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Faculty of Arts Potchefstroom Campus North-West University South Africa The Faculty consists of five schools: and two Research Focus Areas:
and: School
of Languages
Enrolling
for a language course is
a career-enhancing move! The
success achieved by many students who enrolled for modules in the
various languages offered in the School of Languages at the
Potchefstroom campus in the past is concrete proof of this view.
Knowledge of language and literature not only provides your with
a knowledge of how people from other cultures and users of other
languages think and see the world, but also makes you aware of the
multiple interpretations that one can attach to a utterance or text, and
hence sensitizes you to the importance of good and correct communication
in every day life. Moreover,
the study of literature and language provides you with the critical
thinking skills to deal with today’s fast-changing work environment. The
School of Languages offers a variety of programmes, which are
tailor-made for certain needs and target groups.
On the one hand there is the programme B.A.
Language and Literature (a three-year course general course with
wide application for students in the private as well as public sector,
among which are the diplomatic corps, the field of language
practitioners (such as translators, interpreters, text editors),
teachers, as well as journalism, etc. The programme B.A. in
Language Technology (a four-year course) aims to train language
technologists by combining the world of computers and linguistics.
This is a niche programme with international alliances and this
campus is the only on in SA offering this programme.
In view of the increasing importance of Human Language
Technology, this is a wonderfully useful course. The
following languages form part of these programmes: Afrikaans
and Dutch, English, French, German,
Latin, Setswana and isiZulu. Language-related modules included in the programmes are: Ancient
Culture, Creative Writing
(the only undergraduate course in SA) and Translation
Studies. For more information on programmes and modules see the webpage: www.puk.ac.za/fakulteite/lettere/SKT or send an e-mail to sktwamc@puk.ac.za School of Philosophy
Dealing
with meta-theoretical and philosophical issues in Science is central to
the University’s understanding of the nature of tertiary education and
the responsibility of a university.
Within that context the School of Philosophy’s mission is
two-fold. Its
first responsibility is to train excellent philosophers and to produce
high quality research in selected philosophical disciplines.
To reach these objectives the School offers teaching at all
undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Research is focused on the theme
of human dignity in the South African context and on making philosophic
inputs to a small number of interdisciplinary research projects
initiated by other faculties. The
second area of responsibility is supporting all other schools of the
University in developing the philosophical capacity of their academic
staff and students. Special
attention is given to supporting schools in identifying relevant
philosophical and ethical issues, providing for them in the curriculum
and empowering teaching staff to deal with them in class
authoritatively. The
director of the School is Prof. PJJS Potgieter (018-2991891)(sgwpjjsp@puk.ac/za)
School
of Social and Government Studies
The
School is the home of subjects such as Sociology, Social Anthropology,
History, Political Studies and Public Management and Administration. There
are several post-graduate formal programmes such as the following: B.A.
Degrees in Humanities, Development and Management (Human Resource
Management and Industrial Relations) and Development and Management
(Business Management and Tourism). Honours
courses are available in Public Management and Governance and History,
while masters’ programmes are offered in Public Management and
Governance (course-work) as well as Public Management and Governance
(research option), in Public Management and Administration, History,
Sociology and Political Studies (for dissertations). Formal
Certificate Programmes, delivered via distance and contact education,
include the following: Certificate in Public Management; Certificate
Municipal Management; Certificate in Disaster Management; Certificate in
Financial Management. Non-Formal
Programmes include capacity-building programmes such as Disaster
Management, Project Management, Human Resource Management, Councillor
Development, Performance Management and Policy Development. The
director of the School is Prof. WJ van Wyk (018-2991626) (pwswjvw@puk.ac.za) Niche
programmes of the School of Communication Studies The
School of Communication Studies offers three undergraduate programmes,
viz. the three and four-year degrees in Communication Studies, as well
as the four-year degree in Graphic Design (this is the only university
that offers this degree). The
three-year BA with Communication subjects offers a broad base in which
all the sub-sections of communications are dealt with, viz. mass
communication, interpersonal, small-group, organizational,
intercultural, developmental and persuasive communication.
