Department of Visual (Fine) Art Courses

BA Hons (Visual Art) H8VA1Q

Admission requirements:
An appropriate Bachelor’s degree with a recommended minimum of 65% for all final year modules is achieved.

Selection criteria:
In addition to the minimum admission requirements as outlined above, prospective students may be required to present a portfolio of their own work and/or a sample of their academic writing to an interview panel.
Duration of the programme:
1. Minimum duration: One year full-time / two years part-time

2. Maximum number of modules per year of study:

Full-time: One Year module and 2 semester modules (Art History and Theory specialisation) or, Full-time: Three Year modules (Studio Practice specialisation)

Part-time: Art History Option: One year module in year one (Art and Visual Theory 4) and two semester modules in year two (Art History and Theory 4A and Art History and Theory 4B) or Part-time: Studio Practice Option: Two Year modules in Year One (Studio Practice 4 and Visual Art Professional Practice 4 only) and, One Year module in Year Two: (Art and Visual Theory 4)

All full time and part time BA (VA) Honours students must complete the compulsory module Art and Visual Theory 4. In this module, students must complete the proposal and literature review successfully before moving on to the Dissertation requirement of the module. Students must then choose from either of the following two sets of elective modules:

• Art History and Theory 4A and Art History and Theory 4B OR
• Studio Practice 4 and Visual Art Professional Practice 4

All modules must be successfully completed in order for students to graduate. The following rules apply regarding the BA Honours (Visual Art) curriculum:

•  Part-time Visual Art students are advised to successfully complete the Practice 4 modules before registering for Art and Visual Theory 4 modules in their second year of study.
•  Art History students including appropriately-qualified students from the Faculty of Humanities, can negotiate the combination of their modules including electives, with the Visual Art Department.
•  It is recommended that such students successfully complete at least Art and Visual Theory 4 (i.e. the Proposal and Dissertation module) as well as ONE elective from Art History and Theory 4A and Art History and Theory 4B in their first year, before registering for the remainder of the modules in their second year.
• In the Visual Art Professional Practice 4 module, students must choose to specialize in the professional practice component of the module AND, either the Work Integrated Learning option OR, the Community Engagement / Socially Engaged / Collaborative Art option.

Contact details: Name: Mrs Adele Maritz

Tel: 011 559 1126 / Email: fadapg@uj.ac.za

Brief description of the programme: The purpose of the Bachelor of Arts Honours in Visual Art is to prepare students for research-based postgraduate study and entry into the diverse careers in the visual and cultural industries by enabling students to produce creative solutions to complex problems within specialist areas of academic enquiry. Such areas comprise Research Methodologies, Proposal Writing and Dissertation as well as either Art History and Theory or Studio Practice and Visual Art Professional Practice, to exhibit this work professionally and to conduct and report on research under supervision. The Bachelor of Arts Honours in Visual Art curriculum accommodates students who wish to pursue a Studio Practice (Practical) major, a theoretical focus on Art History and Visual Theory and aspects of work integrated learning or community-engaged art practice. The curriculum also accommodates Humanities Faculty students who have specialised in Art History. The programme comprises five modules, one of which is compulsory for all students, as well as four independent elective modules, from which either of two sets of elective modules are selected, which accommodates the student’s area of specialisation.

BA Hons in (Art Therapy) H8TH1Q

Applications for 2024

The visual art department’s division of art therapy has published three books, and these can be downloaded here:

Art and creativity in lockdown 

Cultivating creative agency through artmaking: Unlocking artmaking with found and home-made materials

Waiting on the Edge

Our programme
The BA Honours Art Therapy programme offers an integrated curriculum which is supported by FADA’s extensive infrastructure and resources, including dedicated studios, lecture theatres and onsite libraries. The art therapy programme has established collaborative relationships with the University of Hertfordshire (UK) and Lesley University (US) as well as the departments of psychology and social work at the University of Johannesburg, to develop a curriculum that provides a relevant and dynamic foundation in psychodynamic theory with extensive community practice and clinical application components. Students are guided by local and international specialists, including art therapists, supervisors and educators through supervision, lectures and experiential work in developing skills towards their own final research. Research practice is concentrated on both participatory and visual methodologies appropriate for arts-led community practices and activism relevant in our South African context. The programme includes experiential group and studio practice to develop deep and authentic reflective practice that is rooted in the South African paradigm.

