Course General Description

It is widely understood that visual communication plays an increasingly important role in our fast-paced, globalised milieu. The Master in Visual Studies degree equips students to decode and understand visual phenomena from a variety of contexts, including popular culture, media, film, the music industry and fine arts. As an innately interdisciplinary subject, Visual Studies incorporates a broad range of critical theories from a variety of fields, including feminism, postcolonial studies, critical race and whiteness studies, psychoanalytic theory, museum studies and philosophy, to enable students to write and speak critically about visual images, objects, institutions and practices.

School General Description

Stellenbosch University (SU) is home to an academic community of 29 000 students (including 4 000 foreign students from 100 countries) as well as 3 000 permanent staff members (including 1 000 academics) on five campuses. ​The historical oak-lined university town amongst the Boland Mountains in the winelands of the Western Cape creates a unique campus atmosphere, which attracts local and foreign students alike. On the main campus, paved walkways wind between campus buildings – some dating from previous centuries; others just a few years old. Architecture from various eras attests to the sound academic foundation and establishment of an institution of excellence. This, together with the scenic beauty of the area; state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly facilities and technology, as well as visionary thinking about the creation of a sustainable 21st-century institution, makes for the unique character of Stellenbosch University.