College of Human Sciences

College of Human Sciences: Highlights of 2012

Tuition, learning and scholarship development

  • Unisa 2012 APEX award winners

    Unisa 2012 APEX award winners

    In February, at the official opening ceremony for the 2012 academic year, 27 academics received Unisa APEX (Accelerated Professional Excellence) awards. These awards recognise full professors who are at the top of their career paths, and who have been performing at a consistently meritorious level for a period of five years. Ten of the award winners came from the College of Human Sciences (CHS).

  • The CHS launched its fourth Mentorship Programme together with the Human Resources Development division on the 11th of June attended by 50 mentors and mentees. In the same month, a leadership briefing session was held with 30 professors who are part of the Scholars Development Plan.
  • The 2nd Tier Leadership Cohort was conceived by the Executive Dean of the CHS with the aim to (1) create a platform for newly appointed professors to familiarise themselves with the college peers and also to create a platform for progressive ideas and innovation which could be sustained; (2) initiate dialogue (3) propose and present innovative ideas that can be suggested to college management. On the 1st of November 2012 the 2nd Tier Cohort met with the CHS College Management to present their findings and develop a dialogue. On the 6th of December 2012 the group will make another presentation to Prof Baijnath (Pro Vice Chancellor)

Research

  • Itumeleng Mothoagae, Excellency Dr Mohammad Ganjidoost, Prof Narend Baijnath, Prof Mokhele Madise and Dr Mostafa Maleki

    Itumeleng Mothoagae, Excellency Dr Mohammad Ganjidoost, Prof Narend Baijnath, Prof Mokhele Madise and Dr Mostafa Maleki

    In June 2012 the Voice and Voicelessness project leaders, together with the Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Narend Baijnath, hosted delegates from the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to discuss future collaboration. The project leaders of the Voice and Voicelessness project are Prof Mokhele Madise from the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology and Itumeleng Mothoagae from the Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies. They met with His Excellency Dr Mohammad Ganjidoost (1st Counsellor, Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran, Research and Section studies) and Cultural Counsellor Dr Mostafa Maleki, also from the Iranian Embassy. The Iranian Embassy and Unisa plan to collaborate on research and tuition issues over the next five years, and to enhance exchange programmes in which students and lecturers can fully participate. The aim of this collaboration is to explore a wide range of voices, to bring attention to the voicelessness of certain communities and to examine relevant social justice issues in Africa, Asia, South America and the African diaspora. One issue that will be explored is the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) partnership and its policies on economic development in emerging countries, taking into account how the concerns of the marginalised will be addressed and how they will benefit from these partnerships. Another aim is to have scholars from Africa, the African diaspora, Asia and South America present research and critical perspectives on current issues, and to find the best possible way to influence government policies, policy implementation and curriculum design. Additionally, programmes on Persian languages and Iranian cultural exhibition will be discussed and planned, along with seminars on academic dialogue.

  • Prof Rachel Barker

    Prof Rachel Barker

    Prof Rachel Barker from the Department of Communication Science won a prestigious award at the 5th Biennial Academy of World Business, Marketing and Management Development (AWBMAMD) Conference, which was hosted by the University of Budapest Business School in Hungary. Not only did Prof Barker’s research receive a certificate of recommendation, but she was also elected 2012 Executive Fellow of the Academy and she also received a track chair award.

