Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Graduate Profile
Bachelor of Arts, BA
2007
Introduction
The Graduate Profile is a statement of the generic and specific attributes and skills of graduates of
the programme including the body of knowledge attained (CUAP Functions and Procedures, 20132014). The framework for graduate outcomes in the Graduate Profile may vary depending on the
award, however attention should be paid to the development in graduates of lifelong learning skills.
A Graduate Profile may contain the personal attributes, interactive attributes and specific
programme attributes which should ideally be displayed by graduates.
Bachelor of Arts
The Bachelor of Arts at the University of Canterbury provides a liberal education which enables
students to develop their capacity for critical thought. This involves enhancing students’ abilities to
be clear in expression, to test the accuracy of statements, to appreciate complexity, to value
different perspectives, to evaluate evidence, to think logically and to make reasoned deductions.
Above all, a liberal education encourages students to be self-reflective about the world in which
they live.
The degree is structured so that these competencies are acquired through a combination of courses
with a concentration of knowledge in at least two programme areas (the major and minor or double
major).
Life-long Learning Skills and Attributes of Graduates
Graduates who have completed such an education are prepared for a wide range of employment
opportunities as well as for further and higher education.
Studying for a University of Canterbury Bachelor of Arts:

develops students’ general intellectual abilities, particularly their ability to express themselves
clearly, rationally and precisely in both speech and writing, their acquisition of research skills to
enable them to assemble evidence and opinion, their capacity to analyse and present detailed
arguments on the basis of evidence, and their ability appropriately to use new and emerging
technologies.

fosters students’ personal values, particularly their enjoyment in the acquisition of knowledge
and understanding, their capacity to understand the opinions and views of others including those
with whom they disagree, and their capacity to value and exercise intellectual independence.

provides students with an in-depth discipline-based knowledge within their majoring
programmes and a broad knowledge of the social world including its ethical, bicultural and
multicultural aspects.
This Graduate Profile is reviewed annually and was last reviewed in 2013.
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