Humanities At Rhodes University

Humanities At Rhodes University

Humanities Degree Structure

The Humanities Faculty offers a number of degree and diploma programmes at undergraduate level:
A. BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE
A BA degree normally takes three years to complete. Ten courses need to be completed which must include two major subjects. To obtain a major subject, fi rst, second and third year level courses must be completed, e.g. History 1, History 2, History 3. Some majors require only two courses, e.g. Classical Civilisation 1, Classical Civilisation 2. These are the exception however.
Possible major subjects are listed below:
Afrikaans en Nederlands (2)                                       Greek+
Anthropology                                                              History
Applied Mathematics (2)                                            Human Kinetics and Ergonomics
Art History and Virtual Culture                                   Organisational Psychology (2)
BA Studio Practice (Fine Art)                                      Industrial & Economic Sociology (2)
Classical Civilisation (2)                                              Journalism & Media Studies
Computer Science                                                       Latin+
Drama                                                                         Legal Theory
Economics                                                                   Mathematics
English                                                                         Mathematical Statistics
English Language and Linguistics                               Music
Environmental Science (2)                                          Philosophy (2)
Ethnomusicology                                                         Politics
French++                                                                     Psychology
Geography                                                                  Sociology
German*                                                                     Xhosa (Non Mother Tongue)*
 
+ With the exception of Latin IB, other Latin and Greek courses will only be offered if staffing resources permit. The courses indicated with (2) are possible 2 year major subjects. Please note that apart from Classical Civilisation, all courses do have a specific 1st year subject prerequisite.
++ An Introductory course is offered in this language, four years being required to complete a major in French if one does not begin with Matric level.
* The German and isiXhosa courses are designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of the language.
These Sample Curricula are provided to illustrate how to build up a three year BA degree. Note that these are only examples of numerous possible curricula. Ancillary subjects may be chosen from a wide variety of Humanities courses.

 
* ancillary courses
++ compulsory course for Human Kinetics and Ergonomics 3
B. BACHELOR OF FINE ART DEGREE

 
C. BACHELOR OF JOURNALISM DEGREE

It must be stressed that these are only examples of a number of possible curricula.
D. BACHELOR OF MUSIC DEGREE

E. BACHELOR OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
To obtain a BSocSc degree you must obtain 10 credits. At least 5 credits (courses), including at least one major subject, must be chosen from the following:
Anthropology                                      Economics                  Organisational Psychology
Industrial & Economic Sociology         Politics                        Psychology
Sociology
An African Language may be taken as the second major subject with a major in Anthropology. Other subjects which may be taken as major subjects for the BSocSc degree: Geography; History; Information Systems; Legal Theory; English Language & Linguistics; Mathematics; Mathematical Statistics; Philosophy; Computer Science; Environmental Science; Management.
The following are possible examples of degree structures:

 
* if you intend majoring in Management in a Bachelor of Social Science you need to obtain credit in Accounting 1, Economics 1, Statistics 1D and Theory of Finance (TOF) – therefore a good mathematics mark would be a requirement.
Humanities Extended Studies Programme
This programme offers an alternative route through a Rhodes degree in the humanities faculty. This programme is intended for South African English Second Language speakers who show potential to succeed at university but who might not achieve the entry requirements for a 3 year humanities degree. It is open to students with a matric exemption, not less than 28 admission points and at least a 4 for English as an additional language.
Entering this programme generally means that the degree must be taken over four years instead of three. Students take two mainstream humanities subjects from a limited choice of subjects offered. These two subjects are supported with additional extended studies classes. These classes aim to develop reading skills and conceptual understanding of the subjects, to give students assistance in preparing for tutorials and assignments and to develop subject specific vocabulary. In addition students take general skills classes which aim to provide students with skills they need to cope academically at university. Students also take computer literacy classes and an information literacy course.
After the first year, students can choose any subjects open to humanities students. Extended studies students are usually limited to taking a maximum of 3 credits in one year.
Sample extended studies degree
Year 1: (2 credits plus 2 support credits) Anthropology 1      Journalism and Media Studies 1
Year 2: (3 credits)                   Anthropology 2           Politics 1          Economics 1
Year 3: (3 credits)                  Anthropology 3           Politics 2          Psychology 1
Year 4: (2 credits)                   Economics 2                Politics 3