Master of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics) (MC-ARTPAE)

Masters (Coursework)Year: 2023 Delivered: On Campus

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Overview

Award titleMaster of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics)
Year & campus2023
CRICOS code081165G
Fees informationSubject EFTSL, level, discipline and census date
Study level & typeGraduate Coursework
AQF level 9
Credit points200 credit points
Duration24 months full-time or 48 months part-time

The Master of Arts (Applied and Professional Ethics) program is no longer accepted new applications into the program from 2019.

This program is offered by the Centre in Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) and is available through the philosophy discipline in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies in the Faculty of Arts.

Organisational change, political change, wars, globalisation, new technologies and practices, corporate collapses, corruption, scandals in the health and research sectors, environmental disasters, conflicts of interest, as well as the ever-present potential for injustice and disregard for individual human beings that lies within the bureaucratic and hierarchical structures of institutions, all raise distinctive and pressing issues of practice and policy. Finding ethically good and and practical ways of responding to these issues requires a thorough understanding of both the ethical and the empirical aspects of the situation.

Completion of this program will help graduates to be more aware of the ethical dimensions of all the issues they encounter in their professional lives, and also to be able to reflect on and analyse key ethical concepts and arguments in their field of specialisation, enabling them to contribute to policy discussion and development in a wide range of professional, institutional and industry settings. There is scope for students to follow their own interests, with a substantial thesis component and specialisations such as the ethics of health care, computing, business, politics and criminal justice; as well as the broad themes of bioethics and global justice.

Links to further information

http://shaps.unimelb.edu.au/

Entry requirements

  1. In order to be considered for entry, applicants must have completed:
  • an undergraduate degree in any discipline with a weighted average mark of at least H2B (70%), or equivalent.

Meeting this requirement does not guarantee selection.

  1. In ranking applications, the Selection Committee will consider:
  • prior academic performance; and
  • relevance of previous studies.
  1. The Selection Committee may seek further information to clarify any aspect of an application in accordance with the  Academic Board rules on the use of selection instruments. 
  1. Applicants are required to satisfy the university’s English language requirements for graduate courses. For those applicants seeking to meet these requirements by one of the standard tests approved by the Academic Board, performance band 6.5 is required.

Applicants with the following may be awarded up to 50 points of credit:

  • an undergraduate degree in a cognate discipline with a weighted average mark of at least H2B (70%), or equivalent.

or

  • An undergraduate degree in any discipline, with a weighted average mark of at least H2B (70%), or equivalent, and at least two years of documented, relevant work experience. 

Applicants with the following may be awarded up to 100 points of credit:

  • an honours degree in a cognate discipline, with a weighted average mark of at least H2B (70%), or equivalent;

or

  • an undergraduate degree in a cognate discipline, with a weighted average mark of at least H2B (70%), or equivalent, and at least two years of documented, relevant work experience.

Applicants seeking credit for relevant work experience must document their experience with a brief curriculum vitae detailing the experience, contact details of two referees who can confirm the authenticity and nature of the experience claimed, and a covering letter that explains how the experience is relevant to the program and prepares them for it.

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005) and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF127). For the purposes of considering requests for reasonable adjustments, academic requirements for this course are articulated in the overview, attributes, outcomes and skills of this entry. Further details about how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Intended learning outcomes

Students who complete the Master of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics) should:




  • better appreciate the ethical dimensions of all they do in their professional lives;
  • understand and analyse complex ethical issues;
  • detect ambiguity, vagueness, inconsistency, and other weaknesses in the expressions of ideas;
  • distinguish different types of question, claim or argument, and respond to them appropriately;
  • distinguish what is relevant to a given issue from what is not; and
  • see ways in which an argument or explanation could be improved.

Generic skills

Students who successfully complete the Masters should have:

  • a developed capacity for creative thinking ;
  • a developed capacity for critical thinking;
  • a greater capacity to think, write and communicate clearly and effectively; and
  • a greater appreciation of the need always to remember that each of us is a human being before s/he is a professional.

Graduate attributes

Graduates in the MAPAE should, through the core program of the degree along with a wide range of electives, develop a capacity to think more deeply, sensitively and clearly about the ethical dimensions of their life with others, not only in professional contexts but also in various personal and social contexts. Graduates should have:

  • Acquired some understanding of the main themes of philosophical exploration of ethics across two millennia;
  • Acquired a capacity to relate those themes to their own professional and personal lives;
  • Developed a deeper appreciation of the ethical dimensions of issues that arise in their professional and personal lives;
  • Developed a greater appreciation of the increasing international and global implications even of local ethical issues in their personal and professional lives;
  • Developed their capacity, both verbally and in writing, to articulate their thinking about ethical issues lucidly and in-depth.

Course structure

200 point program

Duration: 2 years full-time / up to 4 years part-time

 

  • four compulsory subjects (50 points)
  • minor thesis parts 1 and 2 (50 points total)
  • elective subjects (100 points)

Please note: the thesis requires two consecutive semesters of enrolment.

 

150 Point Program

Duration: 1.5 years full-time / up to 3 years part-time

  • two compulsory subjects (25 points)
  • minor thesis parts 1 and 2 (50 points total)
  • elective subjects (75 points)

 

100 point program

Duration: 1 year full-time / up to 2 years part-time

 

  • two compulsory subjects (25 points)
  • minor thesis parts 1 and 2 (50 points total)
  • elective subjects (25 points)

 

Capstone Requirement:

All students are required to complete the Capstone Requirement for the program. Students must complete the following capstone -

Capstone: PHIL90038 Applied Ethics Thesis Part 1 and PHIL90039 Applied Ethics Thesis Part 2 (50 points total)

Purpose: To conceptualise, plan and execute a substantial, independent, research-based project in the form of a minor thesis in applied or professional ethics, demonstrating high level skills in interdisciplinary and comparative research, analysis and critique, underpinned by a thorough understanding of academic protocol and presentation.

 

For policies that govern this degree, see Academic Services Policy in the University Melbourne Policy Framework. Students also should also refer to information in the Student Policy Directory.

Majors, minors & specialisations

Name Credit Points
200 points Master of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics)
150 points Master of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics)
100 Point Master of Arts (Professional and Applied Ethics)

Further study

Students who complete the thesis may be eligible to enter the PhD.

Last updated: 6 April 2025