Degrees & programmes

The Faculty of Humanities offers a wide variety of programmes in the Arts; Social Sciences and the Performing and Creative Arts. These include:

A. General Degrees

• Bachelor of Arts [BA]
• Bachelor of Social Sciences [BSocSci]

B. Structured Degrees

• Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art [BA9FA)]
• Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance [BA (TP)]
• Bachelor of Music [BMus]
• Bachelor of Social Science in Philosophy, Politics and Economics [BSocSc(PPE)]
• Bachelor of Social Work [(BSW)]

C. Extended Degrees

D. Degree Specialisations

• Bachelor of Arts specialising in Film and Media Production [BA]

E. Diplomas

• Diploma in Theatre and Performance [DTP]
• Diploma in Music Performance [DMP]

F. Higher Certificates

Higher Certificate in Adult and Community Education and Training

A. General Degrees:

General Degrees are suitable for students with a general interest in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, who wish to construct their own course of study rather than being committed to a prescribed set curriculum.

The Bachelor of Arts [BA] and Bachelor of Social Science [BSocSci] degrees offer a flexible degree structure spread over a minimum of three years of full-time study. These degrees require students to study at least two approved majors (i.e. a specialised study taken to third -ear level). While specific courses are required per major, outside the majors students have the freedom to choose from a wide range of courses as electives.

The general degree structure is also adaptable, in that students may change majors as they go along, based on their experience of their courses.

Students enrolling for a general degree will take at least 20 semester courses; of these, eight to ten semester courses will form part of two majors selected from the lists below.

For more information on majors please see the Humanities Undergraduate Handbook. 

Which general degree should you choose?:

• Students who select both majors from the list of Bachelor of Arts majors will register for a Bachelor of Arts degree.
• Students who select both majors from the list of Bachelor of Social Science majors will register for a Bachelor of Social Science degree.
• Students who select one major from each list will choose to register for either a Bachelor of Arts degree or a Bachelor of Social Science degree.

For more information on the Bachelor of Art and Bachelor of Social Science degrees, including admission requirements, please see the Undergraduate Prospectus.

B. Structured Degrees:

Structured Degree Programmes are special combinations of disciplines and courses which have been curriculated to provide you with a particular knowledge and skills base. Every programme is made up of specific, pre-set courses for each year of study, and every year of study builds on the knowledge and skills developed during the previous year.

Structured Degrees are suitable for students with an interest in specific aspects of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences who wish to follow a structured course of study, are reasonably sure of their interests and willing to commit themselves to a tightly-structured curriculum. It is possible to change from certain named degree programmes to a general degree programme during the course of study..

For more information of the curriculum of the above structured degrees, please see the Humanities Undergraduate Handbook.

For admission requirements for the structured degrees, please see the Undergraduate Prospectus.

C. Extended Degree Programmes:

The extended programmes of study are offered to South African applicants who show the potential to succeed with additional academic support. Applicants are considered on the basis of their performance in the National Benchmark tests, their faculty points score, and on their educational background. These programmes are placement programmes, meaning that you apply to the university for the mainstream equivalent degree, and if you are eligible for admissionto the extended program, you will be offered a place in it.

The Humanities extended general degrees [BA and BSocSci] are run by the Humanities Education Development Unit (Hum EDU). The extended programme of study leads to a Bachelor of Arts [BA] or Bachelor of Social Science [BSocSci], but is structured over four years.

Students registered for the extended BA or BSocSci programmes of study receive additional academic support through two introductory Humanities courses in their first year. They also receive additional tutorial support through courses which augment their semester subject courses in both their first and second year of study. As additional academic support is not available in Economics, Law or majors offered by the Faculty of Science (with the exception of Environmental and Geographical Science), students registered for the extended programmes of study will not be able to pursue majors in these subjects.

