Dangerous liaisons or critical alliances: student perceptions of community engagement at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Authors: Levy, Simone Arielle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students -- Public services , Community and college -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57411 , vital:26907
- Description: Community Engagement (CE) in South Africa is an increasingly important feature of the relationship between the university and a broader community, and may aid in bridging the entrenched social divisions of this nation. This will only be possible if CE succeeds in uniting the knowledge production interests of the university and the broader community. Through CE, knowledge production and dissemination from within the university should be made more relevant and applicable because it is based on a relationship or engagement with a community. Based on the perceptions of student volunteers in a CE programme at a South African university, this thesis set out to ask whether or not students are transformed through university-community collaboration. This research examines the perceptions and motivations of student volunteers entering community partnership programmes. More importantly, it asks whether these engagements are merely a “weekend special” consisting of shallow engagements, which last only a few hours a week that provide institutional window dressing; or well-intended engagements through which students build meaningful relationships and experience learning opportunities that prepare them for real world civic participation. As this thesis focuses on the student perspective, it explores whether or not CE has an impact, both personally and educationally or academically, on the lives of individual student volunteers. The literature on CE argues that students’ participation in CE opportunities should enhance academic learning, personal growth and promote a sense of citizenship or civic responsibility. Based on the perceptions of a small group of student volunteers at one university, this thesis identifies possible successes and limitations of CE volunteering programmes in order to see if what is promoted in the literature or institutional policies is being experienced or achieved in practice at universities. I argue that students are indeed transformed through processes of CE, often in unexpected ways, and despite many difficulties. Therefore, if CE provides students with more holistic learning opportunities while attending universities for academic ends, it is important to look at in what ways this is achieved.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Levy, Simone Arielle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students -- Public services , Community and college -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57411 , vital:26907
- Description: Community Engagement (CE) in South Africa is an increasingly important feature of the relationship between the university and a broader community, and may aid in bridging the entrenched social divisions of this nation. This will only be possible if CE succeeds in uniting the knowledge production interests of the university and the broader community. Through CE, knowledge production and dissemination from within the university should be made more relevant and applicable because it is based on a relationship or engagement with a community. Based on the perceptions of student volunteers in a CE programme at a South African university, this thesis set out to ask whether or not students are transformed through university-community collaboration. This research examines the perceptions and motivations of student volunteers entering community partnership programmes. More importantly, it asks whether these engagements are merely a “weekend special” consisting of shallow engagements, which last only a few hours a week that provide institutional window dressing; or well-intended engagements through which students build meaningful relationships and experience learning opportunities that prepare them for real world civic participation. As this thesis focuses on the student perspective, it explores whether or not CE has an impact, both personally and educationally or academically, on the lives of individual student volunteers. The literature on CE argues that students’ participation in CE opportunities should enhance academic learning, personal growth and promote a sense of citizenship or civic responsibility. Based on the perceptions of a small group of student volunteers at one university, this thesis identifies possible successes and limitations of CE volunteering programmes in order to see if what is promoted in the literature or institutional policies is being experienced or achieved in practice at universities. I argue that students are indeed transformed through processes of CE, often in unexpected ways, and despite many difficulties. Therefore, if CE provides students with more holistic learning opportunities while attending universities for academic ends, it is important to look at in what ways this is achieved.