Innovation

UJ’s learning innovation (including CAT, ICS and AVS) departments worked together using the latest technologies to develop an ambitious web-based mix for learning that supports and enables connecting with international specialists and supervisors.

Our team of lecturers
The BA Honours Art Therapy programme has a core team headed by Kim Berman, Professor in the Department of Visual Art at FADA. The programme coordinator is Amalia Beagle, MAFA graduate, community arts counsellor. Rozanne Myburgh, drama therapist and managing director of Lefika La Phodiso, convenes the reading group and reflective practice groups, along with Kamal Naran, assistant lecturer in the Visual Art department. Helena Edwards, HPCSA Registered art psychotherapist with a Master’s degree in art therapy and counselling, facilitates the open creative studio practice.

Our team of highly regarded lecturers are some of the most experienced professionals in the field, both in South Africa and internationally:

• Dr Hayley Berman is the founder of Lefika La Phodiso and Senior Lecturer MA Art Therapy ( previous programme leader) at the University of Hertforshire in the UK, currently Clinical Lead at Woodford in the UK.
• Dr Nataly Woollett is an art therapist and research fellow at Wits
• Helena Edwards is an art therapist
• Professor Vivien Marcow Speiser is a professor and director at Lesley University in the US and Dr Phillip Speiser is an expressive arts educator/therapist, drama and music therapist, and psychodramatist

The programme draws from a very rich resource of outstanding professional guests in the fields of psychology, social work, leadership, children’s rights, GBV, drama, art and expressive therapies, and creative leadership, both locally and internationally.

Community partnerships and social action
The BA Honours Art Therapy programme has partnered with community organisations to provide practical placement experience. Students participate in a participatory research and social action module that supports effective and ethical engagements using arts-based approaches to identify needs within community. Current community partners are Lefika La Podisa, Trevor Huddleston memorial centre, Windybrow Arts Centre and Butterfly Art Project, all offering grassroots experience for students in spaces deeply embedded in art therapeutic practices. As part of community practice, students are required to observe a range of clinical practices in professional sites that are relevant to their research specialisations.

MA Art Therapy
BA Honours Art Therapy programme provides entry to the MA art therapy qualification.

Admission requirements:

The minimum admission requirement for the BA Hons (AT) programme is an appropriate bachelor’s degree or BTech degree with a minimum of two years of psychology is a prerequisite for entry.

NOTE:

All prospective students would need some experience of working with image making within community contexts.

All students will be required to submit a portfolio of their own artwork and a letter of motivation.

Selection criteria

Selection is based on the academic merit of the candidate’s art portfolio psychological maturity, and capacity to engage creatively with their internal world and external worlds . Candidates require a minimum of two years of psychology (noting that three years of psychology is required for the MA Art Therapy).

• Applications are approved by the department committee comprising a panel of assessors from the visual art department.
• Committee and art psychotherapy specialist lecturers. Candidates will be interviewed, and their portfolios assessed by visual art department’s selection committee panel. Candidates who are not accepted may request to receive feedback regarding their unsuccessful submission.

Applicants who wish to specialise in Art Therapy are selected by means of an entrance assessment comprising the following:

1. A personal portfolio that demonstrates an ability to engage reflectively with visual art, image-making and design practices
2. An interview where candidate reflective practice will be assessed.
3. A written motivation that demonstrates sufficient academic and research competency.
4. Evidence of community engagement experience (recommended).

Duration of the programme:

Minimum duration : One year full-time/ Two years part-time

Maximum number of modules per year of study: All modules must be successfully completed in order for students to graduate.

