Advanced Diploma in Family History

Assist and guide people who wish to research and write their own histories or the history of their family or local community of a family or community in which they have a special interest. The programme is especially aimed at mature students who already have an interest in autobiography, biography or local and family history. In the freer context of post-apartheid South Africa, there is a rapid awakening of interest in suppressed and marginalised histories and a new engagement with questions of identity and 'roots'. The Advanced Diploma has been designed to provide a combination of group training and personalised assistance to individuals motivated by such concerns.

The emphasis throughout will be on the acquisition and use of practical research skills. Students will be able to draw on the abundant resources of the Cape Archives Depot, the Deeds Office, the manuscript collections of the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, the archives of the Dutch Reformed Church in Queen Victoria Street and the rich collections of the Robben Island Museum - UWC Mayibuye Archive and the Institute of Historical Research on our own campus. In particular, they will be able to work in collaboration with the Institute of Historical Research which is currently collecting irreplaceable parish registers from mission churches all over the western, northern and Eastern Cape provinces. Students who wish to research rural communities or those located in smaller provincial towns will also be encouraged to make links with the museums and history societies in these places.

Although the focus of the Diploma will be on the use of primary sources, students will be required to contextualise and interpret these sources in the light of secondary material. They will also be expected to draw on theoretical insights in the fields of local history, family history and literary theory. The intension is thus to take students beyond an overly narrow focus on genealogy or chronology and to develop and deepen a wide range of cognitive skills relevant to the successful execution of a research project.

The programme will accommodate and welcome a diversity of interests, but it is especially aimed at those whose histories have been in some way lost, repressed, undervalued or marginalised. This would include descendants of slaves, the inhabitants of mission stations or former mission stations, immigrant communities and those affected by forced removals under the Group Areas Act.

The purposes of the programme could be tabulated as follows

• To equip students with the research skills and background information necessary to execute a research project based on a wide range of primary sources, both documentary and oral.
• To help students to develop and write a coherent and convincing narrative based on primary research.
• To help students to integrate analytical insights into their writing in a coherent and convincing way.
• To facilitate each student's exploration of his or her own history and identity, or that of a family or community in which s/he has an interest.
• To guide and assist students as they represent this history to themselves and to others, using both verbal and visual modes of representation.

Graduates might wish to become archivists, museum curators or tour guides or put their skills to use in the field of cultural tourism.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Access may be gained to the qualification through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Prospective students should submit a written proposal showing evidence of interest in the field of land, local or family history. Non-graduates will need to show that they have the necessary reading and writing skills and that they have already undertaken some research in one or more of these fields. They will also be required to submit a preliminary survey of the archival and oral sources they plan to use. Students who have excelled in an adult education programme could also be considered for admission.

Learning assumed to be in place

• Good oral and written communication skills.
• Reading Skills.
• Presentation skills supported by three years' relevant work experience.

Entry Requirements

• A relevant Diploma, Level 6.

Or

• A relevant Bachelor's Degree, Level 7.

Or

• A relevant qualification at Level 6 or 7 approved by the Senate.

Students should be able to demonstrate that they possess a range of cognitive skills, including

1. The ability to locate relevant primary sources in archives, libraries and the Deeds Office.
2. The ability to contextualise and interpret such sources.
3. The ability to reconcile and evaluate contradictions and divergences in the content of such sources.
4. The ability to synthesise data.
5. The ability to make critical use of oral sources.
6. The ability to construct a coherent historical narrative using primary sources.
7. The ability to locate relevant secondary sources.
8. The ability to comprehend and integrate information from secondary sources.
9. The ability to comprehend and apply insights drawn from relevant analytical and theoretical material.

Students should be able to produce a completed research essay of approximately ten thousand words in which the competencies required are demonstrated.

Integrated Assessment

Assessment will be continuous. Students will be expected to submit at least a piece of the written work at the end of each module, including the research modules.