The Humanities

LISTEN: Article recording of The Humanities Career Week 2023.

This year, the University of the Free State Humanities Career Week was held from 31 July to 4 August, and from 19 to 21 September 2023. In keeping with the annual theme of celebrating local talent and business, attendees were encouraged to follow in the footsteps of great South Africans who have made their mark in social science careers. Understanding humans and human behaviour will forever be a field to explore, with new information emerging as we evolve.

During the winter session, the proceedings kicked off with the ever-popular CV Writing and Interview Skills workshop on our Qwaqwa Campus – the session could also be attended online. The rest of the week was packed with sessions on community development, social entrepreneurship, governance, psychology, criminology, fine arts, and psychology, among others. The week concluded with a social entrepreneurship exhibition. The spring session happened on our Bloemfontein Campus and revisited some of the topics previously covered.

Just more than 78% attended the sessions face to face, with Communication and Psychology students comprising about 43% of attendees.

All the students in attendance were from our Faculty of The Humanities, and a larger number than usual attended the sessions online. Just more than 78% attended the sessions face to face, with Communication and Psychology students comprising about 43% of attendees. Students noted several highlights from each of the sessions and indicated that they were in favour of more similar events on campus. Some indicated that they discovered more job opportunities than they were aware of and expressed a need to interact with industry experts who have built successful careers with a humanities degree.

We would like to thank the following participants:
Drs T Coetzee, E Coetzee, M Oelofse, M van Rooyen, W Marrais, G Magaiza, L Nel, J Jordaan, and S Mphosa