Contact details : Mrs. Adele Maritz
Telephone : 011 559 1126
Email: fadapg@uj.ac.za

Brief description of the programme:

The purpose of the programme is to develop students’ creative, imaginative, and critical knowledge, skills, and academic research capabilities within the domains of the art therapy discourse, visual arts and psychosocial and therapeutic industries. The Honours programme will equip students with an intermediate knowledge of Art Therapy theories, and research methodologies, as they relate to eventual practice as an Art Therapist on completion of a Masters in Art Therapy, as well as an ability to think competently, safely, and ethically in a range of observed clinical settings. The programme facilitates the process of exploration and critical inquiry, on both an internal and external level, to understand how meaning is created through art-making, which can then be applied in a clinical context. The programme focuses on creative, critical thinking and how this applies to clinical contexts according to ethical and professional standards (as outlined by the appropriate professional governing Boards of the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the South African National Arts Therapies Organisation) in order to explore Art Therapy approaches within South African, pan-African, and international contexts. In keeping with the University’s focus on promoting African scholarship, this programme addresses the need for academically adept, discipline-sophisticated, and civic-minded graduates who are able to complete this Honours as the first step to entering into a proposed Masters programme to respond to psychosocial challenges in a globalised environment through the use of art-making, building on a sustainable model and practice for the arts in the realm of psychosocial environments.

NOTE:

The student obtaining this Honours qualification cannot practice clinical Art Therapy before obtaining a Masters qualification, which is a registered profession with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

MA Visual Art  M8VA1Q  

Admission requirements: 

Bachelor of Arts Honours in Visual Art. BA Hons (Visual Art ) or B Hons (Fine Art) or, BA Hons (Fine Art), or BA Hons, with an average mark of at least 65 % or an equivalent qualification at an equivalent standard, as recommended by a Status Committee and approved by the Faculty Board. A portfolio of selected practical work in visual art is required for candidates who intend specialising in any aspect of visual art practice.

Selection Criteria: Selection is based on academic merit and a preliminary research proposal, as approved by the Departmental Admissions Committee.

Duration of programme:

Nature of programme: Two-year research programme.

Minimum number of months for registration: 24 months.

Maximum number of months for registration: 24 months full-time, 36 months part-time.

The research component comprises 100% of the programme but can be configured as follows:

1. Exhibition and Dissertation (50%/50%) Practical component: On-going studio production, culminating in a public exhibition of artwork: quantity and quality should be of a professional standard, reflecting an in-depth exploration into chosen area of focus. (Can include: Photography, video and new media art, environmental art and related practice) A catalogue of practical work is required. Theoretical component: A dissertation of approximately 60 pages (15-20 000 words), excluding footnotes, endnotes, illustrations and appendices. Its content could comprise two parts i.e., (a) a theoretical contextualization and critical analysis of an approved research topic, and (b) an explication and visual documentation of the practical component
2. Theoretical Research by Dissertation (100%) A dissertation, of approximately 120 pages (30-40 000 words); excluding footnotes, endnotes, illustrations, documentation and appendices. Can include research related to or drawn from the fields of art history, art theory, art criticism, and/or visual culture.
3.  Community-Based participatory research (CBR) by dissertation (100%) Research report motivating a participative methodology within a socio-economic context. The 100% research component should be approximately 120 pages text (25-30 000 words), excluding footnotes, endnotes, illustrations, documentation and appendices. The practical component can be an annotated catalogue of the outcomes of the research project.
4.  Socially engaged art practice by dissertation and exhibition or catalogue (100%) Focus areas can include art education or art therapy research; or can include an analytical investigation into, and the arguing of, a theoretical position in relation to a social or educational context artifactual and artistic production. Annotated catalogue of community practice work required.
5.   Practice-led Research (100%) Practice mode can be in the form of an annotated catalogue, research report or documentation of visual practice and the arguing of a theoretical position in relation to artifactual and artistic production.

Contact details: Name: Mrs Adele Maritz

Tel: 011 559 1126 / Email: fadapg@uj.ac.za

Brief description of the programme: Having obtained this qualification, students will be able to conduct advanced independent research in a particular area of the visual arts, demonstrating complex analytical and practical skills and knowledge in writing a dissertation and, where applicable, an exhibition of original work or artefacts appropriate to the research mode.

