The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a prominent research-led university in South Africa, with a proud history rooted in the Cape Town community. (For further information, see uwc.ac.za)
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities is a vibrant hub for study across a range of disciplines, with a strong emphasis on inter- and trans-disciplinary research. (Find further information about the faculty here: study/faculties-and-programmes/faculty-of-arts-and-humanities/overview).
We are inviting you to our Postgraduate Open Day where you will be able to speak to lecturers and researchers about programmes, and the areas of study you may be passionate about. It will also be an opportunity to enjoy our beautiful campus.
Date: 16 August 2025
Duration: 09.30 to 15.30 (with a formal programme between 10.00 and 13.00)
Venue: L1 and 2, New Arts Building, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Rd, Bellville
The faculty offers the following postgraduate degrees and diplomas:
- The Postgraduate Diploma in Language Practice
- The Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies
- Honours degrees in various disciplines
- MA full-thesis degrees in various disciplines
- Master’s Structured programmes in various disciplines
- PhD full-thesis degrees in various disciplines
We are home to thirteen departments. These include: African Language Studies, Afrikaans and Dutch, Anthropology, English, Foreign Languages, Geography, Environmental Studies and Tourism, Historical Studies, Library and Information Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, Sociology, Religion and Theology, and Women's and Gender Studies.
The faculty includes a large number of National Research Foundation (NRF) Rated researchers with research niches in critical areas of social, cultural, artistic and environmental concern. An impression of the significant achievements of the faculty may be seen here: study/faculties-and-programmes/faculty-of-arts-and-humanities/news-events
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities hosts four world class research centres. Researchers at the centres are available for supervision and co-supervision of postgraduate theses in disciplinary and inter-disciplinary areas. Find more information by visiting the centre home pages.
The Centre for Humanities Research: https://www.chrflagship.uwc.ac.za./
The Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research: study/all-areas-of-study/centres/centre-for-multilingualism-and-diversities-research/overview
The Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice: https://desmondtutucentre-rsj.uwc.ac.za/
The Centre for the Advanced Studies of African Society: study/all-areas-of-study/centres/centre-for-advanced-studies-of-african-society/overview
The faculty also hosts six Research Chairs, confirming the scholarly standing and research intensity of the faculty. These are the National Research Foundation (NRF) South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Visual History and Theory, the NRF SARChI Desmond Tutu Research Chair in Religion and Social Justice, the UWC Chair in Forensic Linguistics, the Charlotte Maxeke-Mary Robinson Research Chair, the Jaap Durand Chair on a Just, Participatory and Sustainable Society, and the Chair for Media Inclusion and Diversity.
Our classes are scheduled in person at times agreed upon by the department. Course materials are easily available on our Ikamva learning platform, and our library is well stocked with e-books and e-resources. Meetings with supervisors could take place virtually, and all submissions may be made online or via email. All students are also welcome to participate in our diverse range of in-person seminars, workshops, public lectures, and share in the international opportunities the faculty extends to students. (When you are registered, you will be given access to our online learning platform through which all opportunities are advertised, and where you may find many other support materials.)
The faculty offers postgraduate programmes in the following departments:
Department of African Language Studies: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-african-language-studies/overview
Namkelekile-welcome! Join our department to study towards your Honours degree. Your four courses include a compulsory research mini-thesis; and you can choose the other three courses from options such as forensic linguistics, translation studies, media and literary studies and sociolinguistics (which explores language and education). You can use isiXhosa or English to complete your coursework and exams. For the Master’s and Doctoral programmes you will be provided with a supervisor who can guide you in the writing up of your research-based thesis, which you will need to complete.Department of Anthropology:study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-anthropology/overview
The Department offers a range of areas of specialisation from which students can choose depending on their career aspirations and passions in life. Therefore, while providing general and well-rounded training in anthropology, postgraduate students can build specialisations in the following areas which are consistent with the research interests and specialisations of the Department: Medical Anthropology; Political and Legal Anthropology; Human Animal Studies (HAS); Visual Anthropology and Popular Culture; Religion Studies; Sociology of Technology, and Gender and Sexuality.Possession of higher degrees opens the door for engagement in a range of careers, including research, media, development, government, academia, and education.