  • Dr Lucky Mathebe from the Department of Sociology launched his book entitled Mandela and Mbeki: the Hero and the Outsider at Unisa. This is a followed the success of his 2002 publication entitled Bound by Tradition: The World of Thabo Mbeki. The occasion was also used to unveil the newly acquired collection of 12 exhibition posters, highlighting the life and times of Sol Plaatjie. Visiting scholars from Michigan State University shared enjoyed talks by Prof DS Matjila, Mr. GM Molema, Dr. L Mathebe, Prof D Kotze, Mr. C Rabie and Dr. Mabena.
  • Colleagues from the Department of Development Studies and Prof Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni from the Archie Mafeje Research Institute debated the issue “Decoloniality: Transcending Knowledge and Methodologies.”
  • As part of the Unisa Research and Innovation Week, the Unisa Art Gallery hosted Prof Michael De Jongh’s book launch on 15 March 2012 at the Kgorong building, Muckleneuk Campus. The newly released Unisa Press book, entitled Roots and Routes: Karretjie People of the Karoo, is about the lives of a previously ‘invisible’ and forgotten ‘first people’ of South Africa called the ‘Karretjie people’. Prof De Jongh, a prominent anthropologist from the CHS’ Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, is involved in the Karoo Development Foundation, an outgrowth of his Karretjie People Project. Prof de Jongh is also involved in the Pre-School Learning Kits and Learning Environments where it focuses on identifying the learning needs of preschool children whose parents are itinerants in the Great Karoo. His committed passion to the Karretjie people has helped him contribute immensely to the anthropological field
  • NRF-rated researchers in the CHS for 2012-2013:
    • Department of Afrikaans & Theory of Literature, Prof M Keuris.C2
    • Department of Biblical & Ancient Studies, Prof IJJ Spangenberg, C2
    • Department of Biblical & Ancient Studies, prof WJ Wessels, C2
    • Department of Biblical & Ancient Studies. Prof M Le Roux,C2
    • Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, Prof GF Snyman, C2
    • Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, Prof MJ Masenya,C2
    • Department of Communication Science, Prof E Bornman, C2
    • Department of Communication Science, prof R Barker, C2
    • Department of Development Studies, Prof S Ndlovu, C3
    • Department of English Studies, Prof J Murray,Y2
    • Department of History, Prof RS Viljoen,C2
    • Department of Information Science, Prof OB Onyancha, C2
    • Department of Philosophy and Systematic Theology, Prof JS Dreyer, B3
    • Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Dr W Bentley, Y2
  • Africa Speaks
    • 2012 has been a busy year for the Africa Speaks seminar series of the CHS, wherein the College attempts to highlight and expose some of the premier scholars of the Humanities and the Social Sciences from within both Africa and the African diaspora. The year began on 1st February 2012 with immense excitement as we welcomed an acclaimed scholar and Nobel laureate (1986 Nobel Prize for Literature), the Nigerian Prof. Wole Soyinka, who presented a fascinating lecture on the topic “The Fictioning of Africa: Children of Herodotus”. For anyone who attended, Prof. Soyinka’s ease of dealing with nuanced topics and his entertaining style, made the experience most memorable, and indeed, a high note to “kick off” the seminar series for 2012. His were massive shoes to walk in! During his time at UNISA, Prof. Soyinka was housed in the Department of English Studies.
    • Prof. Soyinka’s countryman, Dr. Gordon Ade-Ojo of the University of Greenwich in London, was our second guest for 2012, presenting his Africa Speaks lecture on 9th May 2012. Dr. Ade-Ojo spoke on “Theory, ideology and the danger of totalitarianism: Implications for knowledge enquiry and policy making.” This talk also made for fascinating listening, with high relevance to the African context, as Ade-Ojo’s position assumed was taken from his many years of work in the field of literacy. Dr. Ade-Ojo was welcomed to UNISA by the Department of Linguistics, and has since become a research fellow in that department.
    • The newly re-launched Institute for Gender Studies was able to welcome and host a South African expatriate during the first week of July 2012, in the person of Prof. Boatamo Mosupyoe, who is the Director of Pan-African Studies and the Cooper-Woodson College Enhancement Program at the California State University at Sacramento. Prof. Mosupyoe presented her Africa Speaks lecture on the 4th July 2012 with a clear focus upon gender issues: “Mediation of Patriarchy and Sexism by Women in South Africa.” This particular Africa Speaks was a wonderful occasion for the Gender Studies’ colleagues to bring to the fore their reinstitution.
    • The final Africa Speaks seminar of 2012 took to the form of a discussion panel which focused upon the ever-prevalent scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa on 20th September 2012. The keynote speaker who is the Programme Director of HEAIDS at Higher Education South Africa (HESA), Dr. Ramneek Ahluwalia brought the theme into the context of Higher Education by addressing “Higher Education’s Response to Combined HIV Prevention in South Africa: Leader or Follower?” Dr. Ahluwalia’s handling of the issue was responded to by Mr. Scott Burnett (Group Director, Programmes, LoveLife) and Dr. Mojalefa Koenane (Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, UNISA). We were glad that this particular Africa Speaks drew attention to the pandemic by grounding it in our own experience.
    • With the high profiled Prof. Soyinka at the beginning of the year, the Africa Speaks seminar series was sure of great things in 2012. The bar is thus set for the College to continue its work in this particular sphere of the research portfolio in the coming years.
  • Women researchers in the CHS:
    • Dr Julie Reid from the Department of Communication Studies is an activist for media freedom matters. In the past two and a half years she has been an active and leading member of the Right2Know Campaign, and assisted in the campaign’s establishment of a Media Freedom and Media Diversity sub-committee, through which she does work relating to popular education and mobilisation surrounding issues of media freedom. She is one of the co-founders and leading researchers on the Media Policy and Democracy Project (MPDP), a collaborative research initiative between the Department of Communication Science and the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. Currently, and as part of the MPDP, Dr Reid is completing a research report on the status of press regulation and press freedom in South Africa. Dr Reid led a research team from UNISA in compiling a comprehensive research report for the Press Freedom Commission: the recommendations contained within the UNISA report have since been adopted by the press council and therefore effected positive change in the regulation of the South African press. She has also partaken in a number of other media and communications policy review processes and delivered presentations to both the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and ICASA. Dr Julie Reid is also currently the Deputy President of the South African Communications Association (SACOMM) and has just edited a new book on Visual Studies, due for publication in January 2013.
    • Dr Ntombizandile Lesame of the Department of Communication Studies, in collaboration with Ms P Ratshinanga, Ms V Seti and Dr BT Mbatha are exploring the problem of a chronic digital divide between smart cities, small towns and rural areas. This digital divide has also created a huge shortage of computer skills or e-skills nationally which restricts people’s ability for employability and therefore contributes to joblessness. Their research assesses how e-centres are reducing digital poverty nationally
    • Prof Elirea Bornman of the Department of Communication Studies investigates emerging social identities among youth in post-apartheid South Africa. She focuses on national identification, identification with subnational groups such as racial and ethnic groups, the value that the youth attaches to national symbols and public holidays, their socio-political orientations such as voting behaviour, willingness to defend the country, media usage patterns and in particular usage of the new media such as the internet and social networking platforms such as MXit, Facebook and Twitter.
  • The Institute for Gender Studies (IGS):
    • A highly positive aspect of 2012 is that through some strategic marketing student registrations on the current honours grew from 6 in 2011 to 41 in 2012. Much energy was devoted in 2012 to both the management of the current Honours in Gender Studies, as well as the redesign of its curriculum for full online delivery. Under leadership of the academic leader of the re-curriculation process, Prof Deirdre Byrne (English Studies), the IGS’s application served at College Board and was favourably received and accepted with minor revisions. These were made in consultation with Programme Accreditation and the application was approved at the October Senate. The new curriculum will be offered as of 2014, designed as a virtual learning environment and offered fully online.
    • One of the main highlights of the IGS’s year was the Symposium held on 19-20 March 2012. This event was part of the re-curriculation process, which adopted the Framework for a Team Approach. Prominent gender academics, practitioners and students were invited to a two-day event, where the new honours curriculum was thoroughly workshopped and scholars were given the opportunity to platform their research. This event greatly increased the IGS’s visibility and gave us the opportunity to network with key players on the South African gender landscape.
    • The IGS successfully managed to collaborate with prominent visiting scholars at Unisa, namely Prof Maria Lirola (University of Alicante, Spain), Prof Boatamo Mosupyoe and Dr Rita Cameron-Wedding (California State University, Sacramento), and Prof Annika Thiem (Villanova University, Philadelphia). Prof Lirola’s lecture was entitled: ’An analysis of the image of women in cosmetic surgery leaflets. Visual grammar as a tool to discover stereotypes’. The workshop by Prof Mosupyoe and Dr Cameron-Wedding was entitled: ‘Conversation on Gender”. The seminar by Prof Thiem was entitled: ‘”Activist Theory: Judith Butler and the Praxis of Critique“.
    • The IGS was invited by the Department for Women, Children and People with Disabilities to give feedback on the Women Empowerment and Gender Equity (WEGE) Draft Bill at a session on 14 August 2012. IGS also facilitated an input session at UNISA on the Bill on 11 September 2012.
  • The Research Institute for Theology and Religion (RITR):
    • The following new books were published:
      • Bentley, Wessel & Forster, Dion A (eds.), 2012. Between Capital and Cathedral: Essays on Church-State relationships.
      • Madise & Taunyane (eds.) 2012. The Methodist Church in Africa 1933-2001.
      • Du Toit, CW (ed.) 2012. Knowing, Believing, Living in Africa: Perspectives from Science and Religion.
      • Swart, Gouws, Pettersson, Erasmus and Bosman, (eds.) 2012. Welfare, Religion and Gender in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Constructing a South-North Dialogue.
    • The publication of some of the RITR’s publications in Kindle format started this year. This new direction in publication will both make the RITR’s work better known internationally as well as generate some income for the Institute.
    • Prof Christina Landman was elected to the Executive of the International Oral History Association (IOHA) and the Oral History Association of Southern Africa (OHASA) at their respective annual conferences in 2012.
  • The Art Galleryhad five milestone highlights for the year:
    4th Level Graduate Show 2012