MA in (Art Therapy) M8TH1Q

The Masters in Art Therapy qualification is an exciting new programme, available for the first time in South Africa (and on the African continent) at the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Art Design and Architecture (FADA). Building on the historical role of arts in activism and healing in South Africa, the Art Therapy qualification aims to respond to South Africa’s traumatic past and continued trauma by developing accredited mental health practitioners with a strong focus on community.

Applications for 2024

The visual art department’s division of art therapy has published three resource books, and these can be downloaded here:

Art and creativity in lockdown

Cultivating creative agency through artmaking: Unlocking artmaking with found and home-made materials

Waiting on the Edge

Our programme

The art therapy programme facilitates the process of exploration and critical inquiry, on both an internal and external level, to understand how meaning is created through art-making, which can then be applied in a clinical context. The programme focuses on creative, critical thinking and how this applies to clinical contexts according to ethical and professional standards (as outlined by the appropriate professional governing Boards of the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the South African National Arts Therapies Association) in order to explore Art Therapy approaches within South African, pan-African, and international contexts. In keeping with the University’s focus on promoting African scholarship, this programme addresses the need for academically adept, discipline-sophisticated, and civic-minded graduates who are able to complete the Honours and Masters programmes to respond to psychosocial challenges in a globalised environment through the use of art making, building on a sustainable model and practice for the arts in the realm of psychosocial environments.

Innovation

UJ’s learning innovation (including CAT, ICS and AVS) departments worked together using the latest technologies to develop an ambitious web-based mix for learning that supports and enables connecting with international specialists and supervisors.

Our team of lecturers

The Masters in Art Therapy programme has a core team headed by Professor Kim Berman, Professor in the Department of Visual Art at FADA. The programme coordinator is Amalia Beagle, MAFA graduate, community arts counsellor and lecturer in the UJ access programme.

Our team of highly regarded lecturers are some of the most experienced professionals in the field, both in South Africa and internationally:

• Dr Hayley Berman is the founder of  Lefika La Phodisoa nd Senior Lecturer MA Art Therapy ( previous programme leader) at the University of Hertforshire in the UK, currently Clinical Lead at Woodford in the UK.
• Dr Nataly Woollett is an art therapist and research fellow at Wits
• Dr Kim Berman is the art therapy programme head and professor in UJ’s visual art department
• Tessa Whyatt is an art therapist and facilitates studio practice
• Helena Edwards is an art therapist and facilitates the clinical placement sites

The programme draws from a very rich resource of outstanding professional guests in the fields of psychology, social work, leadership, children’s rights, GBV, drama, art and expressive therapies, and creative leadership, both locally and internationally.

Clinical placements

The Masters in Art Therapy programme has partnered with various HPCSA-approved professional sites to provide clinical placement experience.

Admission requirements:

The BA Honours Art Therapy programme provides entry to apply to the Masters in Art Therapy. In addition, a minimum of three years of psychology is a prerequisite for entry.

Duration of the programme:

Minimum duration: Two years full-time/three years part-time

Maximum number of modules per year of study: All modules must be successfully completed in order for students to graduate.

Contact details:

Name: Mrs Adele Maritz
Tel: 011 559 1126
Email: fadapg@uj.ac.za

Brief description of the programme:

The Art Therapy Masters programme consists of four modules: theory of art therapy; community practice; studio practice; and research.

The purpose of the programme is to develop students’ clinical practice, critical knowledge, skills, and academic research capabilities within the domains of the art therapy discourse, while promoting creative and imaginative thinking in the visual arts, psychological, psychosocial and therapeutic industries. The Masters programme will equip students with advanced knowledge of art therapy theories, research methodologies and outputs, and professional therapeutic and clinical skills. The programme facilitates the process of exploration and critical inquiry, on both an internal and external level, to understand how meaning is created through art making, which can then be applied in a clinical context. The programme facilitates clinical placement and supervision aligned to ethical and professional standards that leads to registration, as outlined by the appropriate professional governing Boards of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) (Draft Scope of practice, Appendix C) and the South African National Arts Therapies Association (SANATA).

