University of Cape Town UCT Faculty of Humanities
University of Cape Town UCT Faculty of Humanities
University of Cape Town UCT Faculty of Humanities – see details below:
Overview
With close to 6000 students, the Faculty of Humanities is the second largest faculty at the University of Cape Town. 75% of our student population is at undergraduate level. The Faculty comprises 16 vibrant academic departments located in three main clusters: the Arts, the Social Sciences and the Performing and Creative Arts. Common to all is a focus on the human condition, in all its dimensions.
With four SARChI Research Chairs, 2 Mellon Research Chairs as well as 86 new and renewed NRF-rated researchers, UCT Faculty of Humanities enjoys a strong tradition in interdisciplinary research and teaching. Our academics equip students with skills that are crucial for engaging with the material and non-material aspects of being human. We produce exceptional graduates who possess imagination, insight, mental agility and analytical skills. We prepare young people for a variety of career paths in the public and private sectors, in the media space, in the NGO sector and in research and academia.
Geographically our academic departments are housed on four UCT campuses, one in the city centre and three in Rondebosch. Hiddingh Campus is in the heart of Cape Town on the site of UCT’s predecessor, The South African College, and houses the Michaelis School of Fine Art; the Drama Department and The Institute for Creative Arts (ICA). The majority of our academic departments are located on Upper Campus, while the School of Dance and the South African College of Music are located on Lower Campus. University of Cape Town UCT Faculty of Humanities
UCT Faculty of Humanities is an Afropolitan institution, a centre of excellence on the continent and an intellectual meeting point between Africa and the world.
SARCHi Research Chairs:
- Professor Carolyn Hamilton
- Professor Rajend Mesthrie
- Professor Abdulkader Tayob
- Professor Lungisile Ntsebeza
Mellon Research Chairs:
- Dr Matthias Brenzinger: Centre for African Language Diversity
- Professor Fiona Ross: The First Thousand Days of life
Click here to read more about Humanities research institutes.
NRF rated researchers:
There are a total of *89 NRF-rated Researchers in the Faculty of Humanities. Currently, our overall ratings for new or renewed NRF ratings for researchers is: 5 A, 29 B, 46 C and 6 Y. (*as at November 2017) Read more here.
Distinguished Teacher Awards:
The Distinguished Teacher Award (DTA) is the highest accolade given to teaching staff at all levels within the university and recognises excellent teaching. The following are current members of staff of the Faculty of Humanities who have received the award:
| Academic | Department | Year of award |
| Mr N Bakker | School of Education | 1988 |
| Professor H J Snyman | School of Languages and Literatures | 1989 |
| Associate Professor L Marx | English Language and Literature | 1992 |
| Professor N Worden | Historical Studies | 1992 |
| Mrs G Solomons | School of Languages and Literatures | 1993 |
| Associate Professor C Weare | Drama | 1993 |
| Associate Professor M Adhikari | Historical Studies | 1995 |
| Associate Professor R Mendelsohn | Historical Studies | 1996 |
| Professor D H Foster | Psychology | 1999 |
| Professor D Benatar | Philosophy | 1999 |
| Professor V Bickford-Smith | Historical Studies | 2000 |
| Associate Professor R S Edgecombe | English Language and Literature | 2001 |
| Professor H Philips | Historical Studies | 2001 |
| Professor A Mager | Historical Studies | 2002 |
| Associate Professor B Liebl | South African College of Music | 2003 |
| Dr H Schomer | Psychology | 2004 |
| Dr P Anderson | English Language and Literature | 2005 |
| Dr Z Erasmus | Sociology | 2006 |
| Associate Professor J Bennett | African Gender Institute | 2007 |
| Dr V Everson | School of Languages and Literatures | 2008 |
| Associate Professor C Clarkson | English Language and Literature | 2009 |
| Associate Professor M Steyn | Sociology | 2009 |
| Associate Professor M Campbell | South African College of Music | 2011 |
| Dr S Levine | Social Anthropology | 2011 |
| Dr H MacDonald | Social Anthropology | 2013 |
| Dr H Twiddle | English Language and Literature | 2013 |
| Dr I Rijsdijk | Centre for Film and Media Studies | 2013 |
| Dr J Hardman | School of Education | 2015 |
| Dr A Reisenberger | School of Languages and Literatures | 2015 |
UCT Book Awards:
The UCT Book Award recognises the publication of outstanding books written by members of staff. Published works in any category, including monographs, textbooks, novels, collections and popularisations are eligible for consideration by the Book Award Committee.
- Dr Litheko Modisane (Centre for Film and Media Studies) received the 2016 UCT Book Award for his new book South Africa’s Renegade Reels. He wrote the book while doing his post-doc at UCT and the university of Michigan between 2010 and 2011. He has subsequently given talks on the book in various places including at Wits, UCT, University of Michigan, and the New School University in New York.
- Associate Professor Sa’diyya Shaikh (Department of Religious Studies) received the 2015 UCT Book Award for Sufi Narratives of Intimacy.Her book combines feminism and Sufism in such a unique way that critics have labelled it “ground-breaking” and “pioneering”
- The 2014 UCT Book Award was presented to Professor Nicoli Nattrass (School of Economics) for her book The AIDS Conspiracy: Science Fights Back. This is the second time that Prof Nattrass recives this award; the first was in 2005 for her book, The Moral Economy of AIDS in South Africa.
- Sirkusboere, a novel by Sonja Loots (School of Languages and Literatures) received the UCT Book Award in 2013.
- The Jewish Book Council announced in 2010 that Place and Displacement in Jewish History and Memory: Zakor V’makor,edited by David Cesarani, Tony Kushner and Milton Shain (2009), placed as joint runner-up in the annual National Jewish Book Award in the category of Anthologies and Collections.
- In 2009 Professor Pippa Skotnes of the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts was awarded the prize for her work Claim to the Country: The Archive of Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd.
- In 2009 Prof Nigel Penn of the Department of Historical Studies was recognised for his book Forgotten Frontier: Colonist and Khoisan on the Cape’s Northern Frontier in the 19th Century.
- The UCT Book Award for 2007 was presented to Professor Bill Nasson of the historical studies department for his book Britannia’s Empire – Making a British World (Tempus, 2004). This was his second such award.
- The 2006 UCT Book Award was presented to Professor Peter Knox-Shaw, an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of English Language and Literature, for his work Jane Austen and the Enlightenment. Knox-Shaw was a full-time member and senior lecturer of the English department from 1975 to 1991.
History
The Faculty of Humanities is the largest faculty at UCT, with approximately 6000 students, of which 79% are undergraduates. Students from 65 countries study in the Faculty, many of whom are Semester Study Abroad students.
The Faculty comprises 15 academic departments in three main clusters- the Arts, the Social Sciences and the Creative and Performing Arts- located on three campuses (Upper, Lower and Hiddingh).
The present Faculty was formed in 1999, as a result of a merger of the Faculties of Arts, Social Sciences, Education, Music and the Michaelis School of Fine Art.