- Full Text:
An investigation into the utility of the ImPACT neurocognitive screening tool with patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
- Authors: Wurz, Carl
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5366 , vital:20918
- Description: Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of the Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) assessment tool in the neurocognitive screening of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Participants and Method: Patients diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (n = 29) were compared with a healthy control group (n = 20) of equivalent age, years of education, quality of education and estimated premorbid IQ. Measures included five ImPACT composite scores, the ImPACT Design Memory Delayed Recall subtest, the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) that has shown prior sensitivity to cognitive dysfunction in MS groups, and the SDMT Delayed Recall test. T-test analyses compared test performances of the MS patient group with the control group; correlational analyses investigated the construct similarities between the ImPACT and SDMT tests. Results: There was a consistent trend for the MS patient group to perform worse than controls on all the neurocognitive tests. Significant differences accompanied by medium to high effect sizes were in evidence for ImPACT Reaction Time, ImPACT Cognitive Efficiency Index, ImPACT Design Memory Delayed Recall, SDMT, and SDMT Delayed Recall test. Correlational analyses revealed construct comparability between the ImPACT tests calling upon processing speed and the SDMT, as well as the IMPACT and SDMT delayed recall tasks. Conclusions: The results support the utility of the ImPACT test as a screening instrument for the detection of cognitive dysfunction in patients with MS. Tests tapping general cognitive efficiency, processing speed, reaction time, and delayed recall rather than immediate recall reveal particular utility as neurocognitive screening aids for patients with MS.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Wurz, Carl
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5366 , vital:20918
- Description: Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of the Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) assessment tool in the neurocognitive screening of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Participants and Method: Patients diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (n = 29) were compared with a healthy control group (n = 20) of equivalent age, years of education, quality of education and estimated premorbid IQ. Measures included five ImPACT composite scores, the ImPACT Design Memory Delayed Recall subtest, the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) that has shown prior sensitivity to cognitive dysfunction in MS groups, and the SDMT Delayed Recall test. T-test analyses compared test performances of the MS patient group with the control group; correlational analyses investigated the construct similarities between the ImPACT and SDMT tests. Results: There was a consistent trend for the MS patient group to perform worse than controls on all the neurocognitive tests. Significant differences accompanied by medium to high effect sizes were in evidence for ImPACT Reaction Time, ImPACT Cognitive Efficiency Index, ImPACT Design Memory Delayed Recall, SDMT, and SDMT Delayed Recall test. Correlational analyses revealed construct comparability between the ImPACT tests calling upon processing speed and the SDMT, as well as the IMPACT and SDMT delayed recall tasks. Conclusions: The results support the utility of the ImPACT test as a screening instrument for the detection of cognitive dysfunction in patients with MS. Tests tapping general cognitive efficiency, processing speed, reaction time, and delayed recall rather than immediate recall reveal particular utility as neurocognitive screening aids for patients with MS.
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Conversations, turn-taking, and dialogue: an analysis of the political deliberations of Zimbabwean citizens on the @263Chat Twitter handle
- Authors: Ncube, Meli Mthabisi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4510 , vital:20684
- Description: The micro-blogging site Twitter, and the social networking site Facebook, are playing a key role in facilitating active political expression in the form of demonstrations against high rates of unemployment, poverty, rampant government repression and corruption. Twitter use in Zimbabwe is very vibrant and it even has its own name, ‘Zwitter.’ Zimbabwe has a closed legacy news media which are highly restricted, and most of the major news outlets are controlled by the state. Another limiting factor to any meaningful practice of deliberative democracy through the media and town hall debates is the intolerance of the ruling party ZANU-PF in dealing with dissenting voices. Thus in Zimbabwean politics, it can be argued that the internet has liberated political debates that have been suppressed and digital media is central to political and social deliberation. This study examines whether there are conversations, turn-taking, and dialogues-all features of deliberations- on the @263Chat Twitter platform which is used as a case study. Qualitative content analysis and interviewing were used to collect the data. The preliminary results of the research show that citizen-led engagements, which are facilitated by @263Chat, have brought to the fore the covert potential of social media platforms to drive political participation and deliberation.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ncube, Meli Mthabisi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4510 , vital:20684
- Description: The micro-blogging site Twitter, and the social networking site Facebook, are playing a key role in facilitating active political expression in the form of demonstrations against high rates of unemployment, poverty, rampant government repression and corruption. Twitter use in Zimbabwe is very vibrant and it even has its own name, ‘Zwitter.’ Zimbabwe has a closed legacy news media which are highly restricted, and most of the major news outlets are controlled by the state. Another limiting factor to any meaningful practice of deliberative democracy through the media and town hall debates is the intolerance of the ruling party ZANU-PF in dealing with dissenting voices. Thus in Zimbabwean politics, it can be argued that the internet has liberated political debates that have been suppressed and digital media is central to political and social deliberation. This study examines whether there are conversations, turn-taking, and dialogues-all features of deliberations- on the @263Chat Twitter platform which is used as a case study. Qualitative content analysis and interviewing were used to collect the data. The preliminary results of the research show that citizen-led engagements, which are facilitated by @263Chat, have brought to the fore the covert potential of social media platforms to drive political participation and deliberation.
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Evictions, migrations and epidemiology in Gokwe during the colonial era
- Authors: Mudzimu, Asa
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6946 , vital:21203
- Description: Gokwe, being infested with tsetse and mosquito was seen as a ‘diseased’ environment by the Europeans. Thus, colonial anti-disease campaigns were introduced during the first decade of the 20th century. Initially, the campaigns sought to address economic challenges in the colony as they involved African relocations for the benefit of the Europeans. However, this study argues that these anti-disease campaigns were modified with time and space. The key thrust of the paper is to examine the imbrication between evictions, migrations and disease control in the context of colonial public health system. Apartfrom examining the development of Western medical practices in Gokwe the dissertation explores how this colonial public health system coalesced or clashed with African worldviews. Gokwe matters as a ‘frontier’ society in many senses. Given colonial efforts to occupy Gokwe and the influx of new evictees and migrants in the 1960s, the study depicts Gokwe as a frontier. The study sees evictions and displacements as programmes tailored to arrest tsetse and the associated diseases in the Zambezi Valley.
