UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMMES

BA Honours in Media in Media and Cultural Studies

The BA Honours in Media in Media and Cultural Studies programme is designed to produce graduates competent in the media and cultural studies field. It takes cognisance of the need for a reflective but also practically grounded professional able to execute the key skills necessary to serve today’s complex and globalising media environment.  The research project combines with an internship placement at relevant media institutions to fashion a graduate who can manoeuvre sufficiently the; changing global environment. The Campus radio, the first in Zimbabwe gives students an opportunity to experience a live radio environment. The graduate is expected to fit into the local and global media terrain and characterised by innovations in technology and a vastly responsive and participant audience, almost as equally capacitated by the same new media technologies as the trained professional. The programme acknowledges innovations in new media for entrepreneurial enterprise, today, regarding these as opportunities necessary for beneficial exploitation in both developed and developing societies.

The programme seeks to produce graduands with the following attributes and competencies:

• Promote and appreciate rich, diverse cultural orientations through local community owned media, local mainstream media as well as regional and international media focused organisations.
• Produce competent professionals who demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the theory and application of knowledge to spearhead creativity/innovation in the media industry.
• Train media practitioners who are sensitive and are out to advance African ethos and culture through innovation and industrialisation
• Produce media consultants and analysts who are equipped with skills and expertise on advising and consulting on cutting edge issues.
• Mould media practitioners who are able to reflect the rich cultural diversity of Zimbabwe, Africa to the rest of the world.
• Produce journalists who are conversant with new information technologies and can harness these for the development of local communities.
• Train media professionals who can fully participate and contribute in areas of public relations, communication and information management.
• Contribute to the growing research in the field of media and cultural studies to solve real and/or existential problems

Graduates with the B.A Honours Media and Cultural Studies have competencies and skills that would allow them to work in a variety of occupations such as:

•  Journalists in both print and electronic
• Public Relations practitioners
• Information / Communication Officers
• Media and Cultural studies practitioners who can produce documentaries, soaps and dramas etc.
• Advertising Executives and Copywriters
• Media consultants and analysts
• Editors, sub-editors
• Market Researchers
• Photo Journalists
• Content producers for traditional and new media

The Department also offers the following undergraduate dual honours programmes in collaboration with other Departments. These programmes are:

BA DUAL HONOURS IN AFRICAN LANAGUAGES AND PHILOSOPHY

Learning outcomes:

        Upon completion of the programme, the graduate should be able to:

• demonstrate critical thinking through asking relevant questions, examining different sides of an issue, recognising and evaluating arguments.
• show an understanding of the history and development of both African Languages and philosophy and a specific understanding of figures, teachings and methodologies.
• critique important historical and contemporary interpretive frameworks used in the disciplines of African languages and Philosophy.
• apply their linguistic and philosophical tools to important public issues and to articulate why philosophical understanding is valuable in such debates.
• develop their own linguistic and philosophical areas of interest and investigate them from various perspectives.
• attain the research skills necessary for writing a research project that engages with secondary literature and, where applicable, primary sources on a topic in African languages or philosophy.

BA DUAL HONOURS IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND AFRICAN LANAGUAGES AND CULTURE

Learning outcomes:

Upon completion of the programme, the graduate should be able to:

• analyse any text whether pure Indigenous language literature or religious studies material.
• illustrate the link between literature, language and society.
• demonstrate the ability to provide a well-guided leadership for the different religious communities.
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of religious issues.
• provide leadership for religious education through consultancy and support services to communities in need of collaboration with other religious institutions.
• facilitate research and publication in African religions and methodology.
• devise initiatives that address the many challenges of the world such as war, HIV/AIDS, famine and environmental change.
• stimulate collaboration among existing religious institutions.

BA DUAL HONOURS IN MEDIA AND AFRICAN LANGUAGES

Learning outcomes:

Upon completion of the programme, the graduate should be able to:

• show an appreciation of the role of media in promoting indigenous people’s culture, literature and language and in the solving of various life problems.
• display a comprehensive array of skills to perform effectively in media, culture, literature and language professions
• consolidate the efforts of promoting African languages, African culture by incorporating these components in the students of Media Studies who will in-turn influence society through print and electronic media platforms
• examine solutions and strategies that can be harnessed for the development of local communities using new communication technologies

1. A English and Applied Communication

The programme combines the study of Literature and Applied Communication as essentially cultural exercises. It is informed by the contemporary functional approach to the study of humanities in general and how literature in its various genres can be treated as communicative and is studied alongside ‘traditional’ communication courses to produce effective communicators. The programme seeks to produce graduates with the following attributes and competencies:

• Critical and analytical skills that will enable them to understand literary works and the act of writing.
• Well-developed oral and written communication skills that would prepare students for careers in communication fields, and develop intellectual tools for success in the academic field and beyond.
• Appreciation of the interrelatedness of Linguistics, Literature and Communication as they have interacted in shaping the course of social development.
• Ability to use new information and communication technologies to promote the growth of the creative economy in Zimbabwe.
• Capable of using their creative potential to participate in the Cultural Revolution.

Graduates with the Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Applied Communication have competencies and skills that would allow them to work in a variety of occupations such as:

• Communication Officers/ Directors
• Public Relations Officers
• Information Officers
• Advertising and Marketing Personnel
• Editors

POST-GRADUATE PROGRAMMES

MASTER OF ARTS IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURE

Learning outcomes:

Upon completion of the programme, the graduate will be able to:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Bantu linguistics, literature and culture at post-graduate level.
• use principles of African languages to understand personal and interpersonal communication
• identify and define different language, literary and communication systems and practices
• comparatively analyse texts in African languages and Diasporan literatures
• identify and solve problems which preoccupy authors and African literary critics
• use appropriate research methods to create new insights into African literary and language studies
• create new avenues for repositioning African languages