Political Studies

Welcome to the Department of Political Studies at Wits, one of Africa’s leading academic departments for the study of politics. We are proud of our prizewinning teaching and research staff who are closely engaged with the challenges of a society in transition and with the place of South Africa in Africa, the Global South, and the wider world. Our staff and students are among the most diverse in the university and country.

We offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Undergraduates can register for majors in Political Studies and in African Politics and History. A major in Political Studies can form part of our exciting new programme in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE). Currently over 1,000 students take courses in our undergraduate programmes. We offers undergraduate courses on, amongst other topics: states, power and governance; theories of modernity; political sociology; South African politics; African politics; human rights; theories of freedom, justice and difference; and theories of development.

Our postgraduate programmes include Honours and Masters degrees in Political Studies and a Masters in Politics and Gender. We also have a strong PhD programme. The Honours and Masters degrees include a taught component on, amongst other topics: social policy; political sociology of South Africa; feminism and gender; the politics of public policy; structuralism and post-Marxism; totalitarianism and religious fundamentalism; violence, genocide and the African state. We also provide instruction in research methods.

One noteworthy feature of the department is the dynamic interaction between postgraduates and academic staff in a Political Studies Forum that organizes public seminars throughout the year. Our postgraduate students are drawn to the department from across Africa as well as from Europe and North America.