Faculty of Humanities ANNUAL REPORT 2021
2 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 INTRODUCTION Executive Dean: Prof Kammila Naidoo The Faculty of Humanities began 2021 with renewed optimism that engaged teaching and research would be possible despite a second year of lockdown and the persistence of COVID-19. Staff and tutors rallied together to create innovative and effective interventions and become more accessible to students who were in a second year of remote learning. The drive for teaching excellence led to the Faculty of Humanities producing two Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning award winners, one in the category for established scholars and the other for early career academics. Overall, the Faculty of Humanities produced more scholarly research than in previous years, and substantial resources were invested in research support and development. As regards the public intellectual work of staff in 2021, academics continued to be central to debates on COVID-19 and socioeconomic issues, the meaning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the relevance of decolonising the curriculum, and on addressing ways in which the various disciplines could generate significant ‘impact’. Our academics were very active in the global and local media, with many public talks gaining prominence. The Faculty continued to build African and other international partnerships and co-hosted many exciting virtual events. A record number of anti-GBV events were held with community-based organisations and international partners. Our premier event, the Helen Joseph Memorial Lecture, was presented in 2021 by Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng who spoke on the topic of ‘Undressing Freedom: Force, impunity and hubris as a response to disaster’. The overview that follows will show the Faculty’s various successes, its sustainability, and plans for the future. The underlying operations continued to grow in ways that align with the University’s Strategic Objectives and with the broader intellectual mission of the Faculty and University. This stated, there are problems to take account of, and they will be highlighted as challenges to overcome in the years ahead. RESEARCH Vice Dean Research: Prof Brendon Barnes The Faculty of Humanities did exceptionally well in terms of the research outputs. Despite being mostly online, staff members were active in research promotion activities including webinars, online writing retreats, skills development, and conference presentations. At the time of writing, the faculty had produced 484 research output units, which is the highest number of outputs ever captured by the Humanities. Our publications received 3 478 (annual) citations in Scopus, often in top international journals. The Humanities also has 46 NRF rated researchers, up from 41 NRF rated researchers in 2020. The faculty launched a much-publicised Distinguished 4IR Webinar Series that highlighted our work on 4IR and the Humanities. Importantly, the faculty raised R49 million in external funding. Humanities staff won 18 prestigious awards in 2021. These include, but are not limited to, Prof Leila Patel, ASSAf Science for Society Gold Medal; Prof Adrian Van Breda, Lifetime Achievement Award, ASASWEI (Social Work); Dr Nonny Vilakazi, Franco-African ‘Tremplin’ Research Excellence Award of the French Academy of Sciences; Prof Ashwin Desai (Humanities and Social Sciences), National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) Award – Best Non-Fiction Monograph; and Prof Shanade Barnabas: Future Professor Programme (DHET). The following staff received UJ Vice Chancellor awards: Dr Gcobani Qambela (Young Teacher Award), Professor Maritha Pritchard (Distinguished Teacher Excellence Award), and Professor Alex Broadbent (Distinguished Book of the Year Award). Our postgraduate students did very well in 2021. We graduated 335 Honours, 144 Masters and 33 Doctoral graduates in 2021. Importantly, postgraduate students were active in the scholarly activities of the faculty. Students published 31 research output units in 2021, many of which were in highly respected journals. Our students actively attended webinars, and we received 654 inbound students while 2 162 students attended outbound virtual events. Our Post-Doctoral Research
3 Fellow (PDRF) programme continued to grow and flourish. Our PDRFs engaged in cutting edge research and published in sought after publication outlets. They also contributed enormously to the scholarly ethos of departments and centres through virtual conferences, presentations and co-supervision. Our PDRFs published over 60 research output units in 2021. Our international partnerships continued to flourish, and our academics continued to develop international partnerships, joint degrees, and joint short learning programmes. TEACHING AND LEARNING Vice Dean Teaching and Learning: Prof Suzy Graham The Faculty is committed to excellence in academic scholarship and technology supported teaching and learning. In 2021 we continued with mainly online teaching and learning in the Faculty. Our lecturers and tutors and peer mentors were able to build on their previous experience and offer online access and support to students in various platforms including via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra; Zoom, Teams and WhatsApp. We had an increase of 0.2% in the undergraduate success rate from 90.1% in 2020 to 90.4% in early 2022. Student feedback in 2021 revealed that learning material was easily accessible on Blackboard, the majority were satisfied with their learning experience and that the Humanities tutors supported them well. Although the dropout rate from an institutional perspective was 10.6% for 2021, 0.2% lower than the 10.8% in 2020, the percentage of student dropouts remains a concern and various initiatives including extra tutorial interventions and skills enhancement through access to a Learning Development Module on Blackboard were introduced to students at risk of dropping out in order to try to mitigate this challenge. I FELT IT IN ME | R Phohleli I felt the energy and enthusiasm in me starting to fade away While my body started shivering fearing change Not to question I didn’t have the right tools to even start thinking of adaptation I wanted to be grateful for saving my mom traveling expenses to school everyday But I couldn’t foresee beyond that I felt it in me Pressure I put on myself & of the society My family and siblings who looked up to me I could not afford to disappoint anybody Crazy how I found myself feeling something I couldn’t pin into words I felt it in me I knew I was drowning To make it worse am not a swimmer In the water there were external forces I had to battle Network, data & load shedding How do I make it to the ultimate goal of success I am contaminated by a virus that gave birth to online learning I felt it in me I heard a little voice in my head saying you asked for strength Now overcome I remembered growth has always been in my vocabulary So I overcame On the bright side I gained new siblings in the water Today I raised up the water like a queen I am Two qualifications in my hand And now I am digitized & accessorized for the future L Chetty
