Postgraduates

Specialised areas

Students are encouraged to tailor their postgraduate degree structure so that they specialise in an area pertaining to their interest, such as a particular religion, comparative studies or a cognate topic that can be adequately supervised under the umbrella of the Department of Religious Studies.

In addition to the normal course requirements, students are required to attend the postgraduate colloquia held during the course of the year. The intention of the colloquia is to expose all postgraduates to seminars delivered by staff members and visitors to the Department. Attendance at all colloquia is compulsory and students will be required to reflect a knowledge of their content in examinations. Details of these events will be advertised as Wednesday lunchtime seminars and other guest presentations during the course of the year. To be added onto our mailing list, email Birgit Taylor.

Graduate Programmes

The Department offers the following graduate programmes:

• Honours / Masters programme in Religious Studies
• Research Masters in Religious Studies
• Doctorate in Religious Studies

Honours in Religious Studies

Convenor: Dr Andrea Brigaglia

Admission requirements:
(a) Faculty requirements as set out under Rules FH4 and FM3 apply.
(b) Programme requirements:
- A major in the discipline or a cognate discipline
- Applicants with an initial qualification in another discipline may be required to complete certain courses to achieve equivalence with the requirements for a major in Religious Studies
- Applicants with an initial qualification in the discipline other than a bachelors degree may be required to register for the extended Honours programme in terms of Faculty Rule FH6

Acceptance is on the recommendation of the Head of Department.

Degree structure:
The year comprises four taught courses and a research essay. Each student must have a programme advisor selected from the staff of the Department.

Compulsory courses:
REL4010F - Critical Terms in Religious Studies
REL4011H - Honours Research Project of about 15000 words

Elective courses:
The remaining three courses may be selected from the list of electives set out under the Masters programme. Honours students take the courses at 4000 level. NOTE: To progress to year two (Masters level) an overall average result of not less than 60% must be achieved

Taught Masters in Religious Studies

Convenor: Dr Andrea Brigaglia

Admission requirements:
(a) Faculty requirements as set out under Rules FH4 and FM3 apply.
(b) Programme requirements:
- A major in the discipline or a cognate discipline
- Applicants with an initial qualification in another discipline may be required to complete certain courses to achieve equivalence with the requirements for a major in Religious Studies
- Applicants with an initial qualification in the discipline other than a bachelors degree may be required to register for the extended Honours programme in terms of Faculty Rule FH6

Acceptance is on the recommendation of the Head of Department.

Degree Structure:
The year comprises four taught courses and a minor dissertation.

Compulsory course:
REL5003W - Minor Dissertation of about 25000 words
NOTE: REL4010F (Critical Terms in Religious Studies) must be taken if this was not completed at Honours level.

Elective courses:
The remaining modules may be selected from the list of electives set out here. The courses are subject to the approval of the supervisor and should be in the area of specialisation.

Subject to approval by the Head of Department, an elective offered by a cognate department may replace one or more of the listed electives. Please consult the supplementary elective handbook for descriptions of elective courses offered.

Assessment:
(a) Attendance at seminars is compulsory. All written work must be handed in on due dates unless special permission has been granted.
(b) Each taught course is weighted at 20% (Honours) and 12.5% (Masters) of the final result and is examined by a combination of coursework and a formal examination (50% of the course mark).
(c) The research essay/project is weighted at 20% (Honours) and 50% (Masters) of the final result.
(d) To be awarded the degree not less than 50% must be obtained for each component of the programme.
(e) To be awarded the degree with distinction an overall average of 75% must be obtained with not less than 70% in any component.

Research Masters and PhD in Religious Studies

Admission requirements:
(a) Faculty Rule FM3, FDA1-FDA6 and University General Rules apply.
(b) Applicants must have the required academic background and submit an acceptable research proposal for which supervision is available. Research degrees are encouraged where the field of research is clearly defined, the student wishes to concentrate on a specific research topic and has demonstrated the ability to do so.

Degree structure:
Examination is by dissertation/thesis alone. A Masters dissertation should not exceed 50,000 words in length. A Doctoral thesis should not exceed 80,000 words in length.

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Department of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town