    4th Level Graduate Show 2012

    • In March the Gallery hosted the coveted MTN Messages and Meaning exhibition, this is a national touring exhibition of 130 artworks selected from the MTN collection. The origins of the works span southern African, central Africa, West Africa and African Diaspora.
    • In June the Gallery hosted a Staff exhibition curated by Lawrence Lemaoana
    • In August a collaborative project entitled “Intervening, a space based project” was created between the Unisa Art Gallery and the Mexican Embassy.
    • In October a higher degrees seminar was held where all postgraduate students from the Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology showcased artworks.
    • The Acquisition exhibition showcased all artworks acquired by the Gallery Board during the previous financial year’s budget

Community engagement

  • Bright Site: In August the Unisa Bright Site Project hosted a student development seminar titled Making a Difference through Service Learning. Over 200 students from various South African universities attended. The Bright Site Sunnyside Project, together with the Durban Project, presented their success stories. Candies Maela spoke about the journey that the Sunnyside Project has taken over the past three years. In 2009 the Sunnyside project had nine students. In 2010 the number of students doubled and the Department of English Studies collaborated with the Sunnyside Project to conduct classes for refugees. The Department of Psychology conducted research on the project. In 2011, 35 students conducted the practical Social Work component of their studies. Their project was nominated and won second place in the MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship. 2012 was a sterling year for the project as 58 students took part in it as Social Workers.
  • The CHS discussed the topic Sustainability: Human Sciences Perspectives and Action on 31 August 2012. The Executive Dean summarized the proceedings as pondering the issues “What is sustainability and what is it good for? What are the ethical and moral underpinnings of sustainability?” She noted that in Setswana it is said, “Se sesafelengsahlola. It is necessary for things to change. Anything that fall’s beneath sustainability is luck and the rest is not there, it is extinct.” Prof Linda Cornwell, Director: School of Social Sciences gave a broad perspective on sustainability and talked about ways to care about the status of the world, key moments in sustainability and whether or not we live in a sustainable world. Other speakers included Prof Peter Stewart from the Department of Development Studies, Prof Jurie le Roux from the Department of African Languages, Dr Veli Jiyane and Prof Thomas van der Walt from the Department of Information Science; Dr Natalie Swanepoel from the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology; Prof Annalet van Schalkwyk from the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology; Dr Nombe Mpako from the Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology and Joyce Mohapi, from the Department of Social Work.
  • September became the celebratory month of choice for various arts, culture, public history and nation-building activities. As a result the Department of Information Science, in partnership with the Royal Bafokeng Institute, hosted the fourth International storytelling Festival in September in the North West Province.
  • The biennial conference of the Afrikaans Letterkunde Vereniging (ALV) (Afrikaans Literature Association) took place on 25-27 September 2012 at the Sunnyside Campus of Unisa. The Department Afrikaans and Theory of Literature at Unisa was the host of the conference. Prize-winning author Sonja Loots opened the proceedings with the lecture, “Sirkusboere en die literêre argief” (“Sirkusboere and the literary archive”). This was followed by lectures on various aspects of Afrikaans literature – revisiting the Anglo Boer War, ecocriticism, the Afrikaans literary system (and its outsider figures), trauma and violence, and travel literature. SJ Naude’s short story collection Alfabet van die voëls (Alphabet of the birds) evoked much academic interest. Three insightful papers were delivered on this subject by Louise Viljoen, Thys Human and Adele Nel. Joan Hambidge presented a fascinating paper on Piekniek by Hangklip (Picnic at Hangklip) by Kerneels Breytenbach. Leti Kleyn gave authentic insight into the controversial publication history of Storm Sevenster by Wessel Pretorius. During the discussion she advocated the necessity to pay more attention to literary outsider figures (and their work) in literary criticism and literary historical writing. It was also good to see young scholars such as Neil van Heerden, Tanja Botha, Ihette Jacobs, Karen Kuhn, Nina Botes,
