Faculty of Humanities
Prof ME Muller, Dean
Telephone number: 012 420 2318
Fax number: 012 420 4501
E-mail address: marie.muller@up.ac.za
Message by the Dean
The Faculty of Humanities shares the view that teaching and research are inseparable and that each must feed off the other. Therefore – and in line with the UP Strategic Plan - we expect all academic staff to engage in research activities, and to aim at achieving the research excellence that is expected of us by the University.
Our faculty aims to produce research that is both locally relevant and internationally competitive. This is also in line with the UP policy. In addition, we aim to produce research that goes beyond relevance to achieve impact, both at home and abroad.
Research is often a collaborative endeavour. The faculty acknowledges this, and encourages co-operation and collaboration both within the faculty itself and the UP community as a whole (for example across departmental and faculty boundaries), as well as with the wider scholarly community at home and abroad. We regard international collaboration not merely as a means of stimulating research, but also as a means of establishing broad benchmarks and a higher degree of competitiveness.
A new and fresh dimension in the faculty’s vision of research is the decision to also place a high value on creative outputs. The Faculty of Humanities acknowledges that a substantial proportion of its staff is involved in creative work, which includes fields such as acting, writing, playing a musical instrument, conducting, composing, painting, drawing, and the like.
Creative work is thus accepted per se as potentially equivalent to research. Since 2007, the faculty has embarked specifically on developing Creative Writing in terms of both formal and informal teaching, as well as the promotion of creative writing as such.
Our faculty also believes that we have a responsibility to invest in future researchers. We attempt to increase the number and quality of our postgraduate students. Postgraduate teaching as well as publication from postgraduate studies have become a major focus.
The faculty also guides younger, less experienced staff in developing their research. We organize research days to encourage, stimulate and promote research. Our faculty research committees, our research ethics committee, as well as our postgraduate committee all play a major role in supporting an increase in quality research, as do departmental research committees.
Prof ME Muller
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