This teaching is contextualised so as to be applicable within the
following professional fields: journalism, corporate work, developmental work, video
production and corporate media. The
four-year degree is a continuation of the third year and offers
professionally focussed training in the fields of journalism, video
production, corporate management communication and developmental
communication. The
combination of Graphic Design and communication makes this programme
unique in the sense that learners not only learn to master the technical
skills needed to become good designers but they are also able to study
the world of corporate communication, in which marketing and liaison
work play an important role. This
many-faceted training makes the student who has completed the course a
very competitive entrant into the job market. The
director of the School is Prof. PJ Schutte (018-299 1645) (kompjs@puk.ac.za) School
of Music
The
School of Music, situated in the beautiful Conservatoire on the banks of
the Mooi River, offers two distinct kinds of programmes. On
the one hand the School offers the traditional four-year Baccalaureus
Musicae degree, intended for students who have had a high level of
formal music training. Students can specialize in various instruments, most notably
singing, piano, violin, cello and organ.
Students are also trained in Music Pedagogy, Music
Administration, Music Therapy and of course Theory of Music. On
the other hand, the School some years ago introduced the University
Diploma in Music. This is a
two-year diploma intended for students who did not have prior formal
training at all, or not at a sufficient level. Students do not need university exemption for this course,
and they can, after the two years, progress to the BA – Music and
Society. The course is
intended to impart skills in singing, basic mastery of instruments
(keyboard, recorder and guitar) and choir conducting.
The
school director is Jaco van der Merwe (018-299 1699)(muspjvdm@puk.ac.za).
Research
focus area: Sustainable social
development Situated
in the Faculty of Arts the central vision and mission of the focus area
is to render, through the use of social scientific knowledge and methods
of social development processes, a meaningful contribution to the
improvement of a sustainable quality of life of especially vulnerable
South African communities, more specifically in the North West Province.
The
focus area draws upon the expertise of academics in various disciplines,
such as: sociology, history, social anthropology, philosophy,
communication studies, public management and political studies. Research
in the focus area is guided by the following objectives:
·
Research projects in the focus area are currently
grouped together into five sub-programmes, according to the themes
addressed: ·
Values and ethics in development; ·
Politics, governance, democratisation and the media in
a developing society; ·
Social aspects in the management of natural resources
for sustainable development; ·
Organisational management for sustainable development;
and ·
Social dynamics. The director of the Focus Area is Prof. Annelie
Naudé (018-299-1750)(vsoamen@puk.ac.za) The
Research Focus Area: Languages
and Literature in the South African Context consists of three
sub-programmes. Language
and Technology: Sources and Applications concentrates on
Human Language Technology (HLT). Linguistic resources such as text and
speech corpora are collected and enriched with annotation. Enabling
technologies for the processing of the resources are developed, for
example morphological parsers and speech recognition systems.
The ultimate goal is to develop technological products for the
empowerment of the entire community such as spelling and grammar
checkers for South African languages, computer-based packages for
learning second languages, and speech-based applications such as
dictation and telephone banking systems. Research
in the Languages
in Contact sub-programme
examines educational as well as socio-economic challenges in the South
African linguistic ecology, and aims to develop appropriate
interventions to empower language users. A key focus of the work is on
the variation within South African Englishes, particularly Black South
African English (BSAE), and the implications of these varieties for
language attitudes and discrimination, language acquisition and language
teaching The research projects in South
Africa: Literature, Space and Identity in Local and Global Contexts focus
on how space, a changing multicultural construct, and historical
perspectives and literary processes impact on the formation of personal
and cultural identity in twentieth-century and contemporary texts from
South Africa and other postcolonial literatures as well as metropolitan
centres, as well as in children's’ literature. http://www.puk.ac.za/navorsing/eng/languages.html The director is Prof. AM de Lange (018299-1555) |
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