In keeping with the university’s focus on promoting African scholarship, this programme addresses the need for academically adept, discipline-sophisticated, and civic-minded graduates who are able to complete this Masters programme and contribute to the demand for therapists as well as the research outputs for the profession and university.

NOTE: A Masters in Art Therapy and registration with the HPCSA must be obtained in order to practice as a clinical art therapist in South Africa. A BA Hons Art Therapy qualification is required in order to apply for the Master’s programme.

PGCE  (Art & Design) 

The Faculty of Education at UJ is committed to knowledge making for 21st century education. To this end, the Faculty offers two Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programmes as of 2021. Both focus on secondary school teaching – one on the Further Education and Training Teaching phase and the other on Senior Phase Teaching. School-based Work Integrated Learning (WIL), including supervised and assessed teaching practice, is an important part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Education programme. Students are expected to spend up to ten weeks of WIL in schools in which one period consists of seven consecutive weeks.  Through integrating coursework at the university and practicum at schools the Faculty creates learning opportunities for student-teachers to acquire:

• A thorough understanding of learning and development in adolescence
• Sound subject knowledge with an understanding of contextual factors that impact learning and schooling
• An appreciation of the demands of the teaching profession and a repertoire of teaching strategies and skills
• A reflective stance towards teaching.

Purpose: 

The Postgraduate Certificate in Education is a professional teaching programme that `caps’ an undergraduate degree or an approved diploma. It offers entry-level initial professional preparation for qualifying undergraduate degree or diploma holders who wish to develop focused knowledge and skills as classroom teachers in a chosen phase(s) and/or subject(s). The qualification requires a specific depth and specialisation of knowledge, together with practical skills and workplace experience, to enable successful students to apply their learning as beginner teachers in schools in varying contexts.

Envisaged outcomes:

Students who complete this programme will be able to:

• Teach at least two school subjects in chosen phase(s) as per their qualification. Support and nurture learning and development in diverse educational contexts. Identify and address barriers to learning in the classroom.
• Formulate a personal teaching philosophy and critically reflect on how it relates to a teacher’s professional role.

To achieve the outcomes the programme integrates the knowledge mix of disciplinary, pedagogical, practical, and situational learning through the following in the programme:

• Education and Teaching Studies (mainly disciplinary, pedagogical and situational learning): Includes a focus on the adolescent as learner, the teaching profession, education policies, communication, teaching as the practice of citizenship, classroom management and information and communication technologies for the teaching profession.
• Teaching methodology and practicum (mainly pedagogical and practical learning with elements of situational learning): Teaching methodology and practicum are integrated. This implies that students will engage in learning from practice, learning in practice and learning from service, aiming at developing specialised pedagogical content knowledge and teaching competence in the chosen subject.
• Even though the knowledge areas as indicated above are specified, the curriculum is organised to enable coherence and cohesiveness and an integration of theory and practice.

Duration of the programme and offering: 1 Year (full time) or 2 years (part time)

The coursework will be offered in contact mode making use of a blended learning approach necessitating engagement with the curriculum and completion of some activities in an online environment. The practical experience (WIL) will be conducted at faculty partner schools.

Admission requirements:

To gain access to the Postgraduate Certificate in Further Education and Training Phase Teaching (FET) an applicant must have sufficient disciplinary knowledge in appropriate academic fields to enable the development of teaching specialisation phases and/or subjects as specified for each school phase. This is outlined as follows:

•  A first degree on an NQF Level 7 with a minimum of 360 credits, and
• Two school related subjects, both at 3rd year level.

To gain access to the Post Graduate Certificate in Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching (SP and FET) applicant must have sufficient disciplinary knowledge in appropriate academic fields to enable the development of teaching specialisation phases and/or subjects as specified for each school phase. This is outlined as follows:

•  A first degree on NQF level 7 with a minimum of 360 credits, and
• Two school related subjects, one on 3rd year level and one on 1st year level

OR

• An approved National Diploma on level 6 with a minimum of 360 credits from an accredited higher institution, and
• Two school related subjects, one on 2nd-year level and one on 3rd-year level.

