Current Research Projects

Surname	Name	Country	PhD Programme	Title	Supervisor(s)	FASS Research Cluster
Kefas	Nangula	Namibia	Sociology and Social Anthropology	An investigation into the gender mainstreaming processes of the Namibian Correctional Service and its social construction.	Prof Lindy Heinecken	Gender, Sexuality and Feminist studies
Madi	Tuduetso	Botswana	Sociology and Social Anthropology	A critical assessment of gender integration with the Botswana Defence Force	Prof Lindy Heinecken	Gender, Sexuality and Feminist studies
Mashazi	Sima	South Africa	General linguistics	What’s so funny: Humour, multilingualism and identity on South African social media	Dr Marcelyn Oostendorp	Language and Society
Mulonda	Munalula	Zambia	Sociology and Social Anthropology	The Social and Cultural Lives of small-scale artisanal miners on Zambia’s copper dumpsites. The case of Jerabos on the Copperbelt	Dr Ilana van Wyk	Poverty, Inequality and Development
Connoway	Karien	South Africa	History	"An intellectual life that demands a voice for itself:" scientific and technological developments in Cape Colony periodicals 1830-1885	Dr Justin Pearce	Science, Technology and Communication
Baard	Helena	South Africa	Drama	Afrikaans Film in Flux: Investigating the Deconstruction of Apartheid Ideology in Contemporary Afrikaans Films	Dr Annel Pieterse	Race, Culture and Identity
Khweis	Janna Michele Karim	USA	Music	Church Music as a Catalyst for Social Justice and Inclusion of Marginalized Communities: A perspective of Community Music	Prof Mario Nell	Ethics, Social Justice and Human Rights
Plato	Tasneem	South Africa	General Linguistics	Constructing identity across the lifespan: The lived language experiences of coloured people on the Cape Flats	Dr Marcelyn Oostendorp	Language and Society
May	John Bernard	South Africa	Philosophy	‘On the Role of Philosophy of Technology in the Anthropocene era: A Stieglerian Perspective’	Dr Tanya de Villiers-Botha	Science, Technology and Communication
Mackay	Taryn Jeanie	South Africa	Journalism	The long walk home remembering southern African matresence practices An Auto-ethnographic Indigenous Project	Prof Mehita Iqani	Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies
Khalema	Hlolohelo	South Africa	Sociology and Social Anthropology	Chinese bosses, labour and government in Lesotho’s retail (supermarket) sector from 2000: The case of Maseru district	Dr Jantjie Xaba	Poverty, Inequality and Development
Biscombe	Cleo Sabrina	South Africa	English	Un/shamed: Rethinking shaming discourses in contemporary representations of South African Coloured women	Prof Sally-Ann Murray & Dr Nadia Sanger	Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies
Butler	Sune	South Africa	Sociology and Social Anthropology	World-making in theory and in practice: Exploring the interdisciplinary nexus between the social sciences, humanities and neuroscience	Dr Lloyd Hill	Science, Technology and Communication
Weys	Daniel Jan	South Africa	Drama	From Spectator to Witness: The Film Audience’s Response-ability as the Filmmaker’s Responsibility	Prof Petrus du Preez	Performance and Visual Arts
Lusala	Bramwell	Kenya	English	The Paradox in East Africa’s Diaspora Imaginary: A Comparative Study Of Somali and East African Asian’s Narratives of Return	Dr Uhuru Phalafala & Dr Nwabisa Bangeni	Conflict, violence and reconciliation
Chanda	Osward	Zambia	History	Identity and Social Change in Zambia: Names and Naming Practices amongst the Bemba-speaking People, 1895-1974	Dr Thembani Dube & Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa	Race, culture and identity