4 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 In response to the new online conditions in Teaching and Learning, the Faculty hosted (with supports from the SARChI Chair: Teaching and Learning and the former ‘Department of Academic Planning, Quality Promotion and Professional Academic Staff Development (DAPQPASD)’ now known as the Division for Teaching Excellence) an international Conference from 28-30 April 2021 on ‘Peak Performances: Covid-19 and the Transformation of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Critical Reflections on Experiences of Teaching and Learning in the Face of the Pandemic: Responses, Complexities, and the Implications of Covid-19 on Higher Education)’. There were around 120 presenters at the Conference and this helped to stimulate further debate around how to teach and how to support student learning in a changed environment. As a student success initiative the Humanities Teaching and Learning Committee facilitated two competitions in 2021. The Committee asked the students to reflect on their online learning experience during lockdown by drawing on their creative energies and submitting to a ‘Humanities Creative Reflections Competition’. The idea was to capture student voices and experiences in diverse formats (poems, storytelling, paintings). Creativity is an essential 21st century skill and we received some outstanding contributions including best painting, best acrostic poem and best short story. Running parallel to this was a ‘best student essay competition’. The Faculty celebrated the hard work and independent academic voices of our Humanities students by acknowledging excellent essay submissions in 2021. A panel of internal and external reviewers assessed the submissions based on the soundness of arguments; attention paid to organisation and structure; and the presence of an academic voice and originality of ideas. Staff awards in Teaching & Learning Humanities staff excelled in 2021 winning prestigious UJ awards for T&L. Prof. Maritha Pritchard (Strategic Communication) won the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Teacher Excellence and Dr Gcobani Qambela (Anthropology and Development Studies Department) won the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Most Promising Young Teacher of the Year. Prof. Thembisa Waetjen (History Department) won the Faculty of Humanities Award for Innovation in Teaching & Learning. The award for Best Post-Graduate Teacher went to Dr Asheel Singh (Philosophy Department), with a special mention for Dr Magas Pather (LANCSAL). The Going the Extra Mile in Teaching & Learning award went to Dr Mziwandile Sobantu (Social Work). Prof. Corné Meintjes (Strategic Communication) and Dr Gcobani Qambela (Anthropology and Development Studies Department). Prof. Sikhumbuzo Mngadi (English Department) won the ‘True Educator’ Award, a student nomination which celebrates a lecturer who demonstrates extraordinary commitment in seeing a student through from undergraduate to postgraduate studies. BA Extended Degree Humanities is one of only four Faculties that offers Extended Degree Programmes (CBE, Engineering, Science). The “new” BA Extended Degrees programmes that offers students four focus areas, (based on the augmenting major) namely Development Studies, Linguistics, Language Practice and Strategic Communication, were approved by DHET for implementation from 2021. DHET also approved the increase in foundation credits from 0.5 to 1.00, this will result in increased foundation grant funding for the Faculty to support Extended Teaching and Learning activities (tutors, support lecturers etc). In 2021, a total of 238 new (F+T+E) students were enrolled, as per the approved increase in F headcount target from 180 to 230. The total F enrolment for 2021 was, 230. The overall headcount for Extended Degrees was 729. The Faculty of Humanities is the only Faculty offering Extended degrees that has a standalone Unit within the Dean’s office. The Extended Degree office, manages and provides support to extended degree students throughout their 4-year life cycle The Extended Programme offers the following augmenting and full foundational modules. Study period 1: • Mastering of Academic and Professional Skills (MHUEX01) [Full Foundational Module] • English 1C&1D (ENGEXC1&ENGEXD1) [Full Foundational Module] • ONE of the Following as Compulsory Majors as per degree focus area: - Development Studies 1A&1B (DEVEXA1&DEVEXB1) [Augmenting Module] - Linguistics 1A&1B (LINEXA1&LINEXB1) [ Augmenting Module] - Strategic Communication 1A&1B (SCOEXA1&SCOEXB1) [ Augmenting Module Study period 2: • Philosophy 1A (PHLEXA1) [Augmenting Module] • Business Communication B [Augmenting Module]
5 The 2020, 2021 subject success rate of in the Extended Degree modules (inclusive of repeaters) are indicated in the table below: Subject Success Rate Subject Academic Year Diff 2020 – 2021 2020 2021 Mastering of Academic and Professional Skills (MHUEX01) 87.8% 98.2% +10.4% English 1C (ENGEXC1) 52.5% 74.2% +21.7% English 1D (ENGEXD1) 78.8% 78.7% -0.1% Development Studies 1A (DEVEXA1 80.7% 73.5% -7.2% Development Studies 1B (DEVEXB1) 86.5% 89.8% +3.3% Linguistics 1A (LINEXA1) 93.9% 94.7% +0.7% Linguistics 1B (LINEXB1) 90.6% 92.1% 1.5% Strategic Communication 1A (SCOEXA1) N/A 86.5% Strategic Communication 1B (SCOEXB1) N/A 73.1% Philosophy 1A (PHLEXA1) N/A 96.5% Business Communication B (CBSEXB1) 89.2% 90.6% +1.5% Overall Extended Modules Success Rate 82.6% 85.2% +2.5% Note: Data as extracted on 3 January 2022 2nd semester data subject to change. Overall there was an increase of 2.5% in the extended module success rate from 82.6% in 2020 to 82.5% in 2021. Overall Highlights: It is important to highlight that in 2021, 6 students graduated with distinction 3 of which were fast track students. Based on the overall 2021, academic performance 18 students were identified to be placed on fast track for 2022. This represents 8% of the New First Time Entering students. The increase in the number of students placed on fast track could be the result of the new focused extended degrees as well as the increase in entry requirements. Support Interventions: Noting the academically at risk students, and students placed on an academic warning after their 1st Semester results, the extended office embarking on an online learning development and support intervention module in collaboration with ADC. Additional writing skills support interventions were also provided to these students in collaboration with the UJ Writing Centre. As a result, of the 76 students that were identified as being academically at risk (E1 result Code), 67% (51) of the students were allowed to continue and 33% (25) excluded. All students excluded will however get an opportunity to appeal their academic exclusion and their appeal application together with their attendance in the Online support module will be taken into consideration when reviewing the appeals in January.
6 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 BA Extended Office Evaluation 2021. A google form was set up for students to evaluate the support received during the year from the BA Extended office. As per the feedback received. • Please rate the support you received from the Extended office. • Overall the Extended degree office received 80% for Excellent and 16.7% for Good. • In terms of the other ratings, students were contacted to find out how the extended office can improve on the support provided. BA Extended Graduate Feedback. • A google form was set up for some feedback from graduates. • As per the feedback received, it is interesting to note that only 31.3% of graduates indicated that extended was their 1st choice. • As per the feedback, 82.5% of students indicated that they received Excellent support from the Extended office during their studies and 15% indicated that they received good support. • In the feedback as to why they gave the rating the following can be highlighted from the feedback: “always assisted when asked for help” “always available when we need her” “has always been supportive” “the office always made me a first priority” “Support was excellent and communication was exceptional” “they were understanding and offered assistance however they could” “an amazing to experience to have people who are willing and available to assist you anytime” “has always been there for me to assist with anything I needed” “constant checkup and supportive emails” “cared about our well-being” “could tell through the that she was very patient and passionate with us BA Extended students”
7 DEPARTMENTS Department of Psychology The Department of Psychology has had a very busy 2021 as I’m sure all departments in all faculties at any university. We started off the year by meeting enrolment targets and in most instances exceeding what was expected of us to take. This meant we had to rally together to find means and ways to teach and supervise, especially since we had 2 vacant posts and a staff member on maternity leave. Despite this we completed all our supervision, teaching, research and admin processes. I’d like to highlight some of the achievements of the department as well as areas of growth. Staff and Student Achievements: Ms L. Haasbroek and Prof. N. Morojele had a paper entitled: A Systematic Literature Review on the Relationship Between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Substance Use Among Adults and Adolescents, published in the Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Mrs K. McGlynn and Prof. M. Card had a paper entitled: Primary health care nurses’ perceptions of the socio-ecology of mental illness among patients: An exploratory study, published in the Journal of Psychology in Africa. 2022 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject (THE Subject Rankings) Psychology: retained position in the 301-400 band in the world Psychology: UJ is in joint 2nd place in South Africa, together with North-West University (NWU) and Stellenbosch University (SU) https://www.timeshighereducation.com/worlduniversity-rankings/2022/subject-ranking/ psychology Dr J. Moodley has been invited by the, United Nations Office in New York, to coordinate and contribute to a chapter on SDG 1 in the UN Disability Development Report. Ms Thando Maseti was named M&G top 200 Young South Africans 2021. She also received the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program doctoral dissertation research fellowship for 2021-2022. We had a number of students obtain NRF Honours bursaries; six in total. There is one MA candidate who attained GES 4.0 Master’s Scholarship Award and two PhD candidates attained a Special URC Doctoral Scholarships. Drs Kruger, Basson and J. Moodley were all nominated for the student’s choice Faculty of Humanities teaching award. We have had 3 promotions in the department Dr Sipho Dlamini and Dr Jackie. Moodley from L to SL and Dr Melissa Card from SL to AP. Currently we have a good balance of different ranks in the department but we could do better with regard to the number of full professors in the department. We also have an additional two Associate Professors joining the department in early 2022. Teaching and Learning Highlights We had a focus of streamlining our teaching and learning processes in the department which we did. This entailed creating space on sharepoint where all module and course information is saved so that staff have access to information (study guides, assessment strategies and presentation material). This was extremely helpful for when lecturers were ill or if we had temp lecturers, the module material was easily accessible which meant students were not affected. We also clarified the student grievance processes as well as the plagiarism process in module study guides which allowed students to have all the needed knowledge upfront. Having this kind of transparency has reduced the number of student complaints to faculty and other structures in the university (for the most part). We have also negotiated blended teaching processes for modules shared and taught on DFC. This means that we have 6 modules taught on both APK and DFC which previously were taught on different days and times but now everything is done online with one set of classes and different enrichment tutorial sessions.
8 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 We are also no longer offering sport psychology on DFC which means we have managed to streamline our offering of psychology as a department to reflect the core identity of general psychology. Research Highlights We have had a number of publications (15) in the department but this is an area of growth for the department. And we have some strategic plans to assist us with growing our publication numbers. We have a visiting Professor – Prof. Xiaoming Li. Prof (Dr) Xiaoming Li is Professor and Endowed Chair of clinical translational research and the Director for the SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality at the Arnold School of Public Health in the University of South Carolina. Dr. Li’s research interests include development, delivery and evaluation of culturally appropriate best practices in areas of mental health, and HIV/AIDS behavioral prevention interventions in both domestic and international settings. His areas of research include resilience-based psychosocial interventions, HIV disclosure, stigma reduction, mental health, and HIV treatment and care. He has also participated in HIV-related research in Namibia, Vietnam, India, Mexico, Zambia, Nigeria, and the Bahamas. Since 2019, Dr. Li has distinguished himself as one of the world’s most active authors in AIDSrelated stigma and discrimination and has been elected Fellow of the Association of Psychological Science. Dr. Li is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Prof. Angela Parekh is our Emeritus Professor. A number of staff members have presented at online conferences and received special mentions and recognitions for their abstracts and papers. Internationalisation Prof Lourens has one of her research collaborators, Dr Anica Zeyen (Royal Holloway University of London) appointed as a research associate of the Department of Psychology. They are currently working on two projects: • Access to Pharmaceutical Products and Services for Visually Impaired Persons in South Africa. • Stigma and Disability, Understanding the Impact of COVID19 on Disabled People in South Africa and Uganda Dr Jackie Moodley has a collaborator from Washington University appointed as a research associate. National research projects Prof. Lourens has a project on: The lived experiences of disabled academics at Sub-Saharan Universities, in conjunction with from UJ, WITS, Stellenbosch and UCT. Prof Neo received extra grant monies in the amount of R1.8 million towards her research collaboration project. Department mentoring and research hubs This year saw us initiating a mentoring process within the department, the mentoring was for both students and staff alike. One of our staff members wrote the following their experience of the writing mentorship: “But writing mentorship from colleagues in the department (in particular Dr Tlali and Dr P Moodley) has been a positive for me; it has been really incredible to have colleagues that are invested in helping others more junior staff grow”. There are a number of research hubs which sees departmental staff members collaborating on a research topic which has allowed for connections and joint interests to flourish despite the pandemic restrictions (everything was done socially-distanced, of course). An example of work currently being done in the department is “The experience of Intern Psychologists during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic”. Prof. Lourens and Ms Sarah Uren are the PIs. Interdisciplinary work MA in AI is being offered where psychology is contributing to this degree along with the faculty of engineering and CBE. Dr Love Odion Idahosa, and Prof. Abejide Ade-Ibijola, in the Department of Applied Information Systems and Prof. Melissa Card, in the psychology department at the University of Johannesburg are conducting research study titled Chatbot for Mental Health Support in South African Vernacular. SLP: Forensic and Correctional psychology short learning programme was approved and will be implemented from 2022. Community engagement As part of the MA Counselling Psychology programme, 7 students were involved in support groups at Abraham Kriel Children’s home. One group facilitated a support group for house mothers, while 2 groups supported children of school-leaving age. The clinical students provided psychological services as general hospitals: Rahima Moosa mother and child, Chris Hani Baragwaneth Hospital and Helen Joseph Hospital. We have managed to foster an amazingly collaborative and collegial relationship with our colleagues on the Wits circuit for placement of our MA students. This is a first of its kind in many years and I hope it continues for many years to come.
9 Webinars and Symposia: Webinar Series on COVID-19 and Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug (ATOD) Research The Department of Psychology, in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg library, hosted four webinars for a webinar series on COVID-19 and alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) research. These webinars were hosted on behalf of the International Confederation of Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drug Research Associations (ICARA), on which Prof Neo Morojele is a board member. The webinar series was funded by the Society for the Study of Addiction and included presentations from various speakers from Africa, Europe and North America. The webinars attracted audience members from a total of 25 countries in Africa (e.g. South Africa, Zimbabwe), Europe (e.g. UK, Slovenia), Asia (e.g. India, Vietnam), North America (e.g. USA, Canada), Central and South America (e.g. Brazil, Mexico) and Australia (e.g. Australia). The webinar topics, chairs and panellists can be seen in the table below. Webinar topic Chair Panel members Pandemic Perspectives: Addiction Science in the Era of COVID-19 Niamh Fitzgerald (ICARA & University of Stirling) Tom Babor (ICARA & University of Connecticut) Bronwyn Myers, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa Maristela Monteiro, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), USA Jacqueline MacDiarmid, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), USA Florence Baingana, World Health Organization (WHO), Republic of Congo Jennifer Gonzalez, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Texas, USA Substance Use and Gambling in Finland during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Perspectives from a Nordic Welfare State with Low COVID-19 Incidence Michael Egerer (Finnish Association for Alcohol, Drug and Gambling Research & University of Helsinki) Mika Sutela, Helsinki Police Department, Finland Atte Oksanen, University of Tampere, Finland Ritta Matilainen, Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention, Finland COVID-19 and the tobacco political and health Catherine Egbe (South African Medical Research Council) Rachel O’Donnell (University of Stirling) Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, South Africa Rachel O’Donnell, University of Stirling, UK Louis Laurence, University of Bath, United Kingdom Corne van Walbeek, University of Cape Town, South Africa How COVID-19 has changed cannabis markets, use and policy Rosalie Pacula (International Society for the Study of Drug Policy & University of Southern California) David Hammond, University of Waterloo, Canada Judith Albridge, University of Manchester, UK Brend Werse, University of Frankfurt, Germany
10 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 The psychology department participated in the mental health webinar initiative that brought together the different psychology departments at UJ. This is the first time the different psychology departments came together to present knowledge and information. Hopefully this is the first of many collaborations and engagements. New Initiatives: We have plans to develop new SLPs, particularly around mental health and DBT skills training. Mental health community engagement project to commence in Soweto in 2022. International Symposium on Health Development of Vulnerable Populations hosted by the Department of Psychology, University of Johannesburg via Zoom. 29 September. Areas of Growth We will work a research strategy to try and increase our research outputs. The student/lecturer engagement will be focused on next year given the reduced restrictions around in person teaching (hopefully). So the psychology student forum will be revived. Our biggest challenges for the year is the high administration and teaching loads across the rankings. We also have high staff-student ratios as well as high tutor student ratios. Resignations hamper some of our processes, particularly on the clinical psychology side, but we strive to do the best we can to provide our students with world-class teaching and training.
11 The Department of Sociology The UJ Department of Sociology is home to 20 staff members, 6 of whom are NRF-rated scholars. We lead in teaching, supervision, and producing socially relevant research. Recently the department was ranked the top sociology department in South Africa according to the 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) released by The Shanghai Ranking Consultancy (https:// businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/513896/top-9universities-in-south-africa-and-the-best-subjectsto-study-at-each/). Apart from the world ranking, the department has grown by welcoming four new colleagues this year, namely Prof Patrick Bond (NRF B1 rating), Prof Nthabiseng Motsemme, Prof Melanie Samson, and Ms. Ragi Bashonga. In 2021, four staff members have been promoted. Prof Pragna Rugunanan was promoted to full professor; Dr David du Toit and Dr Letitia Smuts were promoted to senior lecturers; and Mr Lerato Kgosiemang was appointed as lecturer in the department. Three staff members are currently directors of research centres at UJ. Prof Carin Runciman is the director of the Centre for Social Change, and Dr Trevor Ngwane is the director of the Centre for Sociological Research and Practice (CSRP), which is linked to the Department of Sociology. Recently, Prof Tapiwa Chagonda was appointed as the Head of the Centre for Data Ethics (CDE). While staff members are engaged in various individual and collaborative research projects, the department is actively engaged in critical social research and sociological practice, and the CSRP provides one vehicle for this commitment. The CSRP was relaunched in January 2021. The CSRP’s research themes include ‘Township, village and shack settlements studies’; ‘Land reform’ and ‘Labour studies’. To date, the CSRP has hosted a regular online seminar series and have been engaged with a number of research projects, including a project which considers the South African electricity crisis. As part of the Urban Sociology Honours module taught by Prof Luke Sinwell, students engaged with practical fieldwork linked to the existing “Energy Racism” research project undertaken by the CSRP. In 2022, the CSRP plans on developing a year-long programme of webinars based on and clustered around its three research themes and coinciding with research processes and outputs. Various staff members are engaged in funded research projects. Dr Letitia Smuts is the primary grant holder of a National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences Working Group grant entitled: ‘Heteronormativity in South Africa’ and hosted a two-day winter school called ‘Introduction to Sexuality Studies’ in July of 2021. Prof Kezia Batisai, along with Prof Tina Uys and Dr Letitia Smuts, are involved in a collaborative URCfunded research project with the University of Notre Dame and the University of Sydney in Australia entitled ‘Men, masculinity and gender equality: Young men’s perceptions, responses and negotiations.’ Prof Pragna Rugunanan was invited by Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration program, Ryerson University, to participate in a documentary focusing on migrant lives during the pandemic: https://www. migrantlives.net/. Sociology doctoral students Arina Sibanda and Edson Mutisi assisted with crafting the storyline. Dr Siphelo Ngcwangu is involved in a research project entitled ‘Higher Education, Inequality and the Public Good: Perspective from Four African Countries’. Prof Nthabiseng Motsemme is currently involved in a research project entitled ‘Township Studies Project’, which held a colloquium and launched the Township Studies Research Network in April 2021. The year 2021 marks the 21st year of the UJ Department of Sociology and the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies’ weekly inhouse seminar series. The Wednesday seminar has been a space for postgraduate students, activists, public figures, and scholars to present their work. This spans across various disciplines, and various local and international institutions, and include book launches and documentary screenings. This year, the seminar committee arranged online webinars related to a variety of topical and
12 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 relevant themes such as ‘COVID-19 and the impact on families’ and ‘LGBTIQ+ identities in Africa’. International Staff and postgraduate students have presented at a variety of local and international conferences and colloquiums, such as the South African Sociological Association Annual Congress and the International Sociological Association Forum. Prof Pragna Rugunanan was invited to give a keynote at the IV Forum of Sociology titled ‘Challenges of the 21st Century: Democracy, Environment, Inequalities, Intersectionality’ ISA Forum held virtually in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in February 2021. Prof Tina Uys, Prof Kezia Batisai, Dr David, du Toit, Siphelo Ngcwangu, Dr Muhammed Suleman and a number of postgraduate students also presented at the virtual conference. Prof Chagonda presented a paper on the effects of COVID-19 on research ethics at a webinar that was organised by the London School of Economics (LSE) and Oxford University. Prof Pragna Rugunanan was invited by the University of Namibia in March 2021, to present at their webinar on ‘Women in Research: Experiences in Building Resilience during Covid-19’. She was also invited by the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP), the University of Hyderabad (UH) in collaboration with Southern Regional Centre, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), to present at the “Online Seven Day International Research Methodology Course Workshop” Postgraduate students and scholars at University of Hyderabad. Prof Ingrid Palmary was appointed Associate editor for the Journal of Feminism and Psychology, a highly ranked international journal (Impact factor of 3.37 and ranked 5/34 for women’s studies). Prof Kezia Batisai was appointed as Associate Editor for Society and Social Change, a specialty section within the Frontiers in Human Dynamics journal. Prof Batisai is a member of the International Steering Committee - Research Network Law, Gender and Sexuality (LEX). Dr Luke Sinwell is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Labour and Society (published by Brill, Leiden). Dr Siphelo Ngcwangu was a panelist at a virtual workshop on ‘4IR and Youth Unemployment’ HSRC /DSI, in June 2021. Prof Nthabiseng Motsemme, was a programme director for a webinar where Prof Tshilidzi Marwala and Mr. Parks Tau, MEC for Gauteng Department of Economic Development, raised the possibility of a “Township Studies Economy” Chair being funded and housed at UJ. In 2021, the Department of Sociology hosted a Pan-African webinar series. Prof Tapiwa Chagonda invited Prof Onyeonoru from the University of Ibadan to present a webinar on the Challenges and Opportunities of Working from Home in the Context of COVID 19 in Lagos, Nigeria. The next webinar included scholars from the global south. Prof Pragna Rugunanan invited scholars to talk on Migrating Nations: Researching migration and gender. The panel included Prof Indongo, from the University of Namibia, Dr Mary Setrana from the University of Ghana, Prof Ajailiu Niumai from the University of Hyderabad and Ms Ragi Bashonga (our NGap lecturer) from UJ. Dr Smuts was invited to run the first in a series of annual workshops at the 4th International Conference on Gender and Sexuality. Prof Patrick Bond gave the keynote address at the online one-day workshop titled ‘Illicit Financial Flow and Gas Flaring as Albatross to Nigeria’s Climate Change Response: Building Momentum towards COP 26’ hosted by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) with leading European climate experts in Lagos. Prof Bond was also on in a panel discussion on various maladies across Africa at The International Symposium on Security and Peace at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria (online). Staff members have actively participated in engaging with the public through a variety of media platforms, such as SABC News, EWN, Daily Thetha on SABC 1 and various radio programmes such as Radio 702. For example: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ashwin+desai+on+the+untold+stories+of+black+rugby. In November 2021, Prof Tapiwa Chagonda penned a piece for The Conversation which has attracted close to 10 000 reads to date across the world. The department also has a vibrant Twitter presence and would like to
13 expand to other social media platforms in 2022. The department runs an internship programme for the Honours programme, which is accredited according to the Commission on the Accreditation of Programs in Applied and Clinical Sociology (CAPACS). This year, the Honours students were all placed in internship positions located within the UJ, as well as organisations outside of the university. The majority of staff members in the department also hosted interns, which adds to the mentorship of postgraduate students. We believe that the internship programme sets apart our graduates because they will receive an all-round experience when entering the labour market whereby they are able to put theory into practice. The department envisions expanding the internship programme to prepare students for the world of work through various career development workshops, alumni talks, and work-integrated seminars presented by practitioners. To kickstart this process, we invited a Sociology alumnus, Ms Tabea Mngadi, to present a talk on life lessons and building resilience. Prof Jan Marie Fritz is a Distinguished Professor (University of Cincinnati, USA) in the department. She led a series of lectures for the Clinical Sociology Honours Programme. Two new visiting professors have been appointed in the department. Prof Chis Bolsmann is full Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at California State University Northridge, USA. He will be presenting a series of masterclasses on archival research and the sociology of sport in 2022. Prof Immanuel Ness is a full Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Political Science at the City University of New York, USA. He will play a prominent role in the CSRP projects and mentoring staff on book projects. Staff and research associates have produced a total of 29.29 published outputs. These outputs include 20.44 units for accredited journal articles; 5.85 units for book chapters; three books; and one edited book. Several colleagues have copublished with postgraduate Sociology students. Prof Ashwin Desai co-authored two books, namely Line Breakers: The Rugby Playing Sons of Makana and Stuurman; and Colour, Class and Community: Natal Indian Congress 1971-1994. Prof Desai also received the National Institute for Humanities and Social Science award for Best Non-Fiction Single Authored Monograph with his book titled: Wentworth: The Beautiful Game and the Making of Place (2020). Dr Trevor Ngwane authored a book entitled Amakomiti: Grassroots Democracy in South African Settlements. Together with Prof Malehoko Tshoaedi, he also co-edited a book titled The Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Sociological Critique. Prof Tapiwa Chagonda is part of an international collaborative effort where he is a co-lead researcher under the project: “Education, Nation Building and Social Justice: A Study of Universities in India, South Africa and the United States of America”. Prof Rugunanan is the Lead Principal Investigator of the Consortium (PIC) for the Research Call ‘T-AP Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World (RRR)’, with collaborative partners from South America, North America, Europe and the UK. Prof Palmary is involved in a large grant application with colleagues from Myanmar, India, Pakistan the UK and Zimbabwe. Going forward, the Department of Sociology intends on developing a strong research and curriculum agenda around environmental sociology, with Prof Bond and Prof Samson leading these initiatives. Staff members will also continue striving to conduct research that support UNICEF’s Sustainable Development Goals. Department of Social Work and Community Development The Department of Social Work and Community Development leads the Faculty of Humanities in training practitioners for the social service professions, namely social work and community development. These professions involve a combination of academic and theoretical expertise and practice competencies, held together with a solid and deliberate ethical value base.
