SAQA All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.
SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY 
REGISTERED QUALIFICATION: 

Master of Arts in Heritage 
SAQA QUAL ID QUALIFICATION TITLE
12091  Master of Arts in Heritage 
ORIGINATOR
University of Witwatersrand 
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education  HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework 
QUALIFICATION TYPE FIELD SUBFIELD
Master's Degree  Field 02 - Culture and Arts  Cultural Studies 
ABET BAND MINIMUM CREDITS PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL NQF LEVEL QUAL CLASS
Undefined  180  Level 8 and above  NQF Level 09  Regular-Provider-ELOAC 
REGISTRATION STATUS SAQA DECISION NUMBER REGISTRATION START DATE REGISTRATION END DATE
Registered  EXCO 0733/25  2024-06-30  2027-06-30 
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2028-06-30   2031-06-30  

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.  

This qualification does not replace any other qualification and is not replaced by any other qualification. 

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION 
Purpose:
The purpose of the qualification is to produce a graduate who is capable of sophisticated and resourceful thinking, knowledge building, leadership, policy- and decision-making in the context of heritage practice.

The qualifying learner will be able to:
  • Link intertextual and intersectional approaches to theory and practice.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the concept of heritage and its critical study.
  • Be critical thinking around public memory, its bureaucratization, processes of monumentalisation and their attendant politics towards a mastery of the current and historical debates around public representations of history.

    Rationale:
    The emphasis on critical engagement that is fostered through this degree is vital for a growing community of young professionals who are skilled enough to be able to take on the challenges of the persistent legacies of inequality that our society still faces. Expanding the notion of visual arts and heritage practices, the programmes explore modalities that traverse and go beyond the parameters of public history-making and theory. The qualification aims to develop learners who think with and beyond art.

    The qualification also seeks to enhance the career of the postgraduate by preparing him/her for professional leadership in the heritage sector and /or further doctoral study. Further, the qualification will produce postgraduates who can contribute to the economy of South Africa by conducting appropriate research or working in the heritage sector.

    Learners explore the role of heritage in contemporary societies and the ways in which its study can lead to and inform social action. The qualification is a platform from which to think critically about decolonial methods of teaching that stress the importance of learning from multiple sites of knowledge. 
    		•

    LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING 
    Recognition of Prior Learning:
    The institution has an approved Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy which is applicable with regards to equivalent qualifications for admission into the qualification. RPL will be applied to accommodate applicants who qualify. RPL thus provides alternative access and admission to qualifications, as well as advancement within qualifications. RPL may be applied for access, credits from modules and credits for or towards the qualification.

    RPL for access:
  • Learners who do not meet the minimum entrance requirements or the required qualification that is at the same NQF level as the qualification required for admission may be considered for admission through RPL.
  • To be considered for admission in the qualification based on RPL, applicants should provide evidence in the form of a portfolio that demonstrates that they have acquired the relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies through formal, non-formal and/or informal learning to cope with the qualification expectations should they be allowed entrance into the qualification.

    RPL for exemption of modules
  • Learners may apply for RPL to be exempted for modules that form part of the qualification. For a learner to be exempted from a module, the learner needs to provide sufficient evidence in the form of a portfolio that demonstrates that competency was achieved for the learning outcomes that are equivalent to the learning outcomes of the module.

    RPL for credit:
  • Learners may also apply for RPL for credit for or towards the qualification, in which they must provide evidence in the form of a portfolio that demonstrates prior learning through formal, non-formal and/or informal learning to obtain credits towards the qualification.
  • Credit shall be appropriate to the context in which it is awarded and accepted.

    Entry Requirements:
    The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is:
  • Bachelor of Arts Honours or equivalent, NQF Level 8. 
    		•

    RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING? 
    Y 

    QUALIFICATION RULES 
    This qualification consists of the following compulsory and elective modules at National Qualifications Framework Level 9 totalling 180 Credits.