Department of Afrikaans and Dutch: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-afrikaans-and-nederlands/oor-ons
Welkom! The Department Afrikaans and Dutch Studies at UWC is one of the largest Afrikaans departments in South Africa, specifically on the level of postgraduate studies. We have a popular Honours degree which is taught on a full time and part time basis. Classes take place after hours to accommodate working students. We also have Master’s and Doctoral programmes in Afrikaans and Dutch. In these programmes theses are written by students with the guidance of a supervisor. Many Afrikaans postgraduate students at UWC focus on literature written by black Afrikaans or Dutch authors as well as the linguistic varieties of Afrikaans. Our department is involved with numerous cultural events in South Africa and Europe providing students with opportunities here and abroad.Department of English: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-english/overview
English has become the most widely used language globally, spoken by billions of people on all continents of the world. Writers, poets, playwrights, film makers and digital producers from all over the world have created a rich, complex and diverse literature and culture. In UWC's English Department, students learn about the literature, media and culture in English or translation, in diverse historical periods and geographic regions, including South Africa. Studying world literatures in English gives students the opportunity to participate in global conversations, and become a highly literate, well-educated and confident graduate in a demanding and rapidly changing world of work. Students will learn how to think, read, write and speak effectively through textual analysis and theoretical reflection, thereby laying a firm foundation for a critical understanding of our contemporary culture. A postgraduate qualification in English is a highly portable, globally sought after degree.Department of Geography, Environmental Studies & Tourism: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-geography-environmental-studies-and-tourism/overview
Further your education with an Honours, Master’s or PhD degree in Geography and Environmental Studies! We have a number of exciting focus areas, including: Environmental Science and Management; Environmental Humanities; Cities, Economies, and Cultures; and Tourism. For the Honours, you will take a number of modules and write a research essay with the guidance of a supervisor; for the Master’s and PhD, there are no courses, so you will conduct original research for a thesis also guided by a supervisor.Department of Historical Studies: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-history/overview
Welcome to the Department of Historical Studies, one of the leading History departments on the continent with an impressive record of teaching and research in the fields of African, public, visual, forensic, gender and oral histories, as well as archive, museum, heritage and curatorial studies. We offer a dynamic and exciting postgraduate programme of study towards Honours, Master’s and PhD degrees. For the coursework Honours and Master’s degrees, students complete a core course, two elective courses, and a research project. The electives offered by the Department include: (1) Visual History; (2) History of Southern African Anthropology; (3) Activism and Archives, (4) Museums, Heritage & Public History (Honours only); Kitchen Histories (Master’s only); (5) Curatorship; (6) Forensic History; (7) Theories and Practices of Oral History; (8) Experimental History Writing; and (9) Political Biography and the National Liberation Struggle in South Africa. We also offer Master’s and PhD degrees by full thesis.Department of Foreign Languages: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-foreign-languages/overview
The Department of Foreign Languages offers postgraduate programmes in Arabic, French, and German. These include Honours, Master’s, and PhD degrees. Students can pursue advanced studies in language, literature, culture, translation, and applied language studies. These programmes are ideal for educators, translators, and language professionals who aim to enhance their academic and professional credentials in multilingual and multicultural settings. Flexible study options and strong research supervision support are available to accommodate working teachers.Department of Library and Information Science: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-library-and-information-science/postgraduate
The department of Library and Information Science offers dynamic, vibrant and exciting postgraduate programmes in the form of a Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies (PGDipLIS), a Master’s in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) by course work, a MLIS by thesis as well as a PhD in LIS. The postgraduate programmes were originally designed with strong reference to public librarianship as a crucial contributor to educational upliftment of under-privileged and marginalised communities. It has since been redesigned in line with twenty-first century needs for specialist information management, fast-changing technologies, constantly evolving information ecology, new literacies, Artificial Intelligence literacy education, and professional leadership in robust physical and virtual information infrastructure. The PGDipLIS can be completed in one year and involves completing six (6) modules namely Foundations of LIS, Information Services and Literacies, Library Technologies and Scholarly Communication, Research Methods and Information Behaviour, Resource Description and Collection development as well as Organizational Management. For the MLIS by course work, students complete the compulsory Research Methods in LIS module, two elective courses, as well as a mini thesis. The electives offered are Knowledge Management, Information Literacy Education and Data Stewardship. MLIS by thesis and PhD LIS programmes are completed by conducting original, cutting edge research under the expert guidance of supervisors.Department of Linguistics: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-linguistics/overview
