Humanities Graduate Centre An intellectually enriching environment for postgraduate students in the Wits Faculty of Humanities Contact us
Humanities Graduate Centre An intellectually enriching environment for postgraduate students in the Wits Faculty of Humanities Contact us
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Humanities Graduate Centre

What does the Humanities Graduate Centre offer?

The primary mission of the Humanities Graduate Centre (HGC) is to provide an intellectually enriching, professionally enabling and socially supportive environment for postgraduate students in the Wits Faculty of Humanities. The Centre is conveniently located close to various service points, such as Humanities’ schools, departments and the bus terminus for inter-campus commuters.

The HGC is an innovative space at the university that provides the ultimate interdisciplinary environment for postgraduates as it houses doctoral fellows from all the Schools, Departments, Centres and Institutes. The Centre also has space for masters and honours students and acts as a networking hub, assisting establishing linkages between junior postgraduates with senior PhDs.

Below is the list of distinct services offered by the Centre that are of value to postgraduate students.

As a Space Working space in the form of study carrels for PhD students with 24/7 operating hours. MA lab for a conducive study environment for masters and honours students, situated close to a mentorship facility. Space and research equipment for postgraduate students to conduct research interviews with their participants for their dissertations, as well as other research endeavours. It offers a venue for academic workshops run by various departments and/or schools across the University.
Regular Programmes The Isizinda Sokubhala programme creates a space for students to develop a culture of writing vital for their research pursuits. Resident PhD seminar workshops provide a platform for registered PhD students to present their research to their peers. This initiative, enhances public speaking skills of Fellows and enhances their public exposure. Resident Fellows Guest Lecture Series which invites young scholars trained in SA universities to present their work to the Wits postgraduate community.
Mentorship Mentorship is an ongoing resource that leverages the skills of PhD Fellows to impart necessary support to masters and honours students, assisting them to cope better with their research demands. The mentorship facility is also available to new/ junior PhD students to receive support from senior doctoral candidates as well as past PhD Fellows of the Centre who have graduated.
Postgraduate Training in Research Methods

The HGC provides an annual cycle of methods workshops run by expert scholars. These coincide with the appropriate stages in a student’s research journey.

  • Development of a research proposal
  • Data collection
  • Data analysis
  • Presentation of results
  • Scholarly publication
 Workshop Features
  • Expose students to the diverse range of methodological strategies and techniques that can be deployed, either singly or in combination, in research.
  • Provide in-depth training in such strategies and techniques, showing students how the choice of methodological strategy is inextricably linked to the use of concepts within a broader theoretical framework.
  • Introduce students and academic staff to new methods as the direction, focus and theoretical orientation of research in the Humanities and Social Sciences changes over time.
Schedule

A number of workshops are offered through the Grad Centre annually, with total attendance numbering well over a thousand students.

The Humanities and Social Science methods workshops have now been incorporated into the university-wide Post-Graduate Support Programme administered by the University’s Division of Postgraduate Affairs.

Postgraduate 足球竞彩app排名-Initiated Research and Learning Collectives
Purpose

To provide the space and the financial resources that postgraduates require to initiate their own independent explorations in:

  • Theory
  • creative work
  • Policy-oriented research
Initiatives

Initiatives often rely upon collaboration with doctoral programmes in each discipline, the faculty Research Chairs, Centres and Institutes.

Types
  • Self-organised courses
  • Thematic student-staff reading groups
  • Workshops with international visiting scholars
  • postgraduate symposia and conferences
Recent Examples
  • Horizontal Group on the Subject, Subjectivity and Subjectification
  • The Social Theory Group
  • The Critical Knowledge Production Collective
  • The Reading Group on African Critical Thought
  • Interdisciplinary reading groups involving PhD students and staff 
Isizinda Sokubhala - Place of Writing

The Humanities Graduate Centre in collaboration with the Wits Writing Centre and the Centre for Creative Writing hosts writing sessions for Postgraduate 足球竞彩app排名s titled Isizinda Sokubhala - Place of Writing.

Aim

To develop writing momentum and community.

Structure

Morning

  • A 4-hour morning write-in
  • One-to-one consultations

Afternoon

  • One-to-one consultations

Venue
Humanities Graduate Centre

Participate
To indicate your interest e-mail  Gradcentre.Humanities@wits.ac.za .

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