14 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 In addition to teaching 28 undergraduate and honours theory modules, plus 14 master’s coursework modules across seven degrees, the department also teaches eight internship or work integrated learning modules. These latter modules entail (mostly) weekly small group skills development classes that run across the year, plus time (from 2 hours to 3 days per week) in the field working with clients, doing counselling, running groups and facilitating community development projects. Every student receives one-onone professional supervision and is placed in a selected and monitored placement in a community around Johannesburg. This is substantial undertaking, over and above the usual theory classes and postgraduate supervision that all departments engage in. The department’s staff received several awards in 2021: • Ms Mashigo’s G4G Mentorship Project won 2nd position in the Faculty Flagship Projects during the annual Community Engagement Service Excellence Awards. She was also the Master of Ceremonies for the event. • Prof van Breda was awarded Lifetime Membership of the international resilience network ‘Resilio’ for his seven-year service as Vice President. • Prof van Breda was honoured by the Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions (ASASWEI) with their Lifetime Achievement Award. The department’s staff are actively involved in work outside the borders of the university, building society through advancing scholarship and promoting international partnerships, for example: • Dr Baikady, a postdoctoral research fellow from India, supervised by Dr Nadesan, is undertaking a cross university (international) study on decolonisation of social work education in South Africa, India and China. • Dr Nadesan has been President of ASASWEI from 2019 to 2021 and has steered all universities through the challenges of teaching social work during Covid. • Dr Nadesan instituted a five-year international partnership agreement with Rajagiri College of Social Sciences in Kerala, India. • Prof Raniga has an international teaching and research partnership with Dortmund University of Applied Sciences in Germany. She is principal researcher of a comparative study between Germany and South Africa on the psychosocial and economic experiences of single mothers working in the formal work sector. • Prof Rasool is the Chair of the International Conference on Gender and Sexuality. • Prof Rasool is Vice President of the Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa (ASSWA), and the Africa representative on the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), where she has championed pan-African engagement and is centring issues that are pertinent for Africa in international social work forums. • Prof van Breda leads international (INTRAC) and pan-African (ANCR) research networks on the transition from care to young adulthood. • Prof van Breda ran two international master classes on writing great introductions for journal articles. • Prof van Breda represents the department on the U21 Community of Practice for Social Work. • Prof van Breda retired after seven years as Vice President of an international resilience research network called Resilio, where he has worked to promote African conceptions of and research on resilience globally. • Prof van Breda serves on the NRF rating panel for anthropology, development studies, geography, social work and sociology. • Staff have close working relationships with colleagues at universities in Botswana, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Palestine, Swaziland, United Kingdom, West Indies and Zimbabwe. Staff are involved in ploughing their expertise back into the field, to improve people’s quality of life through community engagement, for example: • Dr Nadesan is a Board member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) South Africa and represents AA South Africa regionally and internationally. • Dr Nadesan serves on the International Applications Committee of the SACSSP, the SACSSP CPD Approval Committee, and the COGTA National Disaster Bursary Committee. • Dr Sobantu is working with social workers and older persons in two residential care facilities for older persons to empower older persons and their families understand their rights and responsibilities as spelled out in the Act and the Constitution. • Ms Mashigo coordinated and facilitated a mentoring project for UJ female students. The project, Girls4Girls (G4G), aims to arm young women with the courage, vision, and skills to take on public leadership through a nurturing and supportive environment. The UJ cohort of 2021 graduated 42 mentees. • Prof Naidoo provides psychological support to health care workers (HCWs) who are in the frontline of the fight against Covid-19. Many of these HCWs
15 struggle to balance their own psychological needs against that of the patients they serve and experience compassion fatigue, which has been linked to adverse mental health outcomes. • Prof Raniga offered online debriefing and psychosocial support to managers of The Clothing Bank on the effects of COVID-19 on their roles and functions at work. • Prof Rasool chaired the UJ Women in Community Engagement Empowerment Programme and Prof Raniga presented at the event. • Prof Rasool is involved in the national community of practice for dealing with GBV on campus- she recently participated in the strategic planning session. • Prof van Breda is a member of the Professional Board for Social Work, which regulates the profession in South Africa. He has been responsible for quality assurance, specialisations, and norms and standards. • Prof van Breda ran two workshops on wellness and resilience for staff of the Department of Social Development in the Western Cape. • Prof van Breda, Dr Bond and Ms Hlungwani work with around 150 social service practitioners in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in the residential and foster care field to develop best practice evidenceinformed guidelines for preparing young people to transition from care towards young adulthood. Staff present regularly at national and international conferences and symposia, and frequently organise or co-organise international events, for example: • Dr Nadesan chaired the international conference of ASASWEI on “Pandemics, Inequality and Poverty: Taking Social Work into the 21st Century”, with over 180 abstracts and over 2000 registered delegates. • Dr Nadesan co-chaired the International Perspectives of Social Work in Communities Seminar between UJ, Edinburgh University and Rajagiri College of Social Sciences. • Dr Nadesan co-chaired the World Social Work Day collaboration between University of Johannesburg, University of Edinburgh and Rajagiri College of Social Sciences. • Dr Nadesan co-ordinated and presented at the Sub-Saharan