Ph. D. at Rhodes University, So. Africa

Does anyone have any comments about the Ph. D. programs at Rhodes University, So. Africa?

Their programs appear to take a minimum of 2 years of full-time research, or may be 3 years of part-time research. Also, the tuition (part-time) appears to be less than $600.00 per year! What a deal!

However, I am not sure whether they require residency. Being created by an act of the parliament, the school appears to be legit.

Any opinions? Any obsevations? Any caveats?

Also, is there anyone (in this forum) who has completed a Ph.D. at Rhodes as an external student from the US?

 

I have not heard of anyone who has completed the program. There are a few of us registered for South African doctorates.

S.A. offers a good combination of quality and value.

What field are you looking to research in?

Good luck to you!

North

 

I actually know a guy in Rhodes's philosophy department (it's a small world), so I've invited him to add his two cents to this thread. But yes, definitely a legitimate school--and I wouldn't be embarrassed to have one of their doctorates myself.

In any case, please let us know what you find out. Good luck!


Cheers,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)

 

North,

I am considering a Ph. D. program in law in the area of alternative dispute resolution and peace. I have not yet narrowed down my research.

I have not seen that many DL programs available in that area. I know that Nova has one to the tune of about $45K. The question is whether I should spend that much money raiding the retirement fund, assuming that I will not get any return on my investment, other than personal satisfaction. Thus, I like to get the best education at the lowest cost (oxymoron?).

Thank you for the response. Do you have any other suggestions?
____________________


Tom,

Thank you. Would you be kind enough to have your friend respond to some "dumb" questions that I have? Or, could you forward my e-mail address ([email protected]) to your friend requesting her(him)to contact me?

Steve Nair

 

There's no question that Rhodes is a top tier South African institution. Comparable in stature to PU vir CHO, oft discussed in this forum.

 

Steve,

If you do an advanced search on google.com as shown below, you'll get a feel for how Rhodes graduates have done as far a landing faculty positions. (The Rhodes University site is filtered out):

with the exact phrase: Rhodes University
with any of the words: faculty
without the words: ru.ac.za

You'll find quite a few faculty positions around the world held by Rhodes graduates.

 

Without question, Rhodes belongs among the "big five" of South African institutions. From an institutional perspective, this would be one of the most prestigious South African PhD's that one could undertake.

 

At present, a poll is being conducted through a South African website to determine how South Africans would rate their top universities. You can view the current ratings (with institutional overviews) at the following link:
http://www.top10sa.com/Top10List.asp?ListID=199

 

I once looked into entering a PhD in Theology through Rhodes University. In response to my enquiry regarding whether or not it would be possible to pursue a Rhodes PhD in Theology at a distance, I was told that under normal circumstances this most certainly would be welcome; yet, as a result of the process of institutional transformation that has been impacting universities throughout the South African society in recent years, the Rhodes Theology faculty was slated to be dispanded shortly thereafter. What a bummer of timing on my part, eh!

 

Very interesting. I was reading information about one of the Theological Societies in South Africa and noticed that they had been having trouble with membership. It is probably an interesting transformation as that society becomes more secular in nature (not unlike Great Britian, etc). Many South African Universities at one time (based on what I read) had strong ties to the Reformed Church and that probably explains once thriving Theology departments in public universities. As the needs and nature of a diverse and secular society shift I suspect we may see more paring back (I think they call it rightsizing as opposed to downsizing). Probably focussed universities such as PUCHE wiil continue to have their theology departments thrive. I suspect others may end up with smaller "Religious Studies" departments. Not unlike the situation here in the United States. When most people want to study Theology they go to private Universities and seminaries not to UT Austin or Michigan State.

In the meantime I am sure that is not a happy situation for many professors of Theology. Much of the world seems to revolve around more "practical studies" (ie they see university education as training for something - the proverbial union card). Hence, popular majors like Criminal Justice and Business. In this area those seem to be two of the most popular.

North

 

Such polls do need to be taken with a pinch (or perhaps boatload) of salt. In this case, RAU and Unisa are #1 and #3, which certainly does not reflect reality.

 

You might ask if it would be possible to do a Ph.D. in theology under the supervision of the philosophy department; about 2/3 of Rhodes's philosophers are also qualified philosophers of religion and/or theologians, if memory serves.


Cheers,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)

 

I certainly agree that a poll of this nature cannot by any means be deemed "scientific." One must bear in mind that this poll simply reflects the subjective opinions of individual South Africans. No criteria is established by which vote-casters are asked to rate these institutions. It is entirely up to the subjective opinions of individuals. One may choose to vote for a given institution because he or she attended that institution, not because it truly is an institution of extraordinary excellence. This certainly would help to explain UNISA being ranked 3rd. Any of a number of other criteria might be used by individuals in selecting their choice. Thus, I agree that this poll should in no way be interpreted as reflecting any sort of standardized assessment of the quality of South African universities. However, it does give us a view into the subjective opinions of some South African citizens. If you take issue with the results, cast your vote.

 

Very good suggestion Tom! I suppose you have had to be innovative based on some of your eclectic academic interests at least when attempting to formulate a degree program.

North

 

I did. Many, many, many times.

Thanks.

 

Yes, therein lies one of the weaknesses of this sort of online poll--there seems to be nothing in place to limit the number of times you can submit your vote, right? Perhaps we could catapult UNISA to number 1 in just a few moments time.

 

The following is a link to an informative essay by a member of the Univ. of Pretoria Theology faculty. In it, he describes the impact that institutional transformation has been having on his faculty, but also, particularly in section 3, provides us some insight into the sort of challenges faced widely by South African theology faculties.
http://www.up.ac.za/academic/theology/news/skrweth.htm

 

Thanks CL!

North

 

You might try for a Ph.D. in humanities, interdisciplinary studies, or a similar field and tailor it to conflict resolution and peace studies; I'm doing something along these lines with my prospective Australian school, to design a program (tentatively) in religion and consciousness studies.

I wish I could; unfortunately, my e-mail to the fellow bounced. I'll try again within the next few days and, if it works, I'll e-mail you his e-mail address.

Good luck!


Cheers,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)