7. SUPERVISORS & RESEARCH EXPERTISE

7.1. DIGITAL ARTS SUPERVISORS

In 2021 Bristow won the National Science and Technology Forum Award for Sustainable Development in the Creative Industries for her work in co-founding and directing the Fak’ugesi Festival.

Beyond teaching, research, curation and directing festivals, Bristow is a developer of interactive digital media in installation, interactive-performance screen-based and online media. Exhibiting most recently in 2021 a work titled a School for Vernacular Algorithms with the University of African Futures, curated by Oulimata Gueye at Le Lieu Unique in Nantes, France.

Bristow completed her PhD with the Planetary Collegium at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Arts at Plymouth University, U.K titled Post African Futures: Decoloniality and Actional Methodologies in Art and Cultural Practices in African Cultures of Technology.

Installation View UFA – University of African Futures from 10 April to 10 August 2021

Dr. Tegan Bristow_

Senior Lecturer and Fak’ugesi Principle Researcher, Bristow additionally acts as Editor in Chief of the WSOA Ellipses Journal for Creative Research. Bristow directed the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival from 2016 to 2020 and now works closely between Fak’ugesi Festival, Tshimologong Innovation Precinct and the Wits School of Arts developing research on the Digital Creative Industries in Africa.

Tegan’s Research Areas Art, Culture and Technology in Africa, Interactive Media Arts, AI & ML and Art, Vernacular Algorithms, Algorithmic Thinking in Culture & Society, African Futures & Post African Futures, Decolonising Methodologies in Knowledge Production, Digital Creative Industries in Africa, Culture & Policy Development with 4IR & Innovation Sectors.

Tegan’s Wits Staff Profile

Character Design by Steve Cloete (2021)

Stephen Cloete

Steve Cloete has lectured in the Digital Arts program since 2014. He has a background in Fine Arts with a focus on digital production and 3D asset creation. He was involved in the early phases of the Game Design program at Wits and helped to develop several of the courses which are now taught as part of the degree.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art, and a Masters degree in Digital Art, as well as a diploma in Graphic Design. His MA thesis focused on the intersection of Anthropology and Table-Top Roleplaying games.

His teaching is primarily focused on practical asset creation and integration for games and interactive media, with primary interests in character design, animation, narrative integration and communication, and procedural asset creation.

His current research interests revolve around spatial practice and its implications for the production of virtual space within interactive media. This extends from his earlier research, in which he investigated the possible connections between liminoid ritual spaces and practices (as described by the anthropologist Victor Turner), and the textual foundations and play-driven implications of table-top roleplaying games. He is primarily interested in the relationship between games and broader socio-political phenomena. He is concerned with situating games within a cultural context, and identifying the specific mechanical and aesthetic characteristics of gamic texts and processes that allow them to connect with and inform other areas of cultural life.

Steve’s Research Areas: Spatial practice and production in virtual environments, digital artistic production, the anthropology of games, socio-politics of virtual spaces/places.

Steve’s Wits Staff Profile

Kirsten du Preez_

Kirsten du Preez has taught in Digital Arts at Wits University since 2018, becoming an Associate Lecturer in 2022.

Kirsten has a background in theatre, where she has written, directed, and stage managed numerous student and professional productions. This work was the beginning of learning and experimenting with crafting an audience’s experience. Looking for ways to make those experiences more interactive, she found her way to Wits Digital Arts. Kirsten’s MA dissertation focused on narrative design in board games, further cementing her interest in interactive storytelling.

Kirsten has a wide range of industry and commercial experience. She has worked on a number of published (and yet-to-be) board games, and has developed gamification programmes for many national and international companies.

Kirsten’s current research is exploring the relationship between behavioural economics and the act of playing board games. By identifying board game players as economic agents, Kirsten is studying their decision making through economic models (and variations therein).

Kirsten’s Research Areas: Board games, Gamification, Behavioural Economics, Narrative, Playful and Interactive Storytelling, Theatre, Applied Games, Serious Games. Game Design and Development, Player Studies and Research, Diversity in Games.

Doc McStuffins Baby Nursery (2017) Source: App Advice: https://appadvice.com/app/doc-mcstuffins-baby-nursery/1187114038

Last Accessed: 2023-02-20

Tim Flusk has been a lecturer at WIts Digital Arts since 2019. His undergraduate degree in the BEngSci in Digital Arts. This has allowed for particular interest in the ways more technical fields and humanities intersect, particularly in the ways we craft STEAM industries (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Medicine).

