The University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Humanities recognised the outstanding supervision of Professor Karen Harris, Head of the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies, with the inaugural award of ‘Supervisor of the Year’. This was in recognition of her continued successes in assisting, guiding and promoting postgraduate students at honours, masters and doctorate level in the fields of History and Heritage and Cultural Tourism. 

According to Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Professor Maxi Schoeman, this award aims to acknowledge Prof Harris for her remarkable achievements and continued successes with regards to postgraduate supervision within the Department. She noted that Prof Harris to date has supervised over 50 postgraduate students across both mentioned disciplines, with her student cohort continuing to grow annually.  

Additionally, Prof Harris also received the runner-up prize in the ‘Lecturer of the Year’ award-category for her pioneering work in the field of Heritage and Cultural Tourism at honours level. This award recognises the continued accomplishments spearheaded by Prof Harris in the Heritage and Cultural Tourism postgraduate programme.

Prof Harris has successfully created a simulated environment to combine industry-ready soft skills and interdisciplinary module content to create “job-ready” tourism graduates. These theoretical and practical skills are showcased yearly with the management of the University of Pretoria’s Campus Tours (UPCT), that forms an integral part of the honours programme (BSocSci (Hons) – Heritage and Cultural Tourism). 

The Department wishes to congratulate Prof Harris on the distinguished accolades and wishes her continued success within these domains!  

Prof Harris receives the 'Supervisor of the Year' Award from Prof Maxi Schoeman

Prof Harris receives second prize for 'Lecturer of the Year' from Prof Sandy Africa, Deputy Dean: Teaching and Learning