  • As part of Nelson Mandela Day, the Unisa Bright Site Project in partnership with NGOs and the Unisa Adult Basic Education and Training Department (ABET) invited youngsters from different high schools to come celebrate Tata Madiba’s 94th birthday and 16 June, Youth Day at the Sunnyside Campus. The theme of the day was Youth Life Matters.
  • The Department of Afrikaans and Theory of Literature has been supporting the Ennis Thabong Primary school since 2004. Many of the school’s learners live in the Popo Molefe squatter camp. The department is currently involved in two community research projects, one of which is the building of a library at the school.
  • Unisa’s Language festival hosted an exciting day for the Nelspruit community. Over 300 students together with their teachers from eight disadvantaged high schools around Mpumalanga are invited to share in the festivities and to celebrate the diversity of language, art, music and culture in our country. To view pictures of the festival visit the Unisa Language Festival’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Unisa-Language-Festival
  • The Unisa Window is a strategic project by the CHS in collaboration with Unisa Press and the Advocacy and Resource Centre for Students with Disabilities (ARCSWiD). On 31st of October 2012, the Unisa Window Strategic Project held its first Halloween costume party entitled “Night at the Museum”. The event was aimed at fostering more accurate and realistic views of heritage-related careers such as archaeology and museum sciences. The programme commenced with a short introductory talk by Mariette Harcombe and her fellow student and colleague, Karin Scott, on the real life eventualities of working within the fields of archaeology and museum collections management and research.
  • Mariette Harcombe and her husband took part in the 94.7 Momentum Cycle Challenge on behalf of the Unisa Window project in support of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Paediatric Burn Unit. The challenge is the Ride for a Purpose campaign which uses the race as a platform to raise funds and awareness for charities. The Burn Unit admits over 460 children with severe burns every year. The unit faces several challenges such as severe shortages of staff, facilities and resources. Their dream is to create a larger unit, obtain high quality burn dressings, retain dedicated nursing staff and create a nurturing environment for the children.
  • The Unisa Window Strategic Project kicked off the Christmas Toy Drive in November 2012 in support of the Baragwanath Paediatric Burns Unit. Patients typically come from impoverished backgrounds and the toys would brighten up their day and aid their recovery

Academic citizenship

  • The Executive Dean of Humanities in the CHS was invited by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies to Geneva, Switzerland from 7-12 June 2012. During the six days in Geneva she co-facilitated a two day workshop on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).
  • The Executive Dean of Humanities in the CHS won a tender for the South African Humanities Deans’ Association (SAHUDA) research grant. The project, planned for 2013 is intended to facilitate critical conversations about South African Lineages of Freedom as part of a national initiative to revive the Humanities in the country.

Prof Moeketsi spoke to Deidre Cupido on Unisa Radio about 2012 highlights of the college especially putting emphasis on the importance of research, community engagement in the college and the 2013 focus on students. Click here to listen to the interview https://soundcloud.com/unisa-radio/prof-moeketsi

December 7th, 2012 | Category: News

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