His teaching focuses on Game Design and Game Development. He has a background in game development having shipped several for various platforms, in various genres. His previous specific focuses in industry have focused on game programming and optimisation.

His MA focuses on the intersection of race and technology and the consequences for video games. He is hoping to extend this research into further understanding the social and psychological consequences of capitalism on interactive media.

Tim’s Research Areas: Game Programming and Optimisation, Economic Structures of Game Production, Social-Political Studies of media, Race studies, Game Design as Expression

Screenshot of Digital Arts Honours Interactive Media project: NorthSouth (2021) by Khutso Nkadimeng, https://nkadimengk.github.io/north-south/#/ . Last accessed 2022-02-10

Hanli Geyser_

Hanli Geyser is a Lecturer in Digital Arts at Wits University where she was Head of Department of Digital Arts from 2015 - 2019.

Hanli developed the Game Design Programs at Wits, which kicked off in February 2012, as well as the BA in Digital Arts degree. These programs provide an introduction to the technical, conceptual and critical foundations needed for students wishing to enter the field of practice that merges technology and the arts.

Hanli graduated with an MA in History of Art from Wits. She is fascinated by the conjunction of visual arts and narrative texts found in games, interactive and experimental storytelling, comic books and film.

Her current research investigates the pedagogic frameworks for teaching programming, in a South African context, with a focus on Decolonisation and Curriculum Transformation

Hanli’s Research Areas: Decolonising Programming Education, Critical Code Studies, Interactive and Experimental Storytelling –user participation in the narrative: literary, visual and experimental storytelling forms.

Hanli’s Wits Staff Profile

The Most Significant Cyber Attacks from 2006-2020, by Country. Source: Visual Capitalist, https://www visualcapitalist com/cyber-attacks-worldwide-2006-2020/ Last Accessed 15 Dec, 2021

André Gopal_

André Gopal is an Associate Lecturer in Digital Arts at the University of Witwatersrand since 2021.

He started his academic career abroad designing the Network Penetration Program for Computer Sciences in August 2017 at Shandong University, China. These new programs provided instruction as to the technical and conceptual components of programming in the face of the rising need for defense against Cybercrime for those who wish to enter the popular field of Digital Security.

André graduated with an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and holds several other professional qualifications such as the CISSP and OSCP - and is enthralled by all things puzzling in code and technology.

His current research interests cover a broad range of subjects that interlink at various levels of the economic, cultural, and psychological landscape.

André’s Research Areas: Gamification of Cybercrime in the Digital Era, Economic shifts in response to Global Digitalization, Social shifts (psychological, cultural, political) due to increases in Rapid Digitalization.

André’s Wits Research Profile

Pax Pamir: Second Edition (2019)

Source: Polygon, https://www.polygon.com/2019/9/11/20853419/pax-pamir-second-edition-revie w-afghanistan-historical-board-game. Last accessed 25 Feb 2022

Kieran Reid_

Head of Department, Wits Digital Arts

Kieran Reid is a teacher, theatre maker and play and games scholar.

He has been teaching at the University of the Witwatersrand since 2012 in Theatre and Performance and Digital Arts. He has been involved in Wits Digital Arts and the Game Design programme since its inception in 2012. His teaching focus is on analogue games, play studies, theatre and interactive narratives.

Kieran has also worked extensively as a production manager, director and facilitator in the theatre and gaming sectors. He has directed theatre pieces both for Joburg Theatre and the National Arts Festival and has hosted and produced MegaGames. He served as a project manager for the Fak’ugesi Festival and A-MAZE festival from 2013 - 2018. Kieran has also worked as a game consultant and co-designer.

Kieran’s current research is focused on using the field of media archaeology to examine the history and landscape of modern hobby board games. In part the research aims to interrogate the ways that and reasons why play has changed.

As additional research and practice Kieran is interested in developing and understanding digital literacies and pedagogy in a South African Context.

Kieran’s Research Areas

Audience Studies, Player Studies, Board Game Studies, Game Literacy and Pedagogies, Histories (Gaming), Media Archaeology, Theatre Studies, Digital Gaming, Digital Narratives, Interactive Storytelling, Theories of Decision Making.

Keiran’s Wits Staff Profile

Mancala Game Source: - https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1309/1309.1543.pdf last accessed 02-January-2021

Olu Randle_

Olu is a researcher and a lecturer in Digital Arts. He has a PhD in Information Systems which was completed in 2018 the focus of the PhD was the utilisation of the Self Determination theory of work motivation to understand Humans motivation to use systems.

Olu has a Master’s degree in Computer science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer games. The focus of his master’s study was the African board game Mancala (Awale) which was completed in 2013. Olu has a BSc in Computer Science and a BA (Hons) in Digital Arts.

Olu started his lecturing career at Tshwane University of Technology in 2011 and has been able to extensively utilise various research approaches to understand and solve complex socio-cultural issues.

Olu has successfully supervised 5 honours students at UNISA and 4 masters students at UNISA. Since 2019 he has served as external examiner with respect to marking PhD and Master’s dissertations and thesis for several Universities in South Africa

Olu’s Research Areas

Understanding Social Discourses within MMOG, Game play and Game play studies, Decolonization within Digital Arts Studies, Gamification

Below is the link to the research gate Profile

Olu’s Research Profile

Eowyn Kills the Witch King Source: Existential Comics, https://existentialcomics com/comic/318. Last Accessed 17 Feb, 2023

Rachel van Rooyan_ Lecturer, Wits Digital Arts

Rachel has taught animation at Wits University since 2017 - 2019, becoming a Lecturer in 2023.

An avid animation and nature enthusiast, she first received a BSc in Physics at the University of Pretoria before deciding to merge her interests and study a BA Hons in Digital Arts at Wits University. She then furthered her studies with a MA: Digital Arts, specialising in 3D animation.

Rachel’s research has centred on the representational processes involved for animation to communicate meaning and how this impacts audience interpretation. By looking at semiotic codes in animation as primarily displayed through gesture, and how their meaning is also informed by the current discourse - studio hierarchies, cultural biases, and pop culture, among others. This research was applied by comparing panel-based image story-telling techniques against those of animation to gain an understanding of why religious texts often engage with animation as an adaptation medium.

Rachel’s Research Areas: Animation studies, fandom studies, adaptation studies, semiotics, diversity in animation, hybrid animation, animation history, media studies.

7.2. IACS SUPERVISORS

The Digital Arts department often assigns and offers supervision in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Arts and Culture Studies Department arise in relation to them. This includes audiences broadly defined, as well as different kinds of interpretive and creative communities that orbit media texts and the fan cultures that both draw from, and feed into the flow of cultural consumption and production. Catherine is primarily interested in working via ethnographic methods (both digital as well as more traditional face-to-face methods in physical sites) and is currently focused on the intersection of media practises in everyday life including work, home, and leisure.

Catherine’s Research Areas: Audience studies, fandom studies, participatory media cultures, translocal and transcultural consumption, creative and cultural industries, creative methodologies, critical theory.

Catherine Duncan is a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Interdisciplinary Arts and Culture in the Wits School of Arts. She has a PhD in Media Studies and a M.Ed in Higher Education and a MA in Journalism and Media Studies. Her current research interests are popular media and the participatory cultures that

Dr. Haseenah Ebrahim_

Haseenah Ebrahim (Ph.D., Northwestern University, Illinois) teaches in the Dept. of Interdisciplinary Arts and Culture Studies (IACS) in the Wits School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Her research interests, teaching and postgraduate supervision span a range of topics in the fields of film, media and cultural studies, and storytelling across various media and cultural contexts. She has published on gender representations in Pixar animation films, African spirituality in independent African American cinema, South African women screenwriters, Bollywood in South Africa, and the political economy of micro-entrepreneurial filmmaking in South Africa. Her current research focuses on reaction videos on YouTube.

Dr. Ebrahim’s Research Areas: Film Studies, Media Studies, Cultural Studies (representation, ideologies, power relations, etc.), Genre Studies, Narratology/Storytelling, Intercultural discourse on YouTube, Reaction videos on YouTube

Dr. Benita de Robillard

Benita de Robillard (Ph.D., University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) is Senior Lecturer in the Dept. of Interdisciplinary Arts and Culture Studies (IACS) in the Wits School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 2014 she completed her Ph.D., which investigates the machinic assemblage of sexualities, socialities, and politics in the post/apartheid conjuncture. In 2006 she was selected to participate in a Doctoral Summer School convened by the University of Amsterdam, the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research and the Universidad Federal de Bahia in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. She is the recipient of a number of research grants including a multi-year National Research Foundation grant and two Carnegie Mellon grants.

Her current research projects use interdisciplinary critical perspectives to explore various body-technology intervolvements and recent publications have examined the vexed interconstitution of race and animality in the contemporary South African setting.

Dr. de Robillard’sResearch Areas: Visual Cultures, Film and Media Studies, Cultural Studies (e.g. embodiment, race, sexualities, disability), Critical Digital Humanities e.g. (platform capitalism, the digital self, platform labour, social media), Science and Technology Studies, Medical Humanities, Human-Animal Studies (race and animality), Critical Posthumanism.

8. PhD Stages

We give a summary of the PhD stages here, please enquire with your supervisor on the stages in relation to your own work and processes.

ENQUIRY & ADMISSION STAGE_

This is where we see if you have the required qualifications and experience, and we see if we have supervisory capacity to assist you in your chosen area of study. The School receives your application on the online Student Information Management System. A committee establishes whether you have the relevant qualifications (above 65% - 70% for an MA dissertation), an acceptable initial 2500-word admissions proposal and appropriate supervision being available.

We strongly advise that you inform yourself about the academic staff who are available in the School and Dept. before you apply, their areas of research specialisation and interest and contact them for advice about whether your proposed topic area is one where we can provide support. Not all Supervisors listed in Section 7 are available to supervise PhD’s.

PREPARATION STAGE: PROPOSAL_

The preparation stage is conducted with your supervisor at the WSOA where we provide assistance to develop a research focus and explore research methodologies to be able to conceptualise and develop a proposal. This involves further developing, refining or sometimes reconceptualising the proposal you submitted with your application. When the proposal has been successfully defended the University will formally admit you as a PhD candidate and you begin to do your research and write your thesis. We may recommend co-supervision with colleagues from other Schools at Wits, or at other Universities, as required but the main supervisor must be a staff member at Wits.

PhD Proposal Processes & Expectations

For the proposal which should be between 8000-15000 words in length, the readers and committee will be looking for a comprehensive review of the literature, a strong research methodology strategy and schedule, further exploration of the theoretical base and a well-conceptualised research problem. The purpose is to ensure that you have mastered key aspects of the relevant discipline(s) and/or methodology. The proposal is recommended to include:

● A title ( brief and precise, avoiding redundancies and unnecessary phrases, such as ‘a study of’ or ‘an investigation to establish’).

● An indication of the aim and rationale of the research.

● A careful review of the pertinent existing research, a survey of the main works which will be used to establish a theoretical orientation.

● An indication of the investigative approach to be adopted, or the research design or procedure envisaged.

● In addition, where applicable, the following should be added:

○ Details of the main source materials to be used.

○ A clear indication, if the work entails ethical considerations, that this matter has been given careful attention and that the proposal has been cleared or approved by the relevant Research Ethics Committee, whether at School or University level.

○ A description of the methods or statistical procedure that will be used to assess data;

Discipline/programmes co-ordinators are required to arrange for proposals to be presented to a seminar which in the interests of quality control should normally include members of staff from outside the particular discipline or programme.

Proposals will be sent to two readers with at least one reader external to the University. Readers are nominated by the supervisor on the appropriate form at least three weeks before the candidate submits the proposal.

Readers will normally be given two weeks to review the proposals and should submit a written report indicating:

● Whether the research is suitable in scope for the degree

● Whether the candidate has shown competence to undertake the research

All research proposals should be sent electronically to the Faculty and accompanied by Readers reports, supervisors letter, Faculty’s proposal submission form, statement of principle document and a TurnItIn Report.

All candidates must apply for ethical clearance parallel with their research proposal and must have obtained their ethical clearance certificate prior to the submission of awaiting examiners.

→ See Section 5 for more on research ethics.

CANDIDATE STAGE_

During this stage you undertake the planned research, gather data, extend your reading on theory and method, analyse the material, and begin to draft successive chapters for consideration by your supervisor. In addition, if the material, your progress and funding permit, you will be encouraged to present at internal and external conferences and prepare publications. You will be required to present progress reports to your supervisor and the Faculty Graduate Studies Committee at regular intervals.

PhD candidates are expected to publish at least one Journal article or other form of publication on their work in this phase of their PhD.

