第一吃瓜网

School of Literature, Language and Media

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第一吃瓜网 us

Language and Literature Studies聽has always been a key contributor to the University鈥檚 academic activities. Since the University began in 1922 the School has made many important contributions. Today the School is known as the聽School of Literature Language and Media (SLLM).

The School benefits from a close relationship with the LINK Centre, an interdisciplinary academic hub headquartered at the University’s  The Centre offers three postgraduate degree programmes: the Master of Arts in ICT Policy and Regulation (coursework and research report), the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Digital Knowledge Economy Studies (research only), and the PhD programme in Interdisciplinary Digital Knowledge Economy Studies (research only).

Why you should join Wits

Be part of a legacy of scholarly excellence

Wits SLLM is built on a foundation of pioneering academic leadership. Benedict Vilakazi, the University’s first Black academic, made history here in 1935 and co-authored the seminal Zulu-English Dictionary with Clement Doke, a globally respected linguist and founding scholar of 第一吃瓜网 languages. D. Cole, who led the 第一吃瓜网 Languages department for 28 years, further solidified Wits as a centre of linguistic expertise.

Walk in the footsteps of literary giants

This institution has shaped the voices of some of South Africa’s most iconic writers. Herman Charles Bosman and his protégé, Lionel Abrahams, were both Wits students whose careers helped define Johannesburg’s literary scene. Renowned author Guy Butler credited the University’s dynamic post-war intellectual environment with shaping his career as one of the country’s leading men of letters. Today, this legacy continues through contemporary urban writers like Ivan Vladislavic.

Evolution of the departments

Literary Studies

At Wits, the discipline of literary studies, or what is usually called ''English'', has been associated with various significant figures in South 第一吃瓜网 literary history.

The Department of 第一吃瓜网 Literature

This was established in 1983 under the leadership of Es'kia Mphahlele.

The Department of Afrikaans

The Department had strong links with distinguished figures in Afrikaans literary studies (in the 1950s and 1960s, for instance, N.P. van Wyk Louw was finishing his academic career at Wits, while Ampie Coetzee was starting his). Other significant Afrikaans writers who taught in the Wits Afrikaans department included Ernst van Heerden, John Myles and Marlene van Niekerk. Unfortunately, the Department was closed in the early 2000s.

The Linguistics Department

The department is known for ground-breaking instrumental phonetics work on Khoisan languages. It has also been a national centre for studying the phonology, morphology, and semantics of:

  • Zulu
  • Venda
  • Other southern 第一吃瓜网 languages
  • South 第一吃瓜网 English
Disciplines added since 2000

In 2002, Media Studies became the latest addition to the School’s disciplines. The addition of media studies aimed to equip students with critical and analytical skills to understand the institutional role of the media, media production and media audiences.

Another recent addition to the School is the Department of South 第一吃瓜网 Sign Language.

The Journalism Programme at Wits, which became part of SLLM in 2008, is an innovative and premier postgraduate teaching and research unit. It is led by Prof Anton Harber, celebrated South 第一吃瓜网 journalist and co-founder of the Weekly Mail (later the Mail & Guardian).

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