu.au.
