The Culture cluser comprises the disciplines of Anthropology and Cultural and Heritage Tourism
Disciplines under the Culture Cluster
- Anthropology
- Cultural and Heritage Tourism
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humankind, its common roots and the sources of its rich diversity. The discipline’s uniqueness lies in its global, comparative, and diachronic perspective.
Anthropologists believe that a true understanding of the human condition can only be achieved by studying the distant as well as the near, the ancient as well as the modern. Different branches of the discipline focus on different aspects of human experience, such as how our species evolved, how traditions of thought and behaviour are learned, how and why cultures change and persist.
As the ‘global village’ and its development challenges expand, people who possess different values, religions, customs and perspectives increasingly find themselves competing for scarce resources while trying to live together. For such reasons, there is a growing demand for the expertise and methodologies of people trained in anthropology.
Knowledge of Anthropology is particularly useful in the following areas:
- Positions that require specialised knowledge of particular cultures, people or parts of the world; eg research posts in national research institutes and development agencies, human resource departments of large organisations and foreign service.
- Education at all levels, where pupils and students come from a variety of backgrounds.
- Development consulting and applied research for bodies as the World Bank, World Health Organisation, United Nations agencies, and other non-governmental organisations.
- Museums, radio and television, newspaper journalism, film production or other fields that make use of qualitative research methods.
- Psychology, social work, town planning, housing, market research, and jobs in the field of race relations, and ethnic minorities.
- Medical research, designing culturally sensitive health promotion programmes.
We offer the followin programmes in the field of Anthropology:
BA, Bsoc Sc, Bsoc Sc hons, MSoc Sc and PhD
Cultural and Heritage Tourism
This is an inter-disciplinary field of study which focuses on various aspects of local culture and heritage and on the implications of their development as tourist attractions. The field draws on economics, art and craft, languages, architecture, history, human geography and other disciplines which are all centrally involved with the heritage industry and with tourism.
We offer the following programmes in the field of Cultural and Heritage Tourism:
BA, Bsoc Sc, Bsoc Sc hons, MSoc Sc and PhD
The BA in Cultural and Heritage Tourism (which is offered both as a major or as a structure degree) is a three-year degree which produces competent experts who are able to act as managers, administrators, entrepreneurs, tour operators, researchers and educators in the emerging field of cultural and heritage tourism. Graduates will be sensitised to current debates in this field of study, where ‘heritage’ extends beyond historical sites and artefacts to include the environment and contemporary cultural practices.
Academic Staff:
N Gumede |
Dr G Jagganath |
Prof S Marschall |
Dr. M Naidu |
Prof. V Ojong |
Dr J Ndlovu |
Dr C. Nokuthula |
Ms N. Nzuza |
Mr A. Phoofolo |
Prof A. Singh |