Moyo	Melody	Zimbabwe	History	A History of (Homo)Sexualities in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), c. 1950-2024	Dr Chet Fransch	Race, culture and identity
Muhammedy	Zahra Ally	Tanzania	English	Marital Trauma in Selected 21st Century East and West African Women’s Writing	Dr Lauren van der Rede	Gender, Sexuality and Feminist studies
Nganje	Kgalalelo Tiffany	Botswana	Political Science	Localising Electoral Democracy: An Analysis of Domestic Election Observation in three SADC Countries	Prof Collette Schulz-Herzenberg	Politics, governance and citizenship
Phiri	Emmanuel	Zambia	History	Brewing Change: Women and beer-brewing on the urban Copperbelt of Zambia, 1927-2023	Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa	Poverty, Inequality and Development
Okul	John Otieno	Kenya	Political Science	An Assessment of the Quality of Elections in Kenya, 1992 - 2022	Dr Cindy-Lee Steenekamp	Politics, Governance and citizenship
Qhubu	Mothobi Pascalis Kevin	Lesotho	History	“White Gold”: Water and Lesotho-South Africa Relations since 1986.	Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa	Politics, governance and citizenship
Semba	Victory Kudzai	Zimbabwe	Political Science	A historical overview of shifting police military relations and its consequences for national security in Zimbabwe, 1980-2024	Dr Justin Pearce & Prof Lindy Heinecken	Health, welfare and human security
Gajjar	Neerali	South Africa	Sociology and Social Anthropology	Whose History? A Sociological Analysis of Teaching Apartheid History in South Africa.	Prof Bernard Dubbeld & Dr Handri Walters	Ethics, Social Justice and Human Rights
Coetzee	Aikra	South Africa	Ancient Studies	The Mesopotamian Goddess Nisaba: Her Significance, Development and Relationship with Women’s Writing	Dr Renate M Van Dijk-Coombes	Gender, Sexuality and feminist studies
Gouws	Moniq Esti	South Africa	Drama	The Collaborative Potential Between Artificial Intelligence and Humans when writing for the Stage	Dr Schalk Van der Merwe	Performance and Visual Arts
Louw	Charisse	South Africa	Visual Arts	A reparative enquiry into African Moving Pictures	Prof Lize Van Robbroeck	Performance and Visual Arts
Maregedze	Brian	Zimbabwe	History	A Social History of Rwandese refugees in Zimbabwe 1981 to present	Dr Thembani Dube	Ethics, Social Justice and Human Rights
Matovu	Julius	Uganda	African Languages	Interconnecting the Task-based language teaching approach with the competence-based curriculum for Kiswahili	Prof Marianna Visser & Prof Mawande Dlali	Language and Society
Raal	Ludwig	South Africa	Philosophy	Slaying the Dragon: Exploring the Moral Imperative for Radical Life Extension Research	Dr Susan Hall	Ethics, Social Justice and Human Rights
Makokha	Racheal Omukhulu	Kenya	Political Science	The Holy Strategy: The use of Religion in Accessing Power by Political Elites in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia	Prof Nicola de Jager	Politics, governance and citizenship
Knoetze	Frederick Wilhelm	South Africa	Philosophy	Skeptism, fallibilism and the pretextual account of concessive knowledge attributions	Dr Tanya De Villiers-Botha	Ethics, social justice and Human rights
Hadebo	Frezer Abera	Ethiopia	Political Science	Gendered Migration: An Intersectional Analysis of the Lived Experiences of Ethiopian Women Refugee living in South Africa	Prof Amanda Gouws	Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies
Moyo	Oswald	Zimbabwe	History	A history of Umlaga/Lagisa system in Shashe-Thuli plateau (Matabeleland South), Zimbabwe, c.1930 to present.	Prof Sandra Swart	Politics, Governance and citizenship
Munala	Beatrice Grace	Kenya	Ancient Studies	Narrating Identities through Historical Stones: A Comparative Study of Narratives of The Crying Stone of Ilesi and Kit Mikayi	Dr Samantha Masters	Race, Culture and Identity
