UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM
INSTITUTE OF KISWAHILI STUDIES (IKS)

POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMS

The Institute of Kiswahili Studies offers two postgraduate programs. These are MA (Kiswahili) and PhD (Kiswahili) programs.

MA KISWAHILI PROGRAM

MA Kiswahili Program is offered under the following procedures:

MA Kiswahili by Coursework and dissertation which is studied in 18 months 

MA Kiswahili by Thesis which is studied in 24 months

OBJECTIVES OF MA KISWAHILI PROGRAM

  1. To prepare experts to teach Kiswahili in advanced education levels;
  2. To prepare experts who will work in the media, publishing companies, government departments, international organizations, and other related areas;
  3. To prepare students to pursue PhD studies (Doctor of Philosophy) in Kiswahili linguistics/ literature; and
  4. To prepare experts who will bring about development and transformation in Kiswahili language and literature through technology.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF MA KISWAHILI PROGRAM

  1. To educate students to substantially contribute knowledge in Kiswahili linguistics and literary fields;
  2. To introduce to students current issues concerning the knowledge of Kiswahili linguistics and Kiswahili literature; 
  3. To enable students to acquire broad knowledge in Kiswahili linguistics and Kiswahili literature; and thus, to enable them to realise the interaction between the two;  
  4. To enable students to gain systematic and experimental skills of research methodology and Kiswahili linguistic and literary theories; 
  5. To enable students to acquire analytical and theoretical skills to analyse, explain, understand, and assess Kiswahili linguistics and literature as well as other African languages and literature in all spheres;
  6. To impart to students the knowledge on the use of computational technology in research and teaching languages and literature. 

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION INTO MA KISWAHILI PROGRAM

Besides general requirements for admission of the University of Dar es Salaam, the chief requirement to be enrolled in this program is the undergraduate degree with a lower second pass, an Average of 2.8 G.P.A or above. Furthermore, to be enrolled, an applicant must possess at least 3.0 UNITS of linguistics and literature courses studied at the undergraduate level. 

Students enrolled in this Program are categorised into linguistics or literature category depending on their pass mark in their BA courses.  Kiswahili is the medium of instruction in the Institute. This includes dissertation and thesis writing.

PHD KISWAHILI PROGRAM  

PhD Kiswahili program is categorised into two categories: PhD (Kiswahili) Linguistics and PhD (Kiswahili) Literature. It is offered under the following procedures:

  1. PhD Kiswahili (Linguistics) by Course Work and Dissertation full time, offered  in 48 Months
  2. PhD Kiswahili (Linguistics/Literature) by Thesis full time, offered in 36 Months
  3. PhD Kiswahili (Linguistics/ Literature) by Thesis part-time, offered  in 60 Months

OBJECTIVES OF PHD KISWAHILI PROGRAM

  1. To prepare Kiswahili experts required in various areas in East Africa, African Union Headquarters, East African Parliament, Meetings of the Countries of Interlacustrine Region, United Nations and other places.
  2. To prepare expert in linguistics and literature who will teach in Universities within and outside Tanzania. Among the countries that need Swahili experts in Kiswahili studies are: Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ghana, Libya, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Japan, China, South Korea, Germany, United States, etc.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF PHD KISWAHILI PROGRAM

  1. To nurture and produce experts in Kiswahili who will be experts in various fields of Kiswahili language and linguistics;
  2. To encourage experts who will become a motivation to others in various fields of oral and written Swahili literature;
  3. To encourage experts who will be expert in communication and publishing in Kiswahili.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION INTO PhD KISWAHILI PROGRAM

For the applicant to be selected to enrol into PhD Kiswahili Program, s/he must, first of all, possess MA Kiswahili degree or its equivalent from the University of Dar es Salaam or any other recognised University. 

Kiswahili language is used as a medium of instruction in teaching all courses and in writing dissertations.