EXAMINATION STAGE_

The PhD is awarded to candidates who have critically investigated and evaluated topics resulting in an independent and original contribution to knowledge. Candidates must show general knowledge of the wider field of scholarship to which their special topics belong and knowledge of the appropriate research methodology. The originality of candidates’ work may be in discovering new facts or examining existing facts or ideas critically, or in devising and conducting investigations into ideas supplied by others. The thesis must be a work of substance and worthy of publication either as submitted or in a modified form. Examiners must be convinced that a standard of originality and innovation has been achieved.

Your thesis is examined by an internal Wits examiner, and two examiners external to the University, at least one of whom is of international standing. The key criterion for award of the PhD degree is that the thesis must make an original contribution to the advancement of knowledge.

The degree is awarded on the basis of a thesis and thesis and creative work if creative research is being conducted. A final PhD submission ranges between 70 000 to 100 000 words, the Wits School of Arts allows for creative research submission as a contribution.

The outcome of a PhD examination for awarding the PhD are:

● Where all the examiners recommend that the degree be awarded “PASS”;

● Only the correction of minor errors is required, e.g. typographical mistakes, omissions from the list of references or the rewriting of certain sentences.

9. THE MA Stages in Digital Arts

9.1. MA KEY STEPS

The following are key steps in the MA development process and the time of year when they are due.

Process Full Time Part Time

● Enrollment & Supervisor Allocation

February / March February / March

9.2. ACTIONS & SUBMISSIONS

The following are key development submissions for MA’s at each key step.

Process Actions & Submissions

1. Enrollment & Supervisor Allocation

2. Research Proposal Development

● Research Proposal Development +- 4 months February to June. Within 10 months of enrollment.

● Research Proposal Presentation & Submission

July into August From July & within 12 months of enrollment.

● Ethics Application & Approval Within 2 months after proposal submission.

● Research Development +- 7 months August to early February in the year following enrollment.

● Research Submission & Examination

Within 4 months after proposal submission.

Within 12 months following the proposal & 24 months of enrollment.

February / March of the following year. Within 24 months of enrollment.

3. Research Proposal Presentation & Submission

● Student Expression of Interest

● Attend Research Seminars

● Proposal Draft Submissions

● Research Seminar for Proposals

● Readers Report & Response

● Final Proposal Submission Docs & Supervisor confirmation.

4. Ethics Application & Approval

5. Research Development

● Ethics Workshop & Certificate

● Approved Proposal for Ethics Clearance

● Keep Writing

● Attend Research Seminars

● Attend Shut Up & Write

● Research Draft Submissions

6. Research Submission & Examination

● ‘Intention to Submit’ Form

● Final Draft to Supervisor

● All Final required Submission Documents

● Examiner Feedback & Response

9.3. THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Wits University puts great emphasis on the proposal, it is also a point at which supervisors and the University ascertain whether a candidate should be allowed to continue with their MA or not. Therefore the proposal not only helps you clarify what you will be focusing on and plan the coming research, but is also a test to see if you will manage the requirements of the research development process.

WHAT IS IN A PROPOSAL?_

Proposals must contain the following (see Appendix A for Seminars in which this is covered further).

● Proposed Research Title

● Research Question

● Abstract of the Proposal

● Aim of the Research

● Rationale for the Research

● Literature Review and / or Theoretical Framework

● Research Methodology

● Overview of Planned Creative Practice (if required)

● List of Works Cited

GUIDING YOUR PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT_

● We offer a schedule of mandatory proposal development workshops & seminars (March - June) on the development of research and research proposals - see Appendix A for the full schedule. New Balance (2021), by Arclight (Abdulrahman Adesola Yusuf). Mixed Media (inkjet & acrylic on canvas). Source: https://latitudes online/arclight-new-balance html Last Accessed, 15 Dec 2021

● Your supervisor or supervisory group will additionally guide you in meeting requirements and expectations. See Section 4 for more on supervision.

● Regular proposal development submissions are submitted via email or Ulwazi to your supervisor

● The Masters Lab is a space dedicated for use by the masters students. Please note that only masters students and lecturers are allowed in the space. The Lab should be a space conducive to working, discussing and engaging.

→ Please be respectful of the other students working in the space. As it stands, there are not enough desks in the Lab to permanently accommodate each Masters student at the same time. So please refrain from “claiming” a space or desk as your own, and leaving your belongings there permanently.