If you are accepted into either the 3-year BA or BSocSci programmes, and youwould  like to move into the 4-year program, this is possible - you can apply to the Director of the Hum EDU, A/Prof Kathy Luckett, to be moved into the 4-year program. In addition, students initially admitted into the 3-year degree who fail 3 or more courses in their first semester are advised by the Faculty to join the 4-year degree in the second semester.

For more information on the extended BA or BSocSci programmes, please visit the Humanities Education Development Unit (Hum EDU) website, or contact them by email.

Similar extended programmes of study are available in the Performing and Creative Arts academic cluster, namely: Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art [BA(FA)], Bachelor of Music [BMus] and Diploma in Music Performance [DMP]. For more information on these programmes, please contact the Michaelis School of Fine Art or the South African College of Music.

For more information on the curriculum of the extended degree programmes, please see the Humanities Undergraduate Handbook.

D. Degree Specialisations:

The Faculty currently offers the Bachelor of Arts programme [BA] with the optional specialisation in Film and Media Production.  . General Degrees which offer specialised curricula in particular subject areas or disciplines may have additional admission requirements.

Applicants will not be admitted into the Film and Media Production specialisation in their first year. All intending F&MP students must register for the first year of a general Bachelor of Arts degree [BA] with double majors in Film and Television Studies and Media and Writing.

Final selection for this programme is made by a panel and only occurs in the second semester of the second year. Entry is competitive and applicants will be judged on the basis of their academic records and portfolios. Candidates may also be interviewed.

Students who are not selected for admission to one of these courses will remain registered in the general bachelor's degree and, provided they have passed the relevant first- and second-year courses, are eligible to continue in the Film and Television Studies and/or Media and Writing majors.

For more information on the curriculum of the Film and Media Production specialisation, please see the Humanities Undergraduate Handbook. You may also visit The Centre for Film & Media Studies website or contact them by email for selection procedure.

E. Diplomas:

The Diploma in Theatre and Performance [DTP] programme is a three year intensive vocational training for stage performance and/or dance teaching.  A very limited number of applicants are admitted each year into this programme and it is specifically intended for candidates who wish to take professional studies in Theatre and Performance and make careers in the dance, theatre and related industries. The programme includes some courses from the academic major in Theatre & Dance Studies but its main emphasis is practical.

The programme offers the following orientations: Acting (Stage); Dance Performance (Contemporary, African, Ballet); Performance Making (Theatre Making or Choreography); and Pedagogy/Applied Performance (Education/Teaching). Please note: Not all orientations are offered every year.

You may visit The Centre for Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies website or contact them by email for more information on this programme.

The Diploma in Music Performance [DMP] programme  is a three year intensive vocational training for performing musicians. This qualification offers a similar practical curriculum to that of the Bachelor of Music but excludes some of the academic subjects prescribed for the degree programme. It is designed to prepare students for careers in particular practical curriculum specialisations or streams.

The programme offers the following orientations: Classical, Jazz Studies, African Music, World Music, and Opera.

You may visit The South African College of Music website or contact them by email for more information on this programme.

For more information of the curriculum of the above diplomas, please see the Humanities Undergraduate Handbook.

For admission requirements for the diplomas, please see the Undergraduate Prospectus.

F. Higher Certificates:

The Higher Certificate in Adult and Community Education and Training [HCert(ACET)] is a one-year entry level qualification which is intended to provide learners with basic introductory knowledge, cognitive and conceptual tools and practical techniques to enable further study in ACET. It aims to develop learners who are capable of applying such knowledge and competence as adult education, training and development practitioners.

Applicants shall not be admitted as candidates for the certificate unless they have a National Senior Certificate or a Level 4 National Certificate (Vocational) or an appropriate Level 4 Certificate in Adult Education and Training.

For more information of the curriculum of the Higher Certificate in Adult and Community Education and Training, please see the Humanities Undergraduate Handbook.

For admission requirements for the Higher Certificate in Adult and Community Education and Training, please see the Undergraduate Prospectus.

You may contact the School of Education more information on this programme.

For additional information, please download and consult the Faculty brochures under Downloads.