"I try to represent the community in their city, within their space. I don’t want to appear too heroic or like I’m changing the world."

Guido van Helten

Large scale muralist and visual arts graduate

Realise your potential with the Faculty of Business, Law and Arts

Explore your study options

Art and Design

Community Welfare

Contemporary Music

Creative Writing

Digital Media

Humanities

Social Work

Applying for Contemporary Music

You’ll need to fill out an application form and come along for an audition and interview.

Application form & audition details

Scholarships

Worth up to $32,000, our scholarships can help ease the financial burden of study.

Apply for a scholarship

Our difference

Australia’s most creative region

Be part of the creative revolution. The east coast corner we call home has the highest concentration of creatives in Australia

Learn in a rainforest setting or by the beach

Campus envy. Our unique study locations are intellectually and creatively stimulating...and sooth the soul during downtime

Our environment shapes our values

Social and environmental justice motivates the School and informs our teaching, learning and research

EXCLUSIVE to Southern Cross University students

Screenworks membership

Are you interested in working in the screen industry, whether it be film, television, online, games or apps? Our partnership with Screenworks means you can apply for a free student membership, giving you access to industry leaders and professional events. Learn more about the Screenworks mentoring and internship opportunities.

EXCLUSIVE to Southern Cross University students

APRA AMCOS Songwriting Workshops

Learn from some of Australia’s best songwriters, musicians, performers and composers who regularly visit the Lismore campus to share their insights and skills. Ask them about performing, songwriting, creativity, touring, collaborating and more. Discover the APRA AMCOS Songwriting Workshops.

Explore your Honours options

You’ve completed your undergraduate degree and discovered a passion for research. Or maybe a particular topic has lit a fire within and you’re keen to explore it further.

An Honours year extends your knowledge and develops advanced research skills. Some students publish research papers based on their Honours project.

It’s also the preferred pathway to PhD studies.

Honours courses and how to apply Honours scholarships

Explore your postgraduate research degree options

Immerse yourself in an exciting intellectual and artistic environment as you pursue postgraduate research in the School of Arts and Social Sciences.

You’ll discover a remarkable diversity of disciplines and creativity, combined with a high level of social and cultural engagement.

From humanities (history, politics, communication and cultural studies) to social sciences (sociology and social welfare) and creative practice (new media, visual arts, contemporary music and creative writing).

The Faculty offers two types of higher degrees by research:

Master of Arts and Social Sciences (Research)
Doctor of Philosophy (Arts and Social Sciences)

Visit the Graduate School page for details

What’s it like to pursue a creative practice research project? Our Master of Arts and PhD graduates share their experiences in this video.

[Maria Simms PhD 2007] I produced a novel with an exegesis.

[Fiona Fell MA 2000D 2007] I produced a series of ceramic figurative sculptors.

[David Weir PhD 2010] It was a CD of original music in which I mashed up political speech.

[Barry Hill PhD 2010] I produced a creative work which was an audio visual performance piece that saw five musicians accompanied by a VJ.

[Kellie O"Dempsey PhD 2010] I produced a live public performance.

[Barry Hill] I see myself as a hybrid ethnomusicologist and music performer.

[Fiona Fell] I'm represented by Watters Gallery in Sydney, where I've been showing for a few years.

[Maria Simms] Well, the crime novel was published by New Holland Publishing.

[Kellie O"Dempsey] I started using paper and pencils, and a lot of traditional drawing tools, and through the masters research began to expand my drawing into more of a performative element.

The development of the masters program for me, significantly introduced me to electronic projections, as part of my performance drawing work.

[David Weir] My supervisors were really invaluable in helping me to breach that gap between being a musical artist and an academic.

[Fiona Fell] You know we talk, we devise projects together, we get excited about things, there's a sort of honest exchange.

[Barry Hill] I was able to connect with a fantastic network of musicians.

[Fiona Fell] I was born locally, so I came back to the area because of family, so decided to take up postgraduate research then.

[Barry Hill] I find small towns quite creative places, and allow you to spend a lot of time being creative, and doing hands on stuff rather than sitting in traffic jams.

[David Weir] It's a very physically beautiful region which I personally find very inspiring.

[Maria Simms] Living amongst people who are interesting in so many different things your creative impulse, juices if you like, get flowing.

[Barry Hill] I found that SCU's, or my studies here at SCU, enabled me to take a great leap forward I suppose, in my own career aspirations.

Southern Cross Model is a better way to learn

For almost a century the sandstone walls of Universities housed the same teaching model. The Southern Cross Model is different – immersive, responsive, in tune with the 21st century student. By joining Southern Cross, you are part of a better way to learn.

Find out more

Prepare for university with a pathway program

If you have the passion, we have the entry pathway. We offer preparation courses to refresh your academic skills, increase your entry rank, or get you on track for a degree with a short course.

Find out more