The  National  N  Diploma  cannot  be  considered  for  admission  to  the  PGCE. Additional requirements for subject specialisations are listed in the relevant tables that follow.

Language competency: All qualifying PGCE students should be proficient in the use of at least one official South African language as a language of learning and teaching (LoLT), and partially proficient (i.e. sufficient for purposes of basic conversation) in at least one other official African language, or in South African Sign Language, as a language of conversational competence (LoCC). If the LoLT is English or Afrikaans, then the LoCC must be an African Language or South African Sign Language. All new certificates are to be endorsed to indicate the holder’s level of competence in specific languages by using appropriate labels, for example: LoLT (English) and LoCC (isiZulu). A UJ short learning programme (SLP) in isiZulu will be on offer at an additional cost to those that do not meet the language competency requirements. This SLP must be successfully completed for a PGCE student to graduate.

The following demonstrable competencies in LoCC will be accepted:

An African home language • Grade 12 school subject • Successful completion of the UJ short learning programme in IsiZulu or an equivalent certification from another institution.

ICT Competency: All PGCE graduates must be digitally fluent requiring a high level of ICT competency. Where necessary, students that were identified lacking sufficient ICT skills will be required to complete an online short learning programme (SLP) in Basic computer skills. This SLP must be successfully completed for a PGCE student to graduate.

Disclaimer:

• Fulfilling all the minimum entry requirements does not guarantee acceptance into a particular programme.
• The faculty reserves the right to limit numbers in line with its enrolment targets. The Faculty of Education also reserves the right to cancel an application or registration in the event that there are insufficient student enrolments to ensure the availability of the electives in the PGCE programme. Students will be advised if they fall into the latter category and offered an alternative if they meet the minimum entry requirements.

There are six areas of specialisation in this PGCE (SP and FET) qualification. Successful applicants can only be registered in ONE of the packages for which they meet the entry requirements.

SP Specialisation package with minimum requirements for the Methodology and Practicum module A5SARQ 

For more information email: eldam@uj.ac.za or call 011 5591117

PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in Art History PHD181

Admission requirements:
An appropriate Master’s Degree, with an average mark of at least 65% or an equivalent qualification at an equivalent standard.

Selection criteria: 
Selection is based on academic merit and a preliminary research proposal, as approved by the Department and proposed Supervisor.

Duration of programme:
Minimum duration: Two years full-time or part-time.
Maximum duration: Four years full-time or five years part-time.

Contact details: 

Name: Mrs Adele Maritz

Tel: 011 559 1126 / Email: fadapg@uj.ac.za

Brief description of the programme: 
The purpose of the programme is to enable candidates to undertake research at the most advanced academic level culminating in the submission, assessment and acceptance of a thesis in a theoretical and/or historical aspect of visual culture. The candidate is required to demonstrate high-level research capability and make a significant and original academic contribution to the understanding of art and visual culture.

PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in Art and Design P8AD1Q

Admission requirements:
An appropriate Master’s Degree or equivalent with a minimum final mark of 65%

Selection criteria:
Selection is based on academic merit and a preliminary research proposal, as approved by the Department and proposed Supervisor.

Duration of programme :
Minimum duration: Two years full-time or part-time.
Maximum duration: Four years full-time or five years part-time.

Contact details: Name:
Mrs Adele Maritz
Tel: 011 559 1126 / Email: fadapg@uj.ac.za

Brief description of programme:
The purpose of the programme is to enable candidates to undertake research at the most advanced academic level culminating in in the submission, assessment and acceptance of a thesis. The candidate is required to demonstrate high-level research capability and make a significant and original academic contribution at the frontiers of art and/or design. In certain instances creative work such as designed artefacts, public performances, public exhibitions or other practice based outputs may constitute the partial fulfilment of the research requirements.