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Overview

The MA in the Field of Diversity Studies is an interdisciplinary programme undertaken by students from various disciplines (although most come from disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences). The content of the course can be applied to a variety of fields and professions, and the robustly critical approach to issues of diversity, difference, and otherness that the programme teaches will give you an ‘advantage’ to just about any field or profession as diversity is an aspect of just about any contemporary context. 

Many of our students have gone on to work in areas such as the media, non-governmental organisations, advocacy, research consultancies and have pursued PhD’s and academic careers. The programme is also ideal for individuals who seek careers in the transformation sector or who are already working in it and wish to deepen their critical skills to improve their practice. There is no internship requirement for the completion of the course, and the degree does not involve professional registration.

Curriculum

MA (Plan code: AFACRIT60):

The requirements are that you do two core courses, an elective and a research report. Core courses are:

Theories of Diversity, Difference and Otherness (SOSS7074) (Semester 1)

This course aims to introduce you to critical ways of theorising diversity with a particular focus on operations of power and difference in social organisation, identity construction and cultural production. The course reflects the distinctive intellectual approach of WiCDS, which is grounded in Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL). Rather than focusing only on demographic diversity or inclusion, the module equips students to analyse how historical and contemporary systems of power produce inequality and shape social relations. The programme is interdisciplinary, drawing on sociology, political theory, philosophy, feminist studies, postcolonial studies, critical race theory, disability studies and cultural studies.

Critical Diversity Literacies (SOSS7073) (Semester 2)

This course aims to explore how power, identity, difference, and inequality are produced, represented, and normalised within the context of global modernity. Drawing on critical perspectives from race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, and decolonial studies, the course equips students with the conceptual and analytical tools to examine how systems of inclusion and exclusion operate across social, cultural, political, and institutional contexts. Students will critically engage with the epistemological, methodological, and ontological foundations that sustain claims to universality, while exploring how particular ways of knowing and being have been privileged over others. By engaging with diverse knowledge systems and lived realities, the course seeks to make visible the pluriversality of worlds and to foreground ontologies, epistemologies, and modes of existence that challenge dominant understandings of society, knowledge, and humanity.

The course codes for Methods for Critical Diversity Studies (Masters) and the Research Report are:

• Methods for Critical Diversity Studies (Masters) (SOSS7086A) (Semester 1)
• Research Report (SOSS7010) (Semester 2)

Electives: Electives are chosen from cross-listed courses in disciplines across the Faculty of Humanities which you can do in either semester.

The research module: You will register for the research component of the programme, and a research report based on the fieldwork you have conducted and it will be submitted in February of the following year (example: February 2019 if you register in 2018).

When you go online Diversity Studies appears on the system as an option under the programme ACA00. Choose AFACRIT60 Diversity Studies (MA).

If you received a scholarship from the Chair, you will be required to align your research with the general thrust of the Chairs research programme. If your research interests are not in line with the Chair’s research, you will work with your supervisor to identify a research topic.

Entry Requirements

• Masters by Coursework and Research Report.

University Application Process

University Fees and Funding

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. The University's Postgraduate Funding portal is a database of scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities available to Wits postgraduate students. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities.  The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies.