work as a House Warden and “House Father” to three hundred amazing young-girls, and/or my “Daughter-girls” as I call them: a term I borrowed from world icon, Oprah Winfrey. Secondly, my work has garnered national attention, through, for instance, the TAU fellowship: Teaching Advancements at Universities (TAU) by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). Additionally, I was elected as the President of the largest regional association for anthropologists in Africa, Anthropology Southern Africa (2022-2023). I elected into the World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA) in 2023 with the highest number of votes, and formed and successfully run the Gauteng Anthropology community, a collective of Anthropology departments in Gauteng including: UJ, Witwatersrand University, University of South Africa, the University of Pretoria and North-West University. All of these roles have expanded the reach of my work beyond myself as an individual, but now tend to the interests of staff, colleagues, students that are not mine, or necessarily at UJ. Picture: Gcobani with other TAU fellows from almost all South African Universities in Durban, July 2025 Outside of UJ, I have worked a lot with schools in matters relating to educational transformation, gender and sexuality, trauma, diversity and inclusion among other areas. These schools include South African schools such as St Andrew’s School for Girls (Johannesburg), St Andrew’s School for Boys (Makhanda). Internationally, I have worked extensively with the American International School in Johannesburg (SA/USA), the International School of Tanganyika (Tanzania) and the Uplift North Hills Schools (USA). I have further provided various services to various local and international universities, through - for example, departmental reviews. These universities include the University of Free State and the University of Fort Hare as well as various work for international universities as The Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A & M University (USA). At UJ, I stayed active not only in the department and the Faculty of Humanities, but through various workshops, talks, masterclasses and lectures for various units that include the UJ Transformation Unit, the Division for Teaching Excellence and the PostGraduate School to name but a few. Althoughmy passion for education and love for our students and colleagues continues, it would be disingenuous to not share how heartbreaking a time it has been to work in education at this moment in the world. 95 A Journey of Innovation
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