And here is what I am currently most involved in:
The South African Student Movement: From #RhodesMustFall to #FeesMustFall
The 2015/16 student movement known by various campus-based formations and hashtags including #RhodesMustFall, #OpenStellenbosch, #FeesMustFall, #EndOutsourcing, #RUReferenceList and so forth, has been the largest protest movement to date in democratic South Africa and among the most successful ones. It is of tremendous significance for higher education and higher education policy in particular, and political society in South Africa in general. The Student Movement project has three main components: the history of student leadership in South Africa, interviews with student activists, and the impact of the movement on policy, universities and activists’ biographies. The three components are respectively funded/co-funded by the Council on Higher Education, the Andrew W Mellon Foundation, and the National Research Foundation. The Co-PI on the NRF project is Dr Keamo Morwe and Dr Angelina Wilson-Fadiji manages the sub-project. See web presences here at IED and here and here on SAHO.
Community Engagement in Secondary Cities: The Case of Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley
The third function of higher education – i.e. community engagement, has been seen for a long time as the minor function trailing behind the teaching and learning and the research functions of universities. Meanwhile, the call for relevance and for ‘engaged scholarship’, as well as the need for viewing universities as among the key ‘anchor institutions’ in city regions, is changing the perception that community engagement is in some way separate from research or teaching and learning. This project, which is a collaboration between the HSRC and academics at Sol Plaatje University, is funded by the National Research Foundation. The Co-PI is Prof Jesmael Mataga of Sol Plaatje University and Dr Sam Fongwa manages the project.
The Imprint of Education
The Imprint of Education (TIE) project is led by my boss, Prof Sharlene Swartz. The project aims to investigate the impact of university education on first generation graduates - both their career trajectories and their contributions to family, community and society. The study comprises a number of learning areas: (1) a quantitative longitudinal tracer study over five years that maps trajectories and outcomes; (2) an in-depth qualitative study that focuses on understanding and overcoming obstacles and enablers to graduates’ impact; (3) a study on what it means and what it takes to be a leader on the African continent and that provides resources to African universities to help students develop into the kinds of leaders our continent needs; (4) a wide ranging engagement with experienced scholars and thought leaders on the kinds of universities we need to ensure that we have a continent able to deal with its challenges and take its place in the world; and (5) a study on the structural barriers that may hamper livelihood generation for young people in Africa. I am involved in the learning area 2 where I am responsible for the alumni cohort and collaborating universities in Rwanda. I am also the coordinator of learning area 4 which looks at and imagines the future of African universities. The project is funded by the MasterCard Foundation. Web presence at IED here.
