Cape Argues features "Aftermath" exhibition hosted at UCT

UCT reflects on #FeesMustFall through exhibition

The student-led protest commenced on October 12, 2015, and saw over 600 people arrested, and over R800 million in infrastructural damages. Picture: Wandile Kasibe/Supplied by Siyasanga Ndwayi

 https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/uct-reflects-on-feesmustfall-through-exhibition-bc0cdbf4-58b0-407f-a4f1-76d2d65442bb 

Cape Town - Student leaders active in the #FeesMustFall movement have reflected on the violence experienced during the protests and how this has impacted their well-being, through a photographic exhibition. The UCT Department of Student Affairs in partnership with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) is exhibiting “Aftermath: Violence and wellbeing in the context of the student movement”, from May 3 -5, 2022, at the Molly Blackburn foyer, UCT Upper Campus.

The student-led protest commenced on October 12, 2015, and saw over 600 people arrested, and over R800 million in infrastructural damages. Protests also led to no tuition increases in 2016, as a result.

The HSRC research team held photovoice workshops with student leaders and activists on five university campuses which experienced high levels of violence during the 2015/16 #FeesMustFall protests.

Over a hundred images and related captions and narratives were gathered during the workshops, with the exhibition comprising 34 of the images taken and/ or supplied by the student leaders.

Human Science Research Council research director Dr Thierry Luescher said the photovoice methodology is an action research method that uses photos taken by the student participants to help them articulate difficult experiences such as violence and how they have regained a sense of wellbeing.

“The exhibition's purpose is not to ascribe fault or ask who shot the first bullet or who threw the first stone but what the experience of being a witness, perpetrator, or victim of violence means to students in its aftermath and the wellbeing effects that this has,” Dr Luescher said.

Co-Principal Investigator from the University of Venda Dr Keamo Morwe said after the #FeesMustFall protests, the ongoing mental health challenges of former student activists and students in general became prevalent.

Curated by Carl Collison, the exhibition comprises nine themes: protest and violence, oppressive spaces, fear, escape, defying patriarchy, safe spaces, well-being, unity and trauma.

“This study sought to investigate whether there is a link between the violence that students experienced during #FeesMustFall and well-being challenges,” Dr Morwe said.

The exhibition is expected to travel to universities across South Africa and neighbouring countries and is available online at South African History Online.

shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za

Thinking about the future of higher education and the African university

In the course of 2021, a team of experienced researchers affiliated to the Human Sciences Research Council as well as several top universities and research organisations in Africa have interviewed 35 thought leaders and asked them to 'reimagine the African university'. 

These thought leaders include current and former university leaders, higher education specialists, student and youth leaders, higher education funders, and leaders of NGOs. The responses received are insightful, fascinating and provocative. On their own, every interview presents a vista onto a horizon not too far away. Among the first matters to be noted is, of course, that there is no single kind of African university; the future of African higher education is precisely in its diversity and differentiation. It is in recognising that a diverse society and economy must provide for a diversity of educational pathways and locally relevant offerings. 

Edited transcripts are being published progressively on the website of the project at the HSRC. 

At the same time, some of the most striking thoughts presented by the interviewed thought leaders are being distilled by UWN journalist and copy editor Mark Paterson and I into articles that are being published weekly in the University World News Africa edition, since February 2022. They are all freely available for further study at the UWN website. 

 The publication schedule for the UWN articles (and transcripts on the HSRC website) is below (and may be subject to change).

	Interviewee	Interviewer	Date of interview	Date of publication
1	Prof Goolam Mohamedbhai	Prof Crain Soudien	17-May-21	14-Feb-22
2	Prof Mogobe Ramose	Prof Catherine Odora Hoppers	21-May-21	21-Feb-22
3	Prof Reitumetse Mabokela	Prof Relebohile Moletsane	10-May-21	1-Mar-22
4	Mr Rekgotsofetse Chikane	Prof Thierry Luescher	20-May-21	6-Mar-22
5	Prof Dzul Razak	Prof Catherine Odora Hoppers	30-Jun-21	16-Mar-22
6	Prof Catherine Odora Hoppers	Prof Crain Soudien	11-Mar-21	23-Mar-22
7	Prof Neil Turok	Prof Crain Soudien	21-Jun-21	28-Mar-22
8	Prof Adam Habib	Prof Crain Soudien	25-May-21	4-Apr-22
9	Prof Madeleine Arnot	Dr Alude Mahali	21-May-21	Apr-22
10	Prof Paul Zeleza	Prof Crain Soudien	1-Jul-21	Apr-22
11	Dr Tade Aina	Dr Alude Mahali	12-May-21	Apr-22
12	Ms Lihle Ngcobozi	Prof David Everatt	8-Jul-21	May-22
13	Prof Saleem Badat	Prof Crain Soudien	12-May-21	May-22
14	Dr Rajesh Tandon	Prof Relebohile Moletsane	3-May-21	May-22
15	Prof Claudia Frittelli	Prof Thierry Luescher	26-May-21	May-22
16	Prof Phil Cotton	Prof Sharlene Swartz	29-Oct-21	Jun-22
17	Prof Peter Materu	Prof Sharlene Swartz	16-Nov-21	Jun-22
18	Prof Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni	Prof Relebohile Moletsane	15-May-21	Jun-22
19	Prof Issa Shivji	Prof Crain Soudien	21-Jun-21	Jun-22
20	Prof Laura Czerniewicz	Mr Krish Chetty	10-May-21	Jun-22
	and many more to come...

Symposium on Transformative Leadership in African Contexts - Zanzibar

As a social researcher it is always invigorating to be in a place where social research meets systematic, structural, institutional and individual change. 

Young Africa needs change; the opportunity to change the odds. Transformative leadership offers a framework to empower change and just solutions through action with an ethical purpose. For the next five days, I am in Zanzibar to participate in the transformative leadership symposium, which includes a panel on reimagining the African university in the 21st century. 

Some early questions and comments: There is a lot of data; but how to move from data to action? How do we overcome the silence on the political discourse and the pushback from political actors? We need to make sure not to loose sight of the large goal and the 'whole'. 

If we don't know what we are aiming for, how will we ever get there? We have to set an 'utopia' for us in order to be able to have a common direction. 

In the picture we see Prof Sharlene Swartz presenting at the first session; Prof Crain Soudien who was chairing the session; Dr James Otieno Jowi from the Education Department of the East African Community, and Ms Rahab Wawuri a MasterCard Foundation Scholar alumni.

Access to higher education vs. financial exclusion

As someone who only was able to study at a university with the assistance of national financial aid as well as numerous part-time jobs as tutors and research assistant, dishwasher and waiter, and with the benefit of scholarships, grants and awards based on merit, I believe that making the best of education available to all students, irrespective of their ability to pay, is non-negotiable. \

In March 2021, six years since the original #FeesMustFall protests, yet again protests erupted in the Johannesburg CBD. The video clip from my interview in the SABC News show "Full View" remains topical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIoTtgXtGkg see it here.

The importance of academic advising: JSAA Vol. 9(2) published!

The Academic advising has become a focal point in the new JSAA issue (Vol. 9(2)). The editors of the journal have given the JSAA platform to this topic in order to advance professional and scholarly debate on it. Schreiber, Luescher and Moja do so with the understanding that the demand for professional student support and transition programmes is increasing unabatedly. This is at the same time as higher education in Africa proceeds on its trajectory of rapid expansion and massification, even in the context of the changing circumstances presented by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

As participation in higher education widens, there is also increased pressure for efficiency, relevance, and success. It is important to ensure that students are equipped with relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies, develop personally and socio-culturally, and succeed academically, by making successful transitions into and through higher education and into the world of work and livelihoods. 

An evidence-based development of high-impact interventions using multiple methods, including student engagement surveys and action research approaches, is a proven strategy (Strydom et al., 2016). The development of context-relevant, high impact co-curricular programmes, support services and interventions by means of a reflective scholarship of Student Affairs and Services (SAS), institutional research and reflective practice, is also an imperative in the professionalisation of SAS in Africa. 

The guest-editors of the academic advising articles of this issue, François Strydom and Gugu Tiroyabone, have opened up the conceptual and praxis field on academic advising for Student Affairs in Africa. Thus, the first seven articles in this issue are specifically focused on academic advising and offer case studies, critical discussions, and reviews, on this high-impact practice in higher education. 

In addition to the articles on academic advising, there is also a set of articles that deals with a wider variety of themes to keep the JSAA lens as wide and diverse as possible. This includes international students, counselling and psycho-social support for students extended curriculum programmes, student governance, and ways to develop mindfulness among first year students. 

The Aftermath of #FeesMustFall Exhibition goes international!

