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Study undergraduate online through Open Universities Australia. Explore all degrees, subjects and short courses now.

Be prepared for a future career as an innovator, communicator and creator. With our innovative majors you can tailor your degree to both your professional pursuits and your personal interests, creating a unique skill set that could help you secure your dream job.
You will gain the understanding, insight and skill to find and communicate creative solutions to important world issues. You will develop advanced writing and presentation skills as well as research and project management skills. You will also learn about societies and cultures, past and present.
You will have the option to develop specialist expertise in contemporary fields such as journalism and public relations, or more traditional fields such as sociology, history and literary studies to name some.

Develop critical thinking, writing, and research skills in demand across all industries. You can follow your passion with majors and electives that interest you. Develop connections through peer learning, networking, and work experience.

Bachelor of Arts

This Undergraduate Certificate may lead students into an Associate Degree in Fine Art program.The Undergraduate Certificate in Art History is designed for people who are interested in pursuing a career in Art History. The Undergraduate Certificate may give students entry (and credit for the four units completed) for the Associate Degree in Fine Art among others at Curtin.

Gain a head start in fine arts studies with this introduction to art history’s key ideas and events. You’ll explore Australian art, modernism, and issues in contemporary art. Build your appreciation of art and design and work towards a fine arts degree.

Undergraduate Certificate in Art History

This degree was previously known as Bachelor of Arts (Digital Design).
The Digital Experience and Interaction Design major allows you to experience the exciting, creative fields within digital design and interactive media.
This major provides you with a comprehensive theory and practice-based education in digital design, focusing on key principles and techniques in website design, user interaction / experience design (UI/UX) and app design. You will use digital technologies to develop forward-thinking and innovative design solutions to real-world problems. The major has a strong industry and design research focus, and you will work on real-world projects, facilitated by experienced staff and industry specialists. There is emphasis on concept generation, creative problem-solving, aesthetics and advanced technical skills in digital technologies using the latest digital production software. Students may choose to study the following combinations of two single majors to obtain the double major award:
<ul><li>Digital Experience and Interaction Design and Fine Art</li><li>Digital Experience and Interaction Design and Digital and Social Media</li><li>Digital Experience and Interaction Design and Professional Writing &amp; Publishing</li><li>Digital Experience and Interaction Design and Visual Culture</li></ul>
Please refer to the respective degree pages for more details.

Design products and applications using current and emerging technologies in web design, 3D animation, illustration and rendering. Find work in the interactive, mobile, game, user experience (UX) and experiential design fields.

Bachelor of Arts (Digital Experience and Interaction Design)

This degree offers a choice of two single majors: BA (Fine Art) or BA (Visual Culture). Students may choose to study both single majors to obtain the BA (Fine Art) (Visual Culture).
If you would like to explore the full breadth of art practice including theory and history, combining the two majors into a BA (Fine Art) (Visual Culture) is highly recommended. The combination of these majors will offer you broad experience in visual arts , theory and practice. 
If you aspire to become a professional artist and want to contribute to the artistic, aesthetic and social needs of our society, the Fine Art major may suit you. The Fine Art major draws upon the diverse and complex traditions of Fine Art and calls for a high degree of self-discipline, a capacity for self-criticism and dedication to the demanding profession of being an artist. 
In the Visual Culture major students explore the history and theories of art and learn to critically evaluate how art informs our world. Students have the opportunity to extend and apply research methods through theoretical and/or practical investigations in contemporary art.

Artistic professions shape society’s aesthetic and social needs. Aspiring artists can choose Fine Art or Visual Culture (art history, theory and critical evaluation) for work in curation, policy development, public relations and tourism.

Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) (Visual Culture)

In the Visual Culture major students explore the history and theories of art and learn to critically evaluate how art informs our world. Students have the opportunity to extend and apply research methods through theoretical and / or practical investigations in Contemporary art practice.
Students may choose to study the following combinations of two single majors to obtain the double major award:
<ul><li>Fine Art and Visual Culture</li><li>Digital Design and Visual Culture</li><li>Digital and Social Media and Visual Culture</li><li>Professional Writing &amp; Publishing and Visual Culture</li></ul>
Please refer to the respective degree pages for more details.

Explore how culture is expressed in visual images. Understand how art informs our world, through the history and theories of art. Work in sectors where initiative, creativity and critical thinking are valued—curation, policy development, and tourism.

