1. Workshop on Thesis Writing 

8 February (09h00)

 09h00–09h30: Presentation of topics

The idea, here, is that MA and PhD students in their first year of registration present one page on their proposed research areas. Each presentation will be followed by feedback and a brief discussion.

 09h30–10h30: Proposing a thesis, synthesising data, and documenting sources

The purpose of this workshop is to advise you on the roles and duties of supervisors and students, and to help you prepare a thesis proposal. In addition, we shall discuss the collation of data and the documentation of sources. (The discussion of referencing will assume that you have familiarised yourself with the relevant sections of the style sheet for writers of MA and PhD theses, which is available on the Department’s webpage.)

 2. Dates and Deadlines for Thesis Proposals

Research proposals must be signed off by the student, the supervisor and HoD as compliant with departmental processes.

3 April (09h00): Submission of electronic copies of drafts of proposals to Mike Marais (m.marais@ru.ac.za).

5 April (14h15): Proposal workshop

Presentation and discussion of preliminary thesis proposals.

19 April (09h00): Submission of penultimate draft of proposal to supervisor (for circulation amongst designated members of the Department).

11 May: Submission of final proposal to Higher Degrees Committee

The following are the dates on which the Humanities Higher Degrees Committee meets, and also those on which proposals should be submitted to Faculty:

Please use the following guidelines when preparing the research proposal for submission:

1. Please obtain the HHDC proposal template from your supervisor.  Once you have completed it, return it to your supervisor and thereafter the HoD for their signatures of approval.
2. The proposal must be saved as either a .docx or a .pdf with the file name as follows: ‘student number, surname, HHDC degree’ (e.g. 14S1234 SITHOLE HHDC PHD.  Please also use this file name in the subject header. Do not scan it through; it must be the original Word .docxdocument using the HHDC proposal template.
3. Please heed the following word counts: Masters:1800 – 2000; PhD:  2800 – 3000.
4. The word count excludes references and the cover/ethics page
5. All proposals must indicate the number of words at the end of the text section prior to the references

3. Research Presentations

In the course of the year, there will be two opportunities for all MA and PhD students to present fifteen-minute papers on their research to fellow students and members of staff.

17 May (14h15): (principally for students in their second or third year of registration).

16 August (14h15): (principally for students in their first year of registration).

Last Modified: Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:53:03 SAST