Carolynna Le Tang (English and Linguistics major) and Tana Forrest (Anthropology major) have already secured coveted postgraduate spots for 2012

The 'best and brightest' amongst the Faculty of Humanities' final year students attended the Dean's Merit List function on Thursday, 11th of August 2011. The annual event, which was held at the Graduate School in Humanities, is in recognition of consistent academic excellence and serves to promote postgraduate studies amongst a particularly talented pool of students.

This event has been a prominent fixture in the faculty calendar for the past three years however 2011 was the first time that an invitation was extended to scholarship recipients. Nominations for both the Deans Merit List and Faculty Scholarship awards are based on above average academic performance and take into consideration individual programme load as well as the total duration of the degree. Entry into most of the faculty's postgraduate programmes is highly competitive due to the small intake and high academic entrance criteria.

Top performers enjoy downtime with the Dean: Ziyanda Ndzendze; Douglas Cohart; Paula Ensor (centre);Tom Harris; Sharna Rheinicke and Seopedi Baitsile

Speaking at this year's function, Professor Paula Ensor (Dean of the faculty) congratulated the group on their outstanding academic achievements and encouraged them to pursue their honours through to doctoral programmes within the faculty. She said that postgraduate studies would enable them to focus their academic interest, to hone their skills and in the process, would enable them to realise their career passion. Deputy Dean of Research and postgraduate Affairs, Professor Joe Muller, elaborated on the vast resources and research opportunities on offer to successful candidates and faculty members were on hand to answer any queries relating to the application process.

Mike Charles; Tom Harris; Sharna Rheinicke and Eden Theron

Third year History and Law student, Douglas Cohart commented "I chose UCT because of its academic credentials. I chose the Faculty of Humanities because of the extremely high calibre of lecturers in both of the programmes I am majoring in. I'm enjoying a five-year path within this faculty because the programme challenges me and I have access to a diversity of courses and people."