Following the call for Postgraduate applications at the beginning of September more and more departments are offering exciting postgraduate study opportunities at Rhodes University for 2011.
The Institute for the Study of English in Africa at Rhodes University is inviting applications for a new one-year full time Masters in Creative Writing programme from 2011. The programme offers a semester of intensive coursework where candidates will be exposed to different genres and several distinguished writer-teachers, as well as simultaneous development of an extended writing project, in prose, poetry, drama, scriptwriting, or nonfiction.
The course will also offer personal supervision in English, Xhosa or Afrikaans; directed ‘creative reading’ for enjoyment and inspiration, guidance in editing, publishing and marketing; and guidance in keeping a reflective journal. The teaching and supervisory staff will include Jeff Peires, Joan Metelerkamp, Mxolisi Nyezwa, Paul Wessels, Robert Berold, Anton Krueger, Mzi Mahola, and Laurence Wright.
Another exciting opportunity is an invitation for students to apply for a part or full-time Masters in Environmental Education. The programme is offered by the Environmental Learning Research Centre, in the Faculty of Education.
Rhodes houses the only Chair of Environmental Education in Africa, and is recognised as a United Nations Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development.
Researchers in this post-graduate programme will focus on a diversity of learning contexts, including community learning, workplace learning and learning in schools and universities. The courses develop critical thinking, educational theory and practice expertise, and an understanding of the links between environment, social justice, education and more sustainable futures.
The Department of Philosophy is also calling for applications towards a range of postgraduate study options at PhD, Masters and Honours levels. Masters degrees are offered by course-work and thesis or by thesis only.
The Department’s staff has wide-ranging interests, having published and/or taught in various aspects of Philosophy including History of Philosophy (Ancient, Early Modern, 19-20th Century Continental), Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Religion, African Philosophy, Philosophy of Literature and Philosophy of Film. A shared interest across the Department is Moral Philosophy, broadly construed to include topics such as meta-ethics and moral psychology, as well as practical and applied projects.
The postgraduate Philosophy curriculum changes from year-to-year depending on staff research interests and the interests of visiting international staff (at least one course per year is presented by a distinguished visitor).
Even more opportunities are on offer at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) which is offering a one-year research-based Social Policy Masters degree in 2011. The Masters in Social Policy is aimed at providing a rigorous grounding in theories, concepts and methodologies of social policy and their application to contemporary social problems.
The Social Policy Masters will be of interest to students with a research interest in: critical social policy; the history and politics of social policy in South Africa; theories of social citizenship and its application to South Africa; the different objectives of social policy and how it relates to a middle-income developing country such as South Africa; the normative underpinnings of different approaches to social policy; and how a social policy approach differs from a developmental perspective in the identification of social problems and possible solutions to such problems.
Individual research case-studies will include among others health, education, income maintenance and water as significant concerns of social policy in the post-apartheid era.
For more information on the above post-grad programmes whose closing date is 30 October 2010, visit: http://www.ru.ac.za/applying/postgraduates or contact:
MA in Creative Writing : Carol Leff at c.leff@ru.ac.za or visit
http://www.ru.ac.za/isea/courses/mainwriting
Masters in Environmental Education: Sashay Armstrong (046-603-8390) sashay.armstrong@ru.ac.za
Philosophy: Prof Tom Martin, Head of Department: T.Martin@ru.ac.za, 046 603 8351, http://www.ru.ac.za/philosophy
ISER: Prof R Van Niekerk, Professor of Social Policy. Email: r.vanniekerk@ru.ac.za or Debbie Bruinders at d.bruinders@ru.ac.za, 046 603 8938.