BA Career Packages
What is a Career Package?
A career package consists of a focused BA followed by a professional year of study. In this year, the student will learn practical hands-on skills for their chosen profession and may also qualify for an internship programme.
Why choose a Career Package
- Get an outstanding intellectual education
- Get hands-on professional training with the possibility of work experience
Why must I do a BA first? Why can't I start with practical skills immediately?
To survive in today's world graduates need to:
- Think creatively and critically
- Communicate effectively
- Analyse situations
A BA provides this kind of mind-training.
Practical and technical skills are important but they go out of date quickly. A narrow technical training could get you a job but is unlikely to help with career advancement. This is because these skills often lose their competitive edge.
A solid ideas-rich training will equip the student with thinking skills and abilities. These are life-long skills that will never go out of date.
BA Career Packages are very flexible. Nothing is compulsory. The student could start off with the Journalism package and then, on completion of a BA, switch to Publishing.
Career Packages By Subject
A number of Career Packages are available.
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Overview
Tourism is the fastest-growing sector of the South African economy and there is a huge demand for trained professionals. The package provides a solid intellectual grounding for the tourism industry where you need a good knowledge of History, Geography and South Africa's rich cultural diversity.
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Environmental Tourism
Recommended majors:
- Geography & Environmental Studies
- Sociology
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Archaeology
- Biology
- Economics
- Economic Concepts
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Tourism and Development
Choose two majors from subjects like:
- Sociology
- Anthropology
- Geography & Environmental Studies
- History
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- ? Economics
- ? Economic Concepts
- ? African Languages
-
Overview
This package provides the student with an intellectual training for the kind of journalism they want to enter e.g. cultural journalism, financial reporting, sports reporting etc. The student will also gain ideas and a deep knowledge of social, political and cultural trends in South Africa, the continent and the world.
Having completed a BA, the student can proceed to a Diploma or Honours in Journalism which could include an internship.
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Cultural Journalism
Choose two majors from subjects like:
- Archaeology
- History
- History of Art
- Language or Literature major?
- Anthropology
- Sociology
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Classical Civilization
- Religious Studies
- Music in History & Society
- IT for Humanities
- Philosophy
-
Political Journalism
Choose tw majors from subjects like:
- Political Studies
- Sociology
- International Relations
- History
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Economics
- Language/Literature/Linguistics
- IT for Humanities
- Philosophy
-
Sports Journalism
Choose two majors from subjects like:
- Physical Education
- Human Movement
- Psychology
- Language or Literature major
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Sociology
- Economics or Economic Concepts
- IT for Humanities
-
Media Studies
Media Studies is concerned with media and information technologies. Students are introduced to a wide range of approaches to mass media and popular culture.
After completing a BA the student can proceed to Honours in Publishing Studies or Journalism which could include an internship.
Choose two majors from subjects like:
- Drama & Film
- Media Studies
- History of Art
- Sociology
- Philosophy
- Political Studies
- International Relations
- Anthropology
- Language or Literature
Choose your other subjects from courses like:
- Subjects you don't major in from the list
- Music in History & Society
-
International Commerce & Law
This package prepares students for careers in international business, diplomacy, international organisations (e.g. United Nations) and a growing number of non-governmental organisations involved in international development, humanitarian affairs, and other services.
Recommended majors:
- Economics/Economic Studies
- International Relations
Choose your other subjects from courses like:
- Law
- Philosophy
- Political Studies
- Sociology
- History
-
Demography and Population Studies
The Honours/Masters degree in Demography & Population Studies is an interdisciplinary programme which emphasises strong training in demographic methods and a broader interdisciplinary and applied focus in population sciences. The programme is designed to provide quality training in the population sciences, with a strong bias to quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
Majors:
- Demography
- Sociology
- Statistics
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Demography
- Economics
- Public Health
- Social Sciences
-
Development Studies
This package gives you the training to contribute to one of the key challenges of the 21st century - the growing gap between the rich and the poor. With twenty million South Africans living in poverty this is an urgent need if we are to create a just and stable society. The course is linked to the premier academic institution teaching Development Studies, the London School of Economics, and prepares students for a range of career options in development programmes, analysis and policy.
Majors:
- Sociology
- Political Studies
- Economic Studies
- Anthropology
- Economics
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Anthropology
- Economics
- African Languages
- History
- Philosophy
-
Health Studies
In light of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there is an urgent need for experts in the field of Health Studies: experts who can understand the social and historical roots of health, disease and epidemics; who are able to explain its general (and particular) impact on Southern African society
Having completed a BA degree the student can proceed to an Honours/MA degree with a health focus.
Choose two majors from subjects like:
- Sociology
- History
- Anthropology
- Political Studies
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Economics
- Psychology
- Languages
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Law and Society
The package in Law and Society provides a "pre-law" grounding for students who wish to become lawyers. It provides an excellent foundation for pursuing further studies leading to either an LLB, an Honours or MA within the School of Social Sciences.
- ?Law
Plus either:
- ?Philosophy
- ?Political Studies
- ?Sociology
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- ?History
- ?International Relations
-
Public Administration
Public Administration focuses on the functions and performance of government in formulating and implementing policy, the skills required to manage the civil service, and the ethics and values which should guide the conduct of public affairs.?
Having completed a BA degree the student can proceed to a Diploma (possibly in the Wits Business School or Wits School of Governance) or a Graduate LLB?or an Honours degree in Political Studies with an emphasis on policy topics.
Recommended majors:
- Political Studies and
another major like:
- History
- International Relations
- Law
- Philosophy
- Sociology
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Any course not chosen as your major.
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Translating and Interpreting
Professional translation and interpreting are in great demand in South Africa. With eleven official languages (plus Sign Language), there is an increasing need for materials to be translated into these languages, and for interpreting services to be provided at conferences, in Parliament and in the community.
After completing a BA degree the student can proceed to a Honours or MA in Translation or Interpreting.
Choose 2 Majors from subjects like:
- Any Language or Literature major
- Linguistics
- Economics
- International Relations
- Law
- Political Studies
- Media Studies
Choose your other courses from subjects like:
- Subjects you don't major in from list
- Economic Concepts
- Language
- Applied English Language Studies