    Compulsory Modules, Level 9, 120Credits:
  • Public Culture, 30 Credits.
  • Research Report, 90 Credits.

    Elective Modules, Level 9, 60 Credits (Select two modules):
  • Culture Resource Management, 30 Credits.
  • Archaeology and the Environment, 30 Credits.
  • Language and Culture, 30 Credits.
  • Orality, Literacy and Readership, 30 Credits.
  • Traditional Literature, 30 Credits.
  • 20th Century Black Intellectual History, 30 Credits.
  • Imagining Public Culture and History in Southern Africa, 30 Credits.
  • Sentiment, Sensation and Feeling, 30 Credits.
  • African Ethnography, 30 Credits.
  • Theories of Culture, 30 Credits.
  • Film Studies: Representations of Identity, 30 Credits.
  • The Role of Public History and Heritage in Education, 30 Credits.
  • Heritage Education in Practice, 30 Credits.
  • Visual Literacy and the Role of Media in Education, 30 Credits.
  • The Constructions of Contemporary South African Art, 30 Credits.
  • Tourism and Development, 30 Credits.
  • Geographic Information Systems, 30 Credits.
  • Soil Erosion and Conservation, 30 Credits.
  • The Urban Experience of Johannesburg, 30 Credits.
  • Integrated Environmental Management/ Environmental Impact Assessment, 30 Credits.
  • Collections Management, 30 Credits.
  • African Art History, 30 Credits.
  • Postcolonial Art History, 30 Credits.
  • Representations and Re-presentations in History, 30 Credits.
  • Capitalism and the South African Countryside, 30 Credits.
  • The Making of the South African Working Class, 30 Credits.
  • Locus of Paradoxes Mythical Past, Lost Present and Marginalised Space, 30 Credits
  • Environmental Sociology, 30 Credits
  • The Demography of So30 Credits uthern Africa, 30 Credits.
  • The Making of the South African Social Order, 30 Credits.
  • The South African City, 30 Credits.
  • Research Methods in the Social Sciences, 30 Credits.
  • The History and Politics of Identity in Pre-colonial South Africa, 30 Credits.
  • Curating Exhibitions: The Politics and Aesthetics of Display, 30 Credits.
  • Archives: Theory and Practice, 30 Credits.
  • Selected Topic in Heritage, 30 Credits.
  • Creativity, Culture and the Economy, 30 Credits.
  • Digital Humanities, 30 Credits. 
    		•

    EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES 
    1. Possess the full range of terminology and key concepts in generic and specialised heritage fields in South African and international literature; primary and secondary research resources, materials, and methodologies
    2. Develop extensive in-depth meta-cognitive understanding of one's own position in relation to debate within a text.
    3. Possess a sophisticated understanding of generic, academic, oral and written conventions for heritage and understand current debates and research findings required for the research report.
    4. Demonstrate critical analytic competence and problem-solving.
    5. Possess advanced knowledge of research methods and their applications
    6. Apply an in-depth understanding of relevant literature.
    7. Show competence to manage her/himself and know the importance of individual responsibility in generating ideas for and executing a research study.
    8. Demonstrate social competence and know when to seek academic interaction with others in order to test own ideas or to gain stimulation. 

    ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 
    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 1:
  • Develop a sophisticated selection of search strategies for appropriate databases and information resources
  • Demonstrate sophisticated critical evaluation of different kinds of data and texts
  • Articulate own position within debates.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 2:
  • Use appropriate conventions and representational technologies to sustain cogent arguments
  • Present effectively ideas and theories from generic and specialised heritage information
  • Translate information into situation specific language.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 3:
  • Develop and critically examine innovative approaches
  • Integrate information, theory and context to further knowledge
  • Critically evaluate limitations of different theoretical models and suggests alternatives.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 4:
  • Design, execute and write-up a scholarly research report that contributes to the advancement of knowledge.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 5:
  • Purposeful, self-directed, resourceful scholar and researcher
  • Illustrate the capacity to become a mentor/tutor in developing scholarly knowledge and skills in others
  • Display the capacity to balance and manage a range of commitments/life tasks.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 6:
  • Illustrate independence, initiative, creativity, purposefulness and leadership in professional relationships.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 7:
  • Show advanced ability to plan, execute and evaluate social research within an ecosystemic paradigm.

    Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 8:
  • Indicate mastery of the methods of scholarly research as they apply to the research report and the profession.

    INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT:
    Research reports or dissertations serve as the medium for integrated formative and summative assessment.

    Formative assessment is undertaken on a continuous basis, incorporating seminar presentations and papers, coursework assignments and tasks, as well as reports on research plans. Such methods assess learners' progress towards the professional and academic competencies set out in the exit level outcomes listed above.

    The summative assessment instruments are designed to integrate practical, theoretical and reflexive competence in research. These assessment practices, aligned with intended learning outcomes, will take diverse forms, including inter alia, diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment.

    In order to promote, monitor and measure learner learning throughout a course, no single assessment may count for more than 40% of the final mark unless there are special circumstances, in which case the permission of the Dean is required. 
    		•

    INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY 
    The qualification is comparable to the following international qualifications:

    Country: United Kingdom
    Institution: Cambridge University
    Qualification: MPhil in Heritage Studies

    Similarities:
  • Both degrees question how the past produces narratives around national identity
  • Both encourage critical engagements with monumentalise/authorised history
  • Both encourage critical engagement with museum structures/ custodians of heritage
  • Both engage with the political dimension of heritage preservation
  • Both are one-year degree full-time and 2 years part-time

    Differences:
  • epistemic foundations, geographical location and specificities of the positionalities that frame views of the world are very different
  • SA qualification is within an art context (art school) whereas theirs is within the department of archaeology
  • The dialogical is central to the pedagogical project which is underpinned by the decolonial imperative. As such this informs the kind of learners we attract.

    Country: United Kingdom
    Institution: University of Manchester
    Qualification: MA/PGDip Heritage

    Similarities:
  • Both qualifications question how the past produces narratives around national identity
  • Both encourage critical engagements with monumentalise/authorised history
  • Both encourage critical engagement with museum structures/ custodians of heritage
  • Both engage with the political dimension of heritage preservation
  • Both are one-year degree fulltime and 2 years parttime
  • Both are run departments locate within an art context (humanities faculty)

    Differences:
  • Epistemic foundations, geographical location and specificities of the positionalities that frame views of the world are very different
  • The dialogical is central to the pedagogical project which is underpinned by the decolonial imperative. As such this informs the kind of learners we attract.
  • Theirs is also offered at a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip). 
    		•

    ARTICULATION OPTIONS 
    This qualification allows for both vertical and horizontal articulation.

    Horizontal Articulation:
  • Master of Social Science, NQF Level 9.
  • Master of Arts in Social Science, NQF Level 9.

    Vertical Articulation:
  • Doctor of Philosophy, NQF Level 10.

    Diagonal Articulation
    Diagonal articulation in this case refers diagonal articulation across NQF levels and sub-frameworks such as the OQSF. In this case, diagonal articulation is not possible as there is currently no NQF level 10 on the OQSF, although this may change in future. 
    		•

    MODERATION OPTIONS 
    Moderation options including the recommendation of a moderating body or bodies
    Internal University requirements govern how and by whom moderation is performed. For example, external examiners are appointed. Such moderation seeks, inter alia, to ensure that, where appropriate, our graduates will be able to comply with professional and statutory requirements. Further, whether an academic entity has a professional orientation or not, the University ensures that its activities are moderated by internal and external review quinquennially. The moderating body for qualifications of the University is the Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council on Higher Education, currently represented by the Interim Higher Education Quality Committee. 

    CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS 
    N/A 

    REREGISTRATION HISTORY 
    As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2006; 2009; 2012; 2015. 

    NOTES 
    N/A 

    LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION: 
     
    NONE 


    PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION: 
    This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.
     
    1. University of Witwatersrand 


    All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.