Master of Philosophy in Transdisciplinary Health and Development Studies

Purpose

The purpose of this qualification is to develop the learners' capacity to investigate and think critically about a range of questions to do with health and development. More specifically the qualification aims to:

• Encourage professionals to reflect on the social, ethical and political dimensions of their work in order to deepen their practice and sharpen their analytical skills.
• Provide learners with an overview of the main approaches and paradigms for understanding the social, historical and political dimensions of health and development.
• Sensitise learners to the social, ethical and political importance of how research is conducted and how health and development interventions are conceived and applied.
• Provide learners with the necessary conceptual training to improve the quality of reading, writing and analysis of complex social problems in health and development.
• Offer learners the opportunity to apply new learning and synthesise their training through a focused research assignment or thesis.
• Allow learners to explore a pressing social issue through research and analysis and offer new insights for policy and programming.

The qualification will deliver on these outcomes through two distinct strategies for learners from different backgrounds. The first strategy (Option 1), which is aimed at learners who have completed a social science Honours Degree or the Postgraduate Diploma in Transdisciplinary Health and Development Studies, involves the completion of a full Master's Degree thesis. Learners' original research will be complemented by collaborative participation in research teams, focused reading groups, seminars, and international workshops through which they will be equipped to conduct innovative, original social research.

The second strategy (Option 2), which is aimed at learners from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and professional experience, involves the completion of a set of core, compulsory modules designed to help learners from diverse background develop a rich grounding in both the theory and methods of transdisciplinary health and development studies. Three modules ground the orientation of the qualification, combining careful study of critical social theory, history and ethics with an intensive training in social science methods for social studies of health and development. Learners will apply this learning to a focused research problem through a directed reading course (tailored around their own research focus) and a research assignment.

Rationale

A range of social ills that profoundly shape the possibilities for life for many people still persist. How we understand the ways in which life changes are curtailed or increased in 21st century South Africa depends entirely on the knowledge we receive and the methodologies we rely on to observe, analyse, and intervene in the world. At this point in South Africa's transition, it is not sufficient to merely measure employment, income or the distribution of social goods and services or to target individual behaviours, problems, or sites to understand the life possibilities of the population. Rather, the various ways in which health and welfare are understood, shaped and experienced require an analytical scope that takes into account a range of structural, interpersonal, and subjective modalities. The qualification thus seeks to train learners in the critical analysis of the political, ethical and conceptual factors involved in such measurement and of the effects of state and non-state interventions on the lives of the citizens of a country.

Work, education, health and rural development which are the central concerns of the National Development Plan (NDP) that are profoundly shaped by social, political and economic processes. For example, the NDP's ambition to broaden access to ART for persons with HIV, train community specialists and health workers, implement national health insurance, and promote "active lifestyles and balanced diets" is premised on particular ideas of how the state should operate in relation to its citizens and entails the profound reorganisation of social life. Similarly, rural development and land reformation are profoundly social and political concerns that seek to stabilise a range of relationships and processes in the pursuit of social justice. The ways in which health and development are tightly bound together in the South African context requires a set of critical tools for thinking through their mutual relationships.

While many academic qualifications in South Africa focus on these concerns, whether as technical problems requiring a fix or as epiphenomena divorced from structural realities, there are few that are dedicated to critical, transdisciplinary scholarship and training that integrates strong political and theoretical orientations with engaged action. By bringing together critical analytical skills in the social sciences with a focus on applied questions of health and development, the degree trains learners to work across disciplines, between theory and practice, and between political and technical modes of engagement.

The qualification will train learners to think critically about how "the social" appears in development thinking, how the politics of development shapes its outcomes, and how persons and citizens are produced as categories by such processes. Moreover, the transdisciplinary nature of this Degree will enable professional health care and development workers and other stakeholders to combine their research and lived experiences in communities, clinics and hospitals to develop novel intervention strategies. New avenues for engaging in research concerning important issues in service provision, quality of care and the social aspects of development and health interventions will be explored.

This qualification supports a transdisciplinary targeted research, implementation and dissemination activities that supplement and exceed traditional approaches to address critical questions at multiple levels in innovative ways. The qualification will provide opportunities for learners to explore a diversity of research sites in health care and development and to be exposed to the practical realities of delivering services in a variety of settings and communities.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The University considers learners applying for RPL in terms of the "Policy for the Assessment and Recognition of Prior Learning". RPL requests are handled according to this institutional RPL policy. RPL can be used to grant admission to learners who do not meet the minimum entry requirements and to grant advanced standing.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entrance requirements are

• Postgraduate Diploma in Interdisciplinary Health and Development Studies, Level 8.

Or

• A relevant Bachelor Honours Degree, Level 8.

This qualification consists of the completion of either

• a research project at Level 9 totalling 180 Credits.

Or

• Compulsory modules at Level 9 totalling 120 credits and a research project totalling 60 credits.

Compulsory Modules at Level 9 for the part coursework option

• Critical social theory for transdisciplinary research in health and development, 30 Credits.
• History, politics and ethics of health and development in Africa, 30 Credits.
• Research methods for health and development, 30 Credits.
• Directed reading for research development, 30 Credits.
• Research assignment, 60 Credits.

The following Exit Level Outcomes are applied in an intergrated manner

1. Conduct a research in Transdisciplinary Health and Development Studies.
2. Locate contemporary health and development issues within a historical context.
3. Understand a broad range of social theory concerned with health and development.
4. Use visual, oral and written skills to communicate effectively.

The following Associated Assessment Criteria are assessed in an integrated manner across all the Exit Level Outcomes

• Knowledge is assimilated from a wide range of topics and research areas in health and development studies.
• The research which includes selection of a topic, self-driven but supervised investigation, data collection, management, assimilation, analysis, interpretation and critical discussion, understanding and coherent presentation is completed.
• Time and activities are organised and managed effectively.
• Findings of research are communicated to relevant audiences visually and orally.
• In-depth, specialised knowledge of a topic relevant to transdisciplinary health and development and advanced applied skills in conducting social scientific research are demonstrated.
• The intersections of health and development and the challenge of bringing together applied engagements with political, ethical and critical perspectives are critically reflected on.
• Theoretical frameworks are applied to own research interests.
• An analytical paper exploring a set of concepts drawn from the course is written.
• Genealogies of global health concepts and techniques in contemporary concerns are traced.
• Analytical questions to pursue through the historical record are framed.
• Conflicting values at stake in health and development programmes are identified.

Integrated Assessment

In the MPhil by thesis (option 1), the only credit-bearing assessment is that of the thesis. It is examined internally and externally.

In the MPhil by coursework, more than one assessment is required per module. Assessments formats include class tests, short assignments during tutorials, class participation, longer written assignments based on case studies prior to or after the contact week of a particular module. Learners will be required to read assigned texts before each class session. Assessment activities during the contact week are structured to inform the development of the larger assignment. Assessment also includes practical research projects, especially in the longer assignments (depends on the aims and nature of a particular module).

Consistent with the institution's policy, the programme coordinator will ensure that the outcomes of the qualification are achieved; that appropriate assessment criteria and methods are used; that integrated assessment takes place; and that student feedback on modules and the qualification as a whole is followed up. The Department will ensure that assessment standards are upheld and that lecturers have sufficient and appropriate training and/or experience.