Bachelor of Arts (Visual Culture)

Be at the forefront of engaging the visual arts in the wider community when you study the Bachelor of Visual Arts. You&#39;ll learn to extend your creativity, be innovative and adaptable, and gain the entrepreneurial skills to be industry-ready. Explore the future of visual art and evolving employment opportunities in areas such as, health, design, new media, architecture, museum and gallery professions, and education. Experience a blended learning program of art ideas, curatorial practice, arts and cultural management, gallery studies and professional writing in the visual arts sector.Develop comprehensive knowledge and technical proficiency within studio practice, as well as a strong, self-directed work ethic. You&#39;ll acquire knowledge about the intricacies and skill of constructing artistic and creative meaning through exhibition.

Work with the forms of art you can see. You’ll build your technical skills and explore new media. Dive into historical and cultural concepts. Become a well-rounded visual artist ready for both creative work and arts administration roles.

Bachelor of Visual Art (Curation, Innovation & Visual Art)

The Curtin University Professional Writing and Publishing degree prepares students for writing careers in the private, public and creative sectors through the study and practice of a range of different writing forms, including feature articles, speeches, reports, discussion papers, travel writing, history, humour, writing for the internet, promotional writing, creative non-fiction and media releases. In the Visual Culture major students explore the history and theories of art and learn to critically evaluate how art informs our world. Students are also trained in practices of seeing and representation through technical and intuitive skills based in drawing.

Draft up and edit your writing career that combines art and culture. Get critical and gain perspective about writing in various forms and for diverse genres. Visualise contemporary art and design. Brush up on your critical art evaluation skills.

Bachelor of Arts (Professional Writing and Publishing) (Visual Culture)

This degree was previously known as Bachelor of Arts (Internet Communications and Visual Culture).
The Bachelor of Arts (Digital and Social Media) provides you with an opportunity to learn in detail about the human dimensions of the internet: how people network, collaborate and share information through internet communications, media and design. You will develop advanced skills in creating, maintaining and managing online communications for personal and commercial interactions, as well as gaining knowledge of the social and cultural contexts within which those interactions occur. In the Visual Culture major students explore the history and theories of art and learn to critically evaluate how art informs our world. Students are also trained in practices of seeing and representation through technical and intuitive skills based in drawing.

Visualise and articulate how people network and connect online. Express culture through design. Get critical and recognise the value of cultural diversity versus technology. Explore art history and theory. Draw on your technical and intuitive strengths.

Bachelor of Arts (Digital and Social Media) (Visual Culture)

This degree was previously known as Bachelor of Arts (Digital Design and Visual Culture).
This degree offers a choice of studying two single majors together and introduces students to the complementary fields of digital design and visual culture. This degree enables students to understand web-based design, 2-D and 3-D animation design, digital photography, digital illustration and rendering, interactive and experience design, simulations and modelling, and electronic game design along with exploring the history and theories of art and learn to critically evaluate how art informs our world. Students are also trained in practices of seeing and representation through technical and intuitive skills based in drawing.

Visualise an artistic journey through the past to see the present and find the future of art and design. Draw on techniques using paper and screen. Illustrate how creativity shapes society and culture. Get interactive with experience design.

Bachelor of Arts (Digital Experience and Interaction Design) (Visual Culture)

Art and Fashion

Introduction to History of Art and Design

Introduction to the GLAM sector

Art and the Environment

Australian Aboriginal Art

Visual Culture

Perspectives on Beauty in Art

Modernism in Art and Design

Australian Art

Visualising "Nature": Landscape, Land Art and Environmental Ethics

This subject was previously known as VIS18 Historical Issues in Art and Design.
This subject provides students with an introduction to some of the key ideas and events in the history of art and design. It is intended as a basic introduction to the history of ideas and the effects such ideas have had on the recent evolution of art and design. While this unit has a Euro-centric bias, ideas from other cultural histories are introduced. Students are taught the visual literacy and analysis needed to be able to understand historical and contemporary art and design.
Please Note: If it’s your first time studying a Curtin University subject you’ll need to complete their compulsory ‘Academic Integrity Program’. It only takes two hours to complete online, and provides you with vital information about studying with Curtin University. The Academic Integrity Program is compulsory, so if it’s not completed your subject grades will be withheld.
Find out more about the <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/students/essentials/rights/academic-integrity/aip/" target="_blank">Academic Integrity module</a>.

Travel back through centuries of art history. Traverse European and Eastern countries as you learn what inspired and influenced artistic movements. Identify hallmarks of artworks created under the banner of modernism, romanticism and expressionism.

