Wits Arts Museum

Change of Supervisor and Submission without Supervisor’s Consent

While it is not advisable for students to submit without their supervisor’s consent, sometimes relations between a supervisor and student may break down. While in the first instance the Departmental postgraduate coordinator should be approached well in advance to intervene where possible in assisting both supervisors and students (or alternatively where this is not ideal the Head of the Fine Art Department can be approached), where there is an irrevocable breakdown in a relationship, a change of supervisor can be requested. Where this happens close to submission for examination and there is contestation over the submission for examination itself, students who intend to submit without their supervisor’s consent are required by the Faculty to submit a motivation THREE MONTHS prior to submission date if submitting to the Senior Faculty officer (Phillimon.Mnisi@wits.ac.za).

Two Years MAFA (Part Time)

If you are planning to finish your MAFA in two years part-time registration, then consider the following schedule:

Year 1: Seminars and Workshops

Attend seminars and workshops and use opportunities to present your proposal ideas, chapter plans, abstracts, etc. Look over the year’s seminar and group programme, attend as many methodology and academic writing workshops that you feel may be helpful to your research, as well as reading and writing groups within and outside the Department that can assist and support you throughout the year and commit to those on a regular basis.

Research Proposal and Open Studios

Aim to submit your research proposal within 6 months of your registration (although you have up to 12 months to do so of your registration). The proposal is done in consultation with your supervisor(s). You will be required to present your research ideas in a public presentation to staff and students to receive feedback and, thereafter, you will be able to submit your written proposal to Faculty, which is then passed to an external reader. As part of this process, you would also have been expected to show your research ideas begun in your practice work in open studios, and presented to your reader(s) at the public presentation as either an exhibition or as documentation. After the research proposal has been accepted (usually within a month of being submitted), the student is given formal notification to continue with the degree – you would have continued working on practice and written research while awaiting the external’s feedback and will incorporate such feedback going forward. Open studios are an opportunity each term for students to present their ongoing creative ideas/work to their peers, supervisor, staffing body and other invited guests. Students book with the postgraduate coordinator in advance and each student is allocated an hour to present work to their peer and staff body for engagement. Such sessions are crucial to artistic development and should be welcomed both in terms of getting and giving critical feedback. Students can also use this opportunity to present their MAFA proposals – as is a requirement by Faculty – to the student and staff cohort to gain feedback before final submission to their readers.

Year 2: Final Exhibition and Dissertation

The second year of the MA is a self-directed year in which students focus on producing a body of work and writing their dissertation. It is encouraged that the final exhibition take place before the dissertation submitted, so that work can be reflected on in the writing. Alternatively, the exhibition can take place after the hand-in of the dissertation, but preferably not more than 1 month later. Aim to hand in the dissertation around November/December of the year of registration. At the end of the year (December), you and your supervisor will be sent a MA report directly by Faculty to fill on your progress, noting any difficulties you’ve had thus far – it is important to fill this form out honestly. The dissertation should be handed in by no later than 15 February of the following year following registration.