The Department of Linguistics is full of heart and adventure. As the biggest department in the faculty, we draw large numbers of students interested in exploring and analysing the role of languages in society. Our lecturing team consists of colleagues with diverse interests in exciting areas such as: forensic linguistics, psycholinguistics, lexicography, phonetics, phonology, media and communication, multilingualism, semiotics, autoethnography, gender, formal linguistics and Kaaps (also known as Afrikaaps), to name a few! The linguistics team is dedicated to a socially responsible study of language within a framework of social transformation, individual and group empowerment, as well as citizenship, and voice. The Department is heir to a proud tradition of putting research and teaching at the service of the local community, striving for equitable transformation. For this reason, it is not uncommon for our lecturing team to work with communities in order to uplift them and provide a platform for their struggles to be heard and seen. Our postgraduate students attend local and international conferences with their supervisors and are mentored to grow in their research niche. In the Linguistics department we support fearless, cutting-edge and impactful research – if you can imagine it, we can bring it to life!Department of Philosophy: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-philosophy/overview
We are a small and tight-knit department that believes in fostering happy, supportive relationships with individual students to enable them to achieve their full potential. We offer all postgraduate degrees, from Honours, to Master’s (coursework or full-thesis) to PhD. The Honours degree has students reading three main texts (tailored to student research interests as far as possible), and completing a mini-thesis under supervision. For instance, in 2025 we read Boonin’s Dead Wrong – a book about what, if any, duties we may owe to dead people – Parfit’s Reasons and Persons – a classic! – and Vice’s The Ethics of Animal Beauty, a recent book by a local, South African philosopher. At Master’s and PhD level we have students completing their research on: the ethics of war, impostor syndrome, capitalism and race, racism and sexism within the discipline of Philosophy itself, and African theories of meaning in life. As this list reveals, we are a vibrant department with varied research interests and supervision capacity. Please visit our Instagram to see some of the fun we get up to: https://www.instagram.com/uwc_philosophy/Department of Religion and Theology: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-religion-and-theology/overview
You’re warmly invited to explore postgraduate study opportunities with the Department of Religion and Theology. We offer programmes at Honours, Structured Master’s, Master’s by Thesis, and Doctoral levels, with modules in Theological Studies, Ethics, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies. Our research culture is dynamic, collaborative and internationally relevant and connected, with six key frameworks guiding our work: Religion, Ethics and Social Transformation; Religion and Gender; Religion and Development; Ecumenical Theology and Spirituality in Africa; Christian Ecotheology; and Biblical Hermeneutics and Rhetoric. A full list of our 2025 postgraduate modules can be found in the Faculty Handbook. We look forward to welcoming you into a community where critical inquiry, faith, and social engagement come together.Department of Sociology: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-sociology/overview
Sociology is a broad and an exciting scientific study of contemporary societies, cultures, social issues, behaviors and relationships. The Department of Sociology at UWC has a rich intellectual tradition steeped in the highest standards of research and academic rigour. We are passionate about deepening sociological knowledge and skills to address various contemporary social issues across societies, cultures, and communities. The work we do is marked by scientific research, exemplified by a variety of scientific approaches to research including surveys, in-depth interviews, big data, social demography, observations, and desktop and archival research. Examples of committed engagement with contemporary social issues in the African landscape and beyond, such as research on sexuality and gender, racial issues, gender discrimination, animal rights, environmental issues, educational challenges, family dynamics and health issues, is aligned with our expertise in socio-political, economic, cultural and educational sociology. We invite you to explore the exciting world of Sociology within our undergraduate and postgraduate offerings such as Contemporary Social World, Social Inequalities, Crime and Violence, Sociology of Health and Technology, and Animal Studies and the Environment. We are happy to supervise sociological Master’s and PhD studies that align with our expertise.Department of Women’s and Gender Studies: study/all-areas-of-study/departments/department-of-women-and-gender-studies/overview
Are you interested in gender and sexual justice matters? If yes, the Women’s & Gender Studies Department is a good fit for your postgraduate journey! The Women’s & Gender Studies Department has a remarkable track record of feminist scholarship, teaching and learning and excitingly we celebrate our 30th birthday in 2025. The Department is one of the largest departments to foreground degree programmes in feminist scholarship on the African continent. Our course offerings include a Honours degree, where you do core modules on feminist methods and theories and a long research paper. Our MA programmes include a structured Master’s, where you do course work as well as a research project and then a full thesis MA. Our Phd degree is by dissertation only. Graduates from our Honours and Master’s programmes hold important positions in the ongoing struggles for gender and other forms of justice, while graduates from our doctoral programme hold professorships and lectureships at universities around the country. We look forward to welcoming you to our Department.The Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research (CMDR) also offers a Postgraduate Diploma in Language Practice (Honours Level).
This one-year professional diploma offers courses in Forensic Linguistics, Multilingualism, Translation and Editing, and Legal Interpreting. It also includes a Research Project. Teachers will be especially interested in the Multilingual Learning and Teaching module which offers practical strategies for implementing multilingualism in the classroom, or at management or policy levels. Staff in the CMDR can also supervise students who are registered for an Master’s or PhD in other departments in the faculty. (study/all-areas-of-study/centres/centre-for-multilingualism-and-diversities-research/overview)
The Prerequisites: To do an Honours degree, you will need a major in that discipline in your undergraduate degree. For a Master’s degree you will need Honours and for a PhD a Master’s degree. If you do not have the necessary prerequisites for a degree, but you believe you have acquired the necessary competencies through professional or other experience, it is possible to be admitted via our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) route.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for Postgraduate Access
Postgraduate entry into Honours, Master’s, and Doctoral programmes can be facilitated through alternative access pathways that formally recognise an applicant’s prior learning. These pathways consider a holistic combination of formal qualifications, informal learning, and relevant work experiences that align with the exit-level learning outcomes of the preceding National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level the candidate intends to bypass.
For instance, an applicant seeking admission into a Master’s programme without an Honours qualification would need to demonstrate substantial research knowledge, relevant experiential learning, and work experience that equates to the learning outcomes and competencies of an Honours degree. This ensures that the candidate possesses the necessary depth and breadth of knowledge, research skills, and analytical capacity to succeed at the postgraduate level.
The RPL process for postgraduate access adopts a dual-assessment approach, grounded in both national and institutional policy frameworks. This approach rigorously evaluates an applicant’s learning against the requirements of the NQF and the discipline-specific standards of the programme in question. RPL assessments are conducted by panels of experts familiar with the relevant academic and professional fields, ensuring a fair and contextually grounded determination of eligibility.
For more information on how to apply for RPL-based postgraduate entry at the University of the Western Cape, please contact: rplenquiries@uwc.ac.za
The Office for Research Development and Postgraduate Support (RDPS) is also there to facilitate your journey as a postgraduate student at UWC.
The RDPS provides postgraduate training and support through a holistic approach by providing coaching/mentoring, academic workshops, funding opportunities and editing support. The goal of the unit is to contribute to the throughput of postgraduate students (Recruitment, Retention and Completion). The services provided by the unit aims to support and propel postgraduate students over the finish line within the allocated time for their degree.
The RDPS create a supportive Postgraduate environment through:
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Campus wide/Bespoke Skills training - conducted by Academic Coordinators
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Specialists’ consultations - Mentorship/Coaching services
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Funding opportunities – information sessions conducted by specific funders
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NRF Training - assisting students to apply for funding
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Writing Retreats – offer dedicated time for postgraduate students to complete their proposal or thesis under the supervision of the academic coordinator.
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Editing support – once ready to submit, RDPS pays your editing cost capped at R15 000.
In order to provide support to more students, the RDPS provide workshop through different delivery modes:
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In person – traditional face to face sessions
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Online – virtual workshops conducted via zoom
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Hybrid – combination of in-person and online workshops
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Recorded workshops – some sessions are available as recordings on YouTube and iKamva
Workshops topics:
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Research Methods – covers quantitative and qualitative approaches
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Academic Writing – focuses on proposal development and thesis development and completion
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Project Management – helping students to organise their research effectively
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Ethics – addressing ethical considerations in research