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- Authors: Mudzimu, Asa
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6946 , vital:21203
- Description: Gokwe, being infested with tsetse and mosquito was seen as a ‘diseased’ environment by the Europeans. Thus, colonial anti-disease campaigns were introduced during the first decade of the 20th century. Initially, the campaigns sought to address economic challenges in the colony as they involved African relocations for the benefit of the Europeans. However, this study argues that these anti-disease campaigns were modified with time and space. The key thrust of the paper is to examine the imbrication between evictions, migrations and disease control in the context of colonial public health system. Apartfrom examining the development of Western medical practices in Gokwe the dissertation explores how this colonial public health system coalesced or clashed with African worldviews. Gokwe matters as a ‘frontier’ society in many senses. Given colonial efforts to occupy Gokwe and the influx of new evictees and migrants in the 1960s, the study depicts Gokwe as a frontier. The study sees evictions and displacements as programmes tailored to arrest tsetse and the associated diseases in the Zambezi Valley.
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Jah Hills
- Authors: Slasha, Unathi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7157 , vital:21222
- Description: Jah Hills is alone in Kwaf Indoda bush, waiting for elders to come, burn ibhuma and deliver him home. Two weeks before he departs from his initiation period, he is seduced by igqwirha. When he fails to satisfy her appetite, he gets ‘abducted and turned into isithunzela. One night, he narrowly escapes and finds his way back. But the experience at home is gruesome; they drive him away and want his death. My novel is fast paced, accumulating speed as it proceeds. It is formally experimental, drawing on forms that have gone before and trying to usher in a new manner of writing and looking at the world. It is told through the eyes of isithunzela that Jah Hills has become. It makes use of Nguni folklore, reimagined and subverted so it fits the character’s unearthly vision. Certain characters and moments from Nguni folktales are borrowed and appear throughout the text. Stylistically I draw extensively from the work of Sony Lab’ou Tansi, Taban Lo Liyong, Dambudzo Marechera, D.O. Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola.
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- Authors: Slasha, Unathi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7157 , vital:21222
- Description: Jah Hills is alone in Kwaf Indoda bush, waiting for elders to come, burn ibhuma and deliver him home. Two weeks before he departs from his initiation period, he is seduced by igqwirha. When he fails to satisfy her appetite, he gets ‘abducted and turned into isithunzela. One night, he narrowly escapes and finds his way back. But the experience at home is gruesome; they drive him away and want his death. My novel is fast paced, accumulating speed as it proceeds. It is formally experimental, drawing on forms that have gone before and trying to usher in a new manner of writing and looking at the world. It is told through the eyes of isithunzela that Jah Hills has become. It makes use of Nguni folklore, reimagined and subverted so it fits the character’s unearthly vision. Certain characters and moments from Nguni folktales are borrowed and appear throughout the text. Stylistically I draw extensively from the work of Sony Lab’ou Tansi, Taban Lo Liyong, Dambudzo Marechera, D.O. Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola.
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Safe space online: the construction of intersectional safety in a South African feminist Facebook group
- Authors: Roux, Kayla
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8044 , vital:21338
- Description: In this thesis I investigate the construction of an intersectional ‘safe space’ in a closed South African feminist community on the social networking site Facebook. Drawing on my own experience as a group member, observations of group dynamics, focus group interviews with administrators, and interviews with past and present members, I discuss the practices and guidelines employed to ensure the safety and intersectionality of the group. This research spans a period of more than two years, and there were a number of developments in the group over this time. It is a relatively large and well-established feminist Facebook group in South Africa which enforces an intersectional approach to social justice, and it is explicitly formulated and closely monitored so that marginalised voices are privileged in group interactions. Despite the best efforts of group moderators, however, interactions between the privileged and the marginalised tend to reproduce existing power inequalities and jeopardise the safety of those the group is meant to serve. Although some interview participants feel that safe space practices such as the call-out system and exclusionary groups and posts serve to fragment the group and cause conflict, these complaints mainly originate from white women who were required to acknowledge their unearned privilege. Their presence in the group and the problem of ‘white derailment’ makes the space feel unsafe for many POