Postgraduate: Honours

Our vision

The vision of the department is to be a research-led department advancing critical, professional, policy and public sociology.

Our mission

• Undertake high quality, socially relevant research and publication with an explicit focus on applied sociology, clinical sociology, public sociology, and sociological practice.
• Continually strive to improve our teaching and supervision;
• Cultivate an optimal learning experience that engenders critical engagement with a changing world;
• Integrate teaching and social commitment with cutting-edge research and practice;
• Express academic citizenship through participation in professional activities

Our core values

• Academic freedom;
• Diversity and social justice;
• International cooperation;
• Life-long learning;
• Interdisciplinarity

Three Sociology Honours Degrees – Sociology, Industrial Sociology and Urban Studies – Emphasising Sociological Practice

Successfully completing one of the three sociological practice Honours degrees prepares and empowers a student for advanced postgraduate studies, job searches and job creation as well as using innovative approaches for assessment and change

• Each degree is a one-year program
• Five courses (including theory, research methodology and a research project), as well as a 120-hour internship, are required
• Elective courses include: (1) Sociology of Work and Labour Markets; (2) Gender, Family and the Workplace; (3) Group Dynamics; (4) Political Sociology; (5) Urban Sociology; and (6) Clinical Sociology
• Students can apply for a bursary (tuition included)
• Applicants should have an average mark of at least 65% and above.
  Admission will be considered for a student who completed Sociology or Industrial Sociology as a major (up to third-year level) in the preceding BA Degree.
  If a student does not comply with the requirements mentioned above, admission may be granted by the Dean of the Faculty, at the recommendation of the Chairperson of the Department.

Internship Handbook

One of the requirements is to do a 120-hour internship. For more information, please click on this link: 2022 UJ Sociology Internship Handbook

For more information on the internship, please email the internship coordinator: Dr Letitia Smuts Lsmuts@uj.ac.za

Application Forms

Please ensure that you have the following before making your online application:

• Valid email address (Gmail or Yahoo mail account).
• All documents must be certified when uploading documents, ensure that the scanned file is a maximum of 512KB, and that all documents are scanned any of the following types – tiff, pdf, jpg or gif

Each document must be scanned and uploaded as separate attachments. Alternatively, documents can be emailed to ujappdocs@listsrv.uj.ac.za with the provisional reference/student number noted in the subject line of the email.

Step 2: Once an online application has been submitted, please complete Departmental Application.pdf (Honours) and email the form to Ms Bonisiwe Moagi (bonisiwem@uj.ac.za) and Prof Pragna Rugunanan (prugunanan@uj.ac.za), along with a full academic record and supporting documents as specified on the form. (NB: this form can only be completed once you have made your online application and obtained a student number – see Step 1).

Should you require more information, you can contact Ms Bonisiwe Mokone (bonisiwem@uj.ac.za), departmental manager, or the honours coordinator, Prof Malehoko Tshoaedi (mtshoaedi@uj.ac.za). Applicants are encouraged to apply by the 30th of October 2020, no late application will be accepted.

B.A. Honours (Sociology) 

Admission requirements: Admission will be considered for a student who completed Sociology or Industrial Sociology as a major (up to third-year level) in the preceding BA Degree. If a student does not comply with the requirements mentioned above, admission may be granted by the Dean of the Faculty, at the recommendation of the Chairperson of the Department.

Duration of programme: 1 year

Contact details: Prof Malehoko Tshoaedi Email: mtshoaedi@uj.ac.za

A brief description of the programme: The modules in the BA Honours (Sociology) programme offers students an understanding of contemporary societal debates and concerns. Students explore social identities and societal structures, global and local linkages, as well as social change and strategies for social intervention. Considerable emphasis is placed on guiding students to conduct independent quantitative research. The programme offers skills in theory, report writing and problem-solving. Students also acquire SPSS skills and competencies and have to complete a 120-hour internship.

B.A.Honours (Industrial Sociology)

Admission requirements: Admission will be considered for a student who completed Sociology or Industrial Sociology as a major (up to third-year level) in the preceding BA Degree. If a student does not comply with the requirements mentioned above, admission may be granted by the Dean of the Faculty, at the recommendation of the Chairperson of the Department.