Mujulizi	Joseph Mukisa	Tanzania	Sociology and Social Anthropology	The Act of Blackness: Black Education in Time: Exploring the Entanglements of Institution and Individual in Tanzanian International Schools	Dr Handri Walters	Politics, governance and citizenship
Ndyanabo	Adson	Tanzania	History	The Provenance and Future of Makonde Ethnographic Objects in Linden-Museum, Stuttgart: Toward a plan, c.1890s to the present	Prof Sandra Swart & Dr Samantha Masters	Race, Culture and Identity
Sombe	Seleman Yahaya	Tanzania	History	A History of the State’s and Civil Society's Responses to Transnational Irregular Migrations from the Horn of Africa in Tanzania	Prof Sandra Swart	Health, Welfare and Human Security
Tomas	Lahja Namutenya	Namibia	English	Language, Power and Secession: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Caprivi conflict in selected Namibian newspapers (1999 – 2009)	Dr Lauren van der Rede & Dr Nwabisa Bangeni	Conflict, violence and reconciliation
Kansiime	Fortunate	Uganda	English	Poverty, Education and Female embodiment in Ugandan Women’s Life writing and Fiction	Dr Jeanne Ellis	Gender, Sexuality and Feminist studies
Musunda	Tinashe	Zimbabwe	Social Anthropology	Silent Voices: Perceptions And Narratives of Integrated Azania People’s Liberation Army (APLA) Into SANDF	Prof Lindy Heinecken	Conflict, violence and reconciliation
Oboh	Emmanuel Anoghena	Nigeria	Philosophy	Decolonising Environmental Ethics through an Ecowomanist Lens: Yoruba Women Spiritualties and Traditional Ecological Knowledge.	Prof Louise Du Toit	Ethics, Social Justice and Human Rights
Saidi	Ezekiel Emanuel	Tanzania	African Languages	Argumentation and Language Perception in Tanzanian Primary Courts: A Study on Kiswahili Use in Legal Reasoning	Dr Zameka Sijadu	Language and Society
Babl	Bastiénne S. M.	South Africa	Ancient Studies	Shiv'at HaMinim: The Seven Species as Cultural Keystone Species of the Ancient Judaea between 100 BCE and 200 CE.	Dr Renate van Dijk-Coombes	Race, Culture and Identity
Kambourakis	Stephanie	South Africa	English	“Canines, Courtship, and the Nineteenth-Century Novel”	Dr Jeanne Ellis	Language and Society
Luden	Michael Kyle	South Africa	Psychology	Intergroup Contact and Perceived Social Contract as Potential Pathways Towards Attitude De-moralisation.	Prof Hermann Swart & Prof Martijn van Zomeren	Race, culture and identity
Mapokgole	R. Blantinah	South Africa	Social Anthropology	Mothering Across Time: An Intergenerational Feminist Ethnography of Batlokwa Women's Mothering in Limpopo, South Africa.	Dr Ziyanda Majombozi	Gender, Sexuality and Feminist studies
Marere	Nozipho Pauline	Zimbabwe	GES	The paradox of urban green infrastructure: Liminality and the production of socio-environmental vulnerability in Caledonia, Zimbabwe	Dr Sam Ngema	Land, environment and sustainable development
Mutasa	Tapiwa Vincent	Zimbabwe	History	“Chipfambi/Ukufeba”: A history of efforts to regulate urban prostitution in Zimbabwe, 1923 to the Present	Dr Chet Fransch	Ethics, Social justice and Human rights
Thomas	Noah	South Africa	English	Queering the home and relationalities in 21st Century South African literature	Dr Megan Jones & Dr Uhuru Phalafala	Race, culture and Identity
Van der Merwe	Petronella H.	South Africa	Drama	Die laaste hiëna van Germania (The last hyena of Germania): An autoethnographic folk horror study	Prof Petrus Du Preez	Performance and Visual Arts
Wootton	Juliet Grace	South Africa	Music	Modernisms in the Symphonic Works of three 20th-Century South African Composers	Prof Stephanus Muller	Performance and Visual Arts