The University of Botswana, Gaborone, Department of Sociology is hosting the "Aftermath" exhibition from 27-29 October 2021, accompanied by a series of engagements including an opening panel discussion with Prof Thierry Luescher, Drs Angelina Wilson Fadiji and Keamogetse Morwe, Ms Tania Fraser and others; and two seminars on the photovoice methodology and the findings and goals of the project respectively. The exhibition is displayed in the University of Botswana Library Foyer between 9 am to 4 pm. RSVP OR MORE INFO: Dr Mashumba: mashumbal@ub.ac.bw; Dr Mookodi: mookodi@ub.ac.bw

SESSIONS WITHIN THE EXHIBITION

Wednesday, 27 October, 1 – 2 pm:

Opening Panel: “Student wellbeing, to us”-University of Botswana, Sociology, & Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa 

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/99693710773 Meeting ID: 996 9371 0773

Thursday, 28 October, 1 – 3 pm: Seminar:

“Photovoice Methodology: Opportunities and challenges for Social Policy research and advocacy”

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/91881268503 Meeting ID: 918 8126 8503

Friday, 29 October, 2.30 – 4pm: Concluding seminar

“Purpose and findings of the Study ‘Violence and Wellbeing in the Context of the Student Movement”

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/99448232101 Meeting ID: 994 4823 2101

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Aftermath: Violence and Wellbeing in the Context of the Student Movement, is a collection of 34 images taken and/or supplied by South African student leaders, which they reflecton as representations of their experiences of violence during the #FeesMustFall student movement - and their search for wellbeing after these experiences. The images have beenselected and curated from more than 100 images that were produced as part of a joint photovoice research project hosted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) withthe University of Venda (Univen) between 2019 and 2021. The research team led by Prof. Thierry Luescher (HSRC), Dr Keamogetse Morwe (Univen) and Dr Angelina Wilson Fadiji(University of Pretoria), held photovoice workshops with 26 student leaders and activists on five campuses of public universities in South Africa which experienced high levels ofviolence during the 2015/16 #FeesMustFall student movement. Student participants were selected from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), Cape Town; University of Venda(Univen), Thohoyandou; University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein/Mangaung; University of Fort Hare (UFH), Alice, and Durban University of Technology (DUT), Durban. Thestudent leaders participated in institution-specific, face-to-face photovoice workshops on their respective campuses (except at DUT where workshops were held via Zoom onlinedue to the Covid-19 pandemic). Among the criteria for participation were that they should have experienced violence as part of student protests on their campus - whether asobservers, victims or perpetrators - during the 2015/16 student protests.

In curating the exhibition, a number of themes emerged including: protest and violence, oppressive spaces, safe spaces, patriarchy (and the defiance of it), fear, escape, trauma,unity and wellbeing. The aim of this exhibition is to raise awareness about the high levels of violence on South African university campuses and the impact this has on studentwellbeing. While trying to put pressure on often uncaring and unresponsive university leaders and policy makers, students end up being exposed to unacceptable levels ofviolence, either perpetrated by students themselves or as victims of the violent responses carried onto campuses by police and security services.

The student leaders and activists, whose reflections are represented in the exhibition’s pictures and accompanying captions have expressed the hope that by sharing their photosand stories, an awareness would be created in the public, in government and among higher education policy makers and university leaders. They hope that this awareness willensure that student grievances are taken seriously without the need for protesting. They also hope that student counselling services are expanded to better support students whostruggle with mental health issues.

This exhibition is available online at South African History Online and additional info on the HSRC website.

Journal of Student Affairs in Africa is now hosted by the University of Pretoria

 

It is with great pride that I can announce that JSAA is now hosted by the University of Pretoria and is receiving an allowance to be able to continue to operate as a fully open access journal. The journal is available at: https://upjournals.up.ac.za/index.php/jsaa. 

The JSAA Executive has also approved a new editorial board structure whereby JSAA will now have a three step structure including at its apex the Editorial Executive, currently made up of Prof Teboho Moja (as Editor-in-chief), Prof Thierry Luescher and Dr Birgit Schreiber. The second step will be an Editorial Board made up of about ten African and South African student affairs scholars and professionals with expertise in different areas of student affairs as Section Editors. This is a new structure. The third step is the International Editorial Advisory Board which is made up of international experts in SAS who are recognised for their support to the Editorial Board as senior reviewers and experts.