Duration of programme: 1 year

Contact details: Prof Malehoko Tshoaedi Email: mtshoaedi@uj.ac.za

Brief description of programme: The modules in the BA Honours (Industrial Sociology) programme offer students an understanding of the changing nature of global workplaces, industries, worker struggles and work dynamics. Considerable emphasis is placed on guiding students to conduct independent quantitative research. The programme offers skills in theory, report writing and problem-solving. Students also acquire SPSS skills and competencies and have to complete a 120-hour internship.

B.A. Honours (Urban Studies)

Admission requirements: Admission will be considered for a student who completed one of the following major subjects: Sociology, Industrial Sociology, Geography, Philosophy, Historical Studies, Development Studies, Psychology, Industrial Psychology, Politics, Public Governance and Social Work as a major (up to third-year level) in the preceding BA Degree. If a student does not comply with the requirements mentioned above, admission may be granted by the Dean of the Faculty, at the recommendation of the Chairperson of the Department.

Duration of programme: 1 year

Contact details: Prof Malehoko Tshoaedi Email: mtshoaedi@uj.ac.za

A brief description of the programme: The BA Honours (Urban Studies) programme introduces students to critical perspectives on urbanisation and city development. Students become familiar with debates on the politics of cities and institutions, informality, consumption, and ways in which people participate in and reshape city life. Considerable emphasis is placed on guiding students to conduct independent quantitative research. The programme offers skills in theory, report writing and problem-solving. Students also acquire SPSS skills and competencies and have to complete a 120-hour internship.

The following three courses are compulsory for all honours students:

• Research Methodology (Term 1): This course focuses on issues with regard to the scientific nature of social research. Different methodological approaches are studies providing students with conceptual and practical research skill
• Sociological Theory (Term 2): In this course, the student is not only introduced to both classical and contemporary sociological theories but also to meta-theorising and the movement toward theoretical synthesis. In addition, the course reviews theoretical debates on the organisation of work and the transformation of the work process and unemployment, locating these topics within the South African context.
• Statistics for Social Sciences (Term 2): Statistical principles for the human sciences and basic statistics to analyse quantitative data by utilising the software, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), are taught using the textbook: Eiselen, R., and Uys, T. 2016. Analysing Survey Data using SPSS 26: A Workbook. Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg.  —  To obtain the book, first, pay R200 into the entity 05.05.6500.20 at Student Finance and then present the receipt (proof of payment) to the Sociology departmental secretary at CRing 6.

Compulsory attendance of the weekly Wednesday seminar: Students to submit a paper on the seminar.

• Research Seminar: Students undertake a collective research project by making use of qualitative and/or quantitative methods in their research design.

Students enrolled in B.A. Honours Sociology need to choose one course in term 3 and one course in term 4:

• Gender, Family and the Workplace (Term 3): In this course, the student will not only be introduced to the way in which the family as primary socialisation agent teaches its members the culturally defined contents of these gender roles, but also a number of other gender, family and work-related issues are also discussed.
• Urban Sociology (Term 3): This course encourages interrogation of dynamics of urban culture, the place of the city in the global context, urban demography and migration, urban geography and the informal sector, and urban power relations, with a focus on the application of these questions to South African
• Clinical Sociology (Term 3): This course offers students insights into sociological problems and issues, and the skills to solve these problems through innovative interventions.
• Group Dynamics (Term 4): In this course, different aspects affecting behaviour within groups are studied, e.g. group norms, cohesion, competition and cooperation.
• Political Sociology (Term 4): This course centres on a critical examination of societal power relations, focusing on the state, democracy, human rights and civil society, with particular emphasis on social movements.
• Sociology of Work and Labour Markets (offered in term 4): Industrial sociological theory incorporating current debates in South African labour relations are assessed within appropriate theoretical and international contexts.

The following course is compulsory for all Honours students in Industrial Sociology:

• Sociology of Work and Labour Markets (offered in term 4): Industrial sociological theory incorporating current debates in South African labour relations are assessed within appropriate theoretical and international contexts.

Students need to choose one of the following 3 courses offered in term 3:

• Gender, Family and the Workplace (Term 3): In this course, the student will not only be introduced to the way in which the family as primary socialisation agent teaches its members the culturally defined contents of these gender roles, but also a number of other gender, family and work-related issues are also discussed.
• Urban Sociology (Term 3): This course encourages interrogation of dynamics of urban culture, the place of the city in the global context, urban demography and migration, urban geography and the informal sector, and urban power relations, with a focus on the application of these questions to South African
• Clinical Sociology (Term 3): This course offers students insights into sociological problems and issues, and the skills to solve these problems through innovative interventions.