PLAGIARISM & ETHICS FOR MA’S_ Plagiarism and Responsible Resource Use

In both your proposal and your research plagiarism is an offence that can lead to you being excluded from the university.

For this reason it is important that you work with your supervisor to understand and implement good referencing practices throughout. It is also the reason why every formal submission of research must be submitted with a TurnItin Report. For more on plagiarism, responsible use of resources and TurnItIn reports see Section 5.

Ethics Clearance & Your Proposal

A very important part of your research development journey is understanding and getting ethics clearance on your research.

→ The ethics applications should be part of your proposal planning and closely linked to your research methods.

All students must apply for ethics clearance. More extended applications are expected from those who may be using methods that include interviewing people, studying user interactions or working with animals or even getting resources from parties such as private companies.

Though it is part of your proposal development and planning, the ethics clearance application is made separately and after your proposal has been accepted. Importantly:

→ See Section 5 on Research Ethics and Ethics Clearance.

→ You cannot apply for an ethics clearance without a certificate showing that you have attended the mandatory ethics training.

→ You cannot submit your final research for examination without ethics clearance.

PROPOSAL PRESENTATION & THE READER_ Proposal Presentation

All MA proposals are formally presented at a department-wide Proposal Seminar around July (for Feb enrollment) to an audience of readers, guests, other supervisors and other MA candidates.

The Reader

Part of the requirement for a proposal presentation and before the proposal can be submitted, is that it is read and receives feedback from an expert in the field, this person is called the Reader.

Why have a Reader?

Between the student and the supervisor the working process often becomes focused on solving problems in the proposal and getting the resources and methods right. Therefore the advantage of a Reader is that they come in with completely fresh eyes and can quickly see if there is anything missing or if there is something that can be improved on that both the supervisor and the student may have missed.

Your supervisor appoints the Reader for your proposal, finding the right person who knows the field and topic well. The Digital Arts Dept. uses what is called the ‘internal readers process’, meaning that a Reader is appointed from inside Wits University, this can be from the same or different Dept. or School, depending on the topic.

Internal Reader’s Process & Report

Firstly the Reader must receive a written version of the proposal before your Proposal Presentation (at least two week before, giving them time to review it). The Reader then attends the proposal presentation to hear you present it and to make sure there is a collation between what you are saying and what is written.

The Reader gives feedback in two ways:

1. Direct feedback and questions at the presentation, which is a chance for them to discuss with you certain insights or concerns.

2. A formal readers report, which is also submitted with your proposal submission to Faculty.

There are four possible outcomes from a proposal presentation and readers report:

1. They think it is amazing and say as much in the report that gets submitted immediately with your proposal to the Faculty.

2. They think it’s good, but make recommendations for changes or additions. Usually in this case the Reader is happy for you to work with your supervisor to make sure these changes are done, and the supervisor writes a supporting letter with the Readers report to confirm that the recommendations have been met.

3. They think it needs more work, and make recommendations for more extensive changes. In this case the reader will work with the supervisor to decide if they should read the proposal again before finalising their report, or if the supervisor can support this.

4. They don’t think it is an acceptable proposal at all, this is a very rare outcome! If you have been working with your supervisor it is VERY unlikely that you will come to this point. But it can happen! In this case the candidate is either advised to not continue or must start the process from scratch.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION_

Your proposal must get submitted and approved by the Faculty before you can formally continue. If you have a good readers report and sign off from your supervisor it is highly unlikely that it won't go through - so don't worry!

Your MA research proposal is submitted via your supervisor, who sends it via the Dept. Postgraduate coordinator to Faculty. The submission must contain:

● A Proposal Submission Form, completed by you, your supervisor and the Reader.

● The Reader’s Report.

● Final Proposal, with proper title page listing your student number and supervisor.

● A letter from your supervisor confirming that the readers recommendations have been met or any further motivations required.

● A TurnItIn Plagiarism Report on your proposal.

● Statement of Principles for Postgraduate Supervision, signed by you and your supervisor.

9.4. THE DISSERTATION & CREATIVE PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT

Getting to this point is exciting and means that you have done alot of the hard thinking and planning through the proposal and now it's time to get to it!

Once you receive notification that your proposal has been approved by the Faculty, you need to apply for ethics clearance and also get busy with your research.

