Program Overview

Publishing Studies

The Master of Arts in the field of Publishing Studies by coursework and research report is a 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time degree.

Overview

Coursework is done as a hybrid mix of in-person and online lectures and is supported by an extensive guest speaker seminar program and in-person activities twice a semester. This ensures that we prepare students for the real-world expectations of various roles in the publishing industry, evaluated by submitting authentic assessments that evaluate industry-relevant skills competencies. Each unit requires 10-12 hours of attending lectures, reading, researching and completing assignments each week of the semester.

Curriculum

Full time students do all their coursework, the research proposal and the research report in one year. Full time study is strongly discouraged for working students. Part time students ideally do 2 course modules on the 1st semester in the 1st year and 1 course in the 2nd semester of the 1st year. The research proposal and the research report are done in the second year.

• Students who have not studied publishing previously will complete 3 of these 5 modules.
  • AFRT7054A Context for publishing 1st semester
  • AFRT7057A Acquisition, commissioning and finance for publishing 1st semester
  • AFRT7056A Marketing and sales for publishing 2nd semester
  • AFRT7055A Preparing manuscripts for production 2nd semester
  • AFAFRT7053A Publishing management and finance - 2nd semester when available
• Students who have studied Publishing previously will complete three of the modules.
  • AFRT7049A Evolving forms of publishing - 1st semester
  • AFRT7051A Advanced digital and multimedia publishing - 1st semester
  • AFRT7050A Advanced copy-editing and manuscript preparation - 2nd semester
  • AFRT7052A Selected topic in publishing for MA Publishing Studies - when offered

Entry Requirements

• A bachelors degree with honours from Wits or another university with a 65% total mark aggregate.

University Application Process

Applications are handled centrally by the Student Enrolment Centre. Once your application is complete in terms of requested documentation, your application will be referred to the relevant School for assessment.

• Please apply online.
• Upload your supporting documents at the time of application.
• Applicants can monitor the progress of their applications via the Self Service Portal.
• Selections for programmes that have a limited intake but attract a large number of applications may only finalise the application at the end of the application cycle.

University Fees and Funding

The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

• For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award.
• The University's Postgraduate Funding portal is a database of scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities available to Wits postgraduate students.
• Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities.
• NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies.
• External bursaries portal: The Bursaries South Africa website provides a comprehensive list of bursaries in South Africa.

Programme Details

• Programme Code: ACA00
• Faculty: Humanities
• School: Literature, Language and Media
• Qualification: MA
• Duration: 1-2 years
• Study Mode: Full-time; Part-time
• Closing Date: 30 November