African Service Meeting for AA South Africa. • Dr Nadesan presented AA Webinars on Alcoholism and the Family. • Dr Nadesan presented at the AA World Services Conference. • Dr Nadesan presented lectures on alcoholism and substance abuse with the Civil Aviation Authority in March and October 2021, as part of continuing professional education. • Dr Nadesan represented AA on the media (television and radio). • Dr Nadesan was the keynote speaker at the BCM College seminar on Child Protection. • Dr Nadesan was the keynote speaker at the National Association of the Student Social Workers on Women in Leadership. • Dr Sobantu was invited to be part of the organising team for the African Social Work Workshops, which were attended by social work academics from Africa. Other team members included colleagues from the University of Dundee and University of Manchester • Prof Naidoo shared findings from her research with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group in their efforts to reduce the incidence of suicidality in South Africa. She was also the keynote speaker at SADAG’s National Suicide Day commemoration. • Prof Raniga delivered a keynote address titled: Livelihoods, Entrepreneurship and Women’s Economic Empowerment in South Africa. • Prof Raniga delivered a keynote address titled: Women pushing back the frontiers of poverty in the Covid-19 era and Beyond: A Community Engagement Perspective at the Virtual UJ Community Engagement Unit to commemorate Women’s Month. • Prof Raniga presented a paper at the Virtual IACD Conference on economic well-being of single mothers in Gauteng. • Prof Raniga presented a paper at the Virtual ICSD Biennial Conference on sustainable livelihoods, poverty alleviation and women entrepreneurs. • Prof Rasool co-organised a Forum on Decolonization, Indigenization, Spirituality, and Buddhist Social Work, with the Asian Research Institute for International Social Work (ARIISW) and other stakeholders. She also presented on “Seven Principles for thinking, being and doing decoloniality” • Prof Rasool co-organised and chaired the U21 International seminar on “The role of Social Work in Responding to Forced Migration.”
16 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021 • Prof Rasool co-organised and presented at the symposium on enablers of Gender SexualOrientation Based violence in the Health Sciences domain. Prof Rasool contributed to a write-up of this event which was included in the UJ Health Sciences newsletter. • Prof Rasool did a study visit and presented a public lecture at the University of Comoros on “Social Inclusion and Development in South Africa: Interventions with Women and Children.” This event featured in a local newspaper. • Prof Rasool organised and chaired a seminar for women’s month on “Is a Feminist and Decolonial Education possible? A discussion with feminist writers of the new book: Surfacing – On being Black and Feminist in South Africa”. • Prof Rasool organised and co-facilitated with Ms Mashigo a multi-country (South Africa, Australia, Britain & Italy) Roundtable on Innovative Strategies for Teaching and Learning Field Practice Online. • Prof Rasool presented at the SCIINOV intercontinental conference on gender and sexuality studies on “Women’s role in academia: International Experiences and Perspectives”. • Prof Rasool presented co-organised and presented at the International Conference on Gender Mainstreaming- Global Perspectives hosted by the Bombay Teachers Training College, • Prof Rasool presented with Dr Linda Smith at Glasgow Caledonian conference – What social work needs now, on “Radical decoloniality, imagination and surrealism as process and method to achieve new contextual theory towards critical posthumanist perspectives”. • Prof Rasool was on a panel for International Education Week at Bridgewater State University USA on “Women’s Role in Education: International Experiences and Perspectives”. • Prof van Breda co-hosted the Global INTRAC conference for scholars researching the transition out of care in Switzerland. • Prof van Breda organised an international webinar with U21 and ASSWA on community work in social work, at which Prof Nel, Prof Raniga, Dr Turton and Ms Ditlhake presented papers. • Prof van Breda presented a paper on global dialogue on policy, practice and research concerning extended care in Ireland/UK and South Africa. • Prof van Breda presented on resilience-based policy frameworks at the Resilio conference in Cameroon. • Prof van Breda presented two resilience theory lectures for students studying in Europe. • Prof van Breda was a keynote speaker at the IFSW conference in Rwanda, speaking on Ubuntu resilience towards achieving sustainable development goals. • Prof van Breda was invited to host a symposium on child and youth resilience in Switzerland. • Prof. Rasool presented a keynote at the conference hosted by the Mother Teresa Women’s University, Department and Centre for Womens studies, India on “Shifting Gender Inequality.” Staff are increasingly visible in publishing and editing academic texts and special issues, for example: • Dr Nadesan and Dr Baikady are co-editors of various academic texts: (1) Springer Nature Reference Living Edition called the Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems; (2) the Routledge Handbook of Fieldwork Education in Social Work. Dr Nadesan also serves on the editorial boards for the Springer Series on International Social Work and Springer Briefs on International Social Work. • Dr Turton is an associate editor on the Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development. • Prof Raniga is Chair of the Editorial Board of the Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development. • Prof Rasool was editor of a special issue for the journal Gender Issues based on the Gender and Sexuality conference. • Prof van Breda co-edited a special issue of Child Abuse & Neglect on multisystemic resilience in subSaharan Africa. • Prof van Breda is co-editing a book on innovative research on leaving care authored by emerging scholars from across the globe. • Prof van Breda is editor of the Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development. • Prof van Breda led a team of 10 international scholars for a comparative study on extended care. Students of the department have also demonstrated their excellence, for example: • Aphiwe Somabhele, CDL H INT, submitted his Project Implementation Report, for the Best Honours Essay/ Reflection and won. He also won a prize for the best faculty assistant in 2021. • Lucia Mogale, a 4th year social work student, presented on students’ experiences of gender-based violence on campus and possible interventions at the at the symposium on Enablers of Gender SexualOrientation Based Violence in the Health Sciences Domain.
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