GUIDING YOUR RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT_

There are a number of mechanisms that will help you and support you in the research development and finalisation process which include a schedule of research development workshops (JulyNov) & research focused engagement through the departments Seminars on the development of research (see Research Support sessions in Appendix A).

Most importantly at this phase is just to keep working - keep researching, keep making and keep writing.

Check in regularly with your supervisor and make sure you have set up a work plan that first your methods and planned pace towards your final deadline. See more on how to work with your supervisor in the final stages in Section 4.

FINAL RESEARCH SUBMISSION_

Congratulations! You are nearly a Master!

It is very important to note that having your supervisor confirm that your MA is ready for examination, will generally assure that the examiners will think the same. So be sure to get final drafts confirmed (in good time) by your supervisor before submission. Examiners to address the following in the written work:

→ Research Question and Creative Goals

→ Situating the research within a field, and integration of theory into the work.

→ Engagement with research methodology and formation of research inline with method.

→ Research and argument structure.

→ Depth of engagement, critical application of research and advancement of knowledge.

→ Clarity, consistency and coherence of style and language.

Additionally for MA’s that have a Creative Practice component, this must also be examinable and in a suitable examinable format. If the creative component is in a physical format - ie. physical exhibition, physical artwork or screened or VR work, your supervisor needs to arrange for the work to be viewed and assessed by both examiners - so be sure to work closely with them on this. The Digital Arts marking rubric asks the examiner to address the following when examining practice and / or creative research:

→ Has the candidate generated, processed and articulated ideas at an appropriate level for a Master’s degree?

→ Did the work display advanced technical and conceptual skills and knowledge within contemporary practice through diverse approaches?

→ Did the candidate present a coherent body of work that is appropriate and considered within the relevant discipline in terms of conceptualisation and process/production/presentation?

→ Does the work demonstrate sufficient development, in-depth exploration and understanding of the chosen research question through the choice of methodology?

→ Does the work lead to new or improved insights and/or to new or improved solutions, devices, products, processes or uses?

Does the work have contemporary relevance?

Your final written submission is submitted directly to the Faculty and must include the following:

*NB: Work with your supervisor for a plan for the submission of practice work and its respective documentation.

● 1 Electronic Copy in both word and PDF format.

● The plagiarism declaration page must be inserted, signed.

● Ethics clearance number be included where applicable.

● Supervisor’s Consent Form, completed and signed.

● Student Submission Form. completed and signed.

● Brief supervisor’s report indicating student’s progress which is kept on student’s file.

● A TurnItIn Plagiarism Report on your written submission.

Deadlines & Extensions

If it looks like you are not going to make the annual 15th of February research submission deadline (1 year following enrollment for fulltime and two years following enrollment for part-time - do double check your expected submission date), you can work with your supervisor to apply for a month’s extension.

If however you and your supervisor think you need a longer extension is more than a month later - ie. after the 15th of Marchthen you will be required to re-enrol and pay for following year.

All Wits School of Arts and School of Human and Community Development submit to: Phillimon.Mnisi@wits.ac.za

*NB Large Documents & Files: Where a document is too big to be submitted electronically, WeTransfer can be used or arrangements can be made with the Faculty Officer to submit manual copies on a drive.

FINAL MA EXAMINATION PROCESS_

All Research MA’s are examined by both an internal (in Wits University) and external examiner (from another university or institution). Examiners are appointed by your supervisor two months before submission and approved by the Faculty.

→ An examiner is generally appointed based on their qualifications and knowledge or history with the topic of the field of the MA in question.

What to Expect in the Examination:

There are four possible outcomes from examination where the examiners agree:

1. They think it is amazing, give you an excellent mark and expect no changes or corrections - in this case sit back, have a glass of bubbly and wait for your graduation.

2. They think it’s good, but needs corrections as changes or additions. Usually in this case the examiners are happy for you to work with your supervisor to make sure these changes are done, and your supervisor will write a supporting letter to confirm that corrections have been made.

3. They think it needs more work, and make recommendations for extensive changes. In this case examiners may decide to reexamine before finalising their report.

4. They don’t think it is acceptable at all, this is a very rare outcome! If you have been working with your supervisor it is VERY unlikely that you will come to this point. But it can happen! In this case the candidate is either advised to not continue or must start the process from scratch.

On some occasions an internal and external examiner will have very different marks and recommendations, in this case if there is a big discrepancy, Faculty engages a new set of examiners and it is reexamined in full.