This subject was previously known as VIS25 Australian Aboriginal Art.
In this subject you will explore the richness, complexity and diversity of Aboriginal art in Australia. Learn about the importance of art in Aboriginal culture, the impact of British colonisation and the strategies that Aboriginal artists use to maintain cultural knowledge, fight for political rights, and bear witness to the ongoing survival and resilience of Aboriginal Australians.
Please Note: If it’s your first time studying a Curtin University subject you’ll need to complete their compulsory ‘Academic Integrity Program’. It only takes two hours to complete online, and provides you with vital information about studying with Curtin University. The Academic Integrity Program is compulsory, so if it’s not completed your subject grades will be withheld.
Find out more about the <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/students/essentials/rights/academic-integrity/aip/" target="_blank">Academic Integrity module</a>.

Witness the impact history, aesthetics and politics has had on Indigenous Australian art practice. Visit the pre-colonial era. Examine artistic representations of The Dreaming. See how Indigenous Australians have wielded art to create commentary.

How has visual culture changed the way we see the world? What can we learn by looking more closely? In this subject you will be introduced to the study of visual cultures through the radical developments in art, film, design and media that reshaped the world from the 19th century to the 1960s. Focusing on key examples from revolutionary movements such as Surrealism, Dada and Pop, you will engage with a range of mediums and works to develop critical skills in visual analysis and cultural literacy. You will see how the political, social and technological changes of modernity were articulated through new visual forms and reflect on how this has shaped our contemporary image culture. In this subject you will learn how to place visual culture in theoretical, critical and historical contexts. You will apply knowledge in practice during weekly workshops, and test your responses through a range of critical and creative tasks.

Visions of Modernity: Art, Film and Visual Cultures

Explore the theoretical perspectives that underpin developments in modernism in art and design in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Gain an understanding of the shifts in the production of visual culture that led to the emergence of Modernism. Examine the notion of the Avant-garde, technological change, the ideals of utopia, the Modernist myths of Primitivism, Surrealism, Futurism and feminist re-appraisals of Modernism.
Please Note:  If it’s your first time studying a Curtin University subject you’ll need to complete their compulsory ‘Academic Integrity Program’. It only takes two hours to complete online, and provides you with vital information about studying with Curtin University. The Academic Integrity Program is compulsory, so if it’s not completed your subject grades will be withheld.
Find out more about the <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/students/essentials/rights/academic-integrity/aip/" target="_blank">Academic Integrity module</a>.

Visualise the changing world of the 19th and early 20th centuries and discover its impact on artistic expression. Be there for the birth and death of the avant-garde movement. Measure the effects that rapid technological change had on the art world.

This subject provides an introduction to the major theoretical issues of contemporary art with a strong emphasis given to contemporary practice. Theories of seeing and of cultural production are examined and illustrated through examples of contemporary art practices.
Please Note: If it’s your first time studying a Curtin University subject you’ll need to complete their compulsory ‘Academic Integrity Program’. It only takes two hours to complete online, and provides you with vital information about studying with Curtin University. The Academic Integrity Program is compulsory, so if it’s not completed your subject grades will be withheld.
Find out more about the <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/students/essentials/rights/academic-integrity/aip/" target="_blank">Academic Integrity module</a>.

Question the last fifty years of arts practice from social, political and cultural points of view. Put recurring themes in contemporary art up for discussion. Dig into modernism and post-modernism. Focus your art history study on theory and context.

Issues in Contemporary Art

This subject will examine the concept of beauty as it operates in visual culture from a range of historical and contemporary perspectives. The subject explores the idea of &#39;beauty&#39; in the everyday sense of the word and also in relation to philosophy and aesthetics. The subject will cover such topics as biological beauty, the beautiful landscape and the Sublime.
Please Note:  If it’s your first time studying a Curtin University subject you’ll need to complete their compulsory ‘Academic Integrity Program’. It only takes two hours to complete online, and provides you with vital information about studying with Curtin University. The Academic Integrity Program is compulsory, so if it’s not completed your subject grades will be withheld.
Find out more about the <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/students/essentials/rights/academic-integrity/aip/" target="_blank">Academic Integrity module</a>.

Engage with what beauty can mean in relation to philosophy and aesthetics. Look back on historical conceptions of beauty. Examine landscapes, religion and the body. Tie these thoughts back to how the art world has represented beauty across the ages.

Learn about the relationship between art and fashion in historical and contemporary contexts. Influences on art and their reflection in fashion are considered both chronologically as well as thematically. Explore links between the development of industrialised societies, their customs, desires and the development of consumerism.
Please Note: If it’s your first time studying a Curtin University subject you’ll need to complete their compulsory ‘Academic Integrity Program’. It only takes two hours to complete online, and provides you with vital information about studying with Curtin University. The Academic Integrity Program is compulsory, so if it’s not completed your subject grades will be withheld.
Find out more about the <a href="https://www.curtin.edu.au/students/essentials/rights/academic-integrity/aip/" target="_blank">Academic Integrity module</a>.

Strut through the decades of the 20th century while examining the collision of art and fashion. Walk the catwalks of 1920’s Paris. Witness the birth of ‘cool’ fashion in the sixties. Analyse how fashion intersects with consumerism and visual culture.

This subject introduces you to the manifold facets of the Italian Renaissance. You will explore the intellectual developments and the unprecedented advances in the fields of art, architecture, science, literature and technology.  The subject adopts an interdisciplinary approach and analyses literary texts in translation, documentary sources, and visual and material culture outputs. You will have the opportunity to develop a topic of interest  using a wide range of mediums. You will also gain an all-round knowledge and understanding of the Italian Renaissance and its legacy throughout time.

Introduction to the Italian Renaissance

Our understanding of what is ‘nature’ or ‘natural’ is embedded in systems of value that are thoroughly mediated by representations in art and visual culture. In Western philosophical traditions, ‘nature’ has been understood as separate from ‘culture’ and as such more easily cast as a resource to be exploited for the benefit of humans. First Nations peoples have a more relational integrated worldview where human beings are but one component of a complex and ever-changing web of relationships. In this subject, you explore how these ideas are shaped by and reflected in various visual approaches over time, and critically consider the role that visualisations of ‘nature’ play in processes of social change. You focus on: the Western landscape tradition and its transformation at the encounter with Indigenous representations of Country; the influence of land art in its many manifestations on how we conceive of human/nature relations; and the long history and contemporary examples of artistic projects and interventions driven by the desire for environmental justice.

In this subject, you will study ten key works from the 1960s to the early 2000s, to understand how the art and visual culture of the late 20th century paved the way for contemporary practices. Focusing on a selection of artists from around the world, from blockbuster stars to political provocateurs, these artworks will introduce you to the period’s new experimental processes, such as performance, installation, public interventions and video art. Through visual and textual analysis, you will critically engage with the role of art in the emergence of political and theoretical ideas such as feminism and queer theory, environmentalism, postmodernism and postcolonialism. In Icons and Anti-Icons you will gain insight into important theoretical movements, and develop detailed understanding of the practices of influential artists.

Icons and Anti-Icons: Ten Works of Art

Curtin University

How has visual culture changed the way we see the world? What can we learn by looking more closely? In this subject you will be introduced to the study of visual cultures through the radical developments in art, film, design and media that reshaped the world from the 19th century to the 1960s. Focusing on key examples from revolutionary movements such as Surrealism, Dada and Pop, you will engage with a range of mediums and works to develop critical skills in visual analysis and cultural literacy. You will see how the political, social and technological changes of modernity were articulated through new visual forms and reflect on how this has shaped our contemporary image culture. 

In this subject you will learn how to place visual culture in theoretical, critical and historical contexts. You will apply knowledge in practice during weekly workshops, and test your responses through a range of critical and creative tasks. 

La Trobe University

This subject introduces you to the manifold facets of the Italian Renaissance. You will explore the intellectual developments and the unprecedented advances in the fields of art, architecture, science, literature and technology.  The subject adopts an interdisciplinary approach and analyses literary texts in translation, documentary sources, and visual and material culture outputs. You will have the opportunity to develop a topic of interest  using a wide range of mediums. You will also gain an all-round knowledge and understanding of the Italian Renaissance and its legacy throughout time.

University of New England

Our understanding of what is ‘nature’ or ‘natural’ is embedded in systems of value that are thoroughly mediated by representations in art and visual culture. In Western philosophical traditions, ‘nature’ has been understood as separate from ‘culture’ and as such more easily cast as a resource to be exploited for the benefit of humans. First Nations peoples have a more relational integrated worldview where human beings are but one component of a complex and ever-changing web of relationships. In this subject, you explore how these ideas are shaped by and reflected in various visual approaches over time, and critically consider the role that visualisations of ‘nature’ play in processes of social change. You focus on: the Western landscape tradition and its transformation at the encounter with Indigenous representations of Country; the influence of land art in its many manifestations on how we conceive of human/nature relations; and the long history and contemporary examples of artistic projects and interventions driven by the desire for environmental justice. 

In this subject, you will study ten key works from the 1960s to the early 2000s, to understand how the art and visual culture of the late 20th century paved the way for contemporary practices. Focusing on a selection of artists from around the world, from blockbuster stars to political provocateurs, these artworks will introduce you to the period’s new experimental processes, such as performance, installation, public interventions and video art. Through visual and textual analysis, you will critically engage with the role of art in the emergence of political and theoretical ideas such as feminism and queer theory, environmentalism, postmodernism and postcolonialism. In Icons and Anti-Icons you will gain insight into important theoretical movements, and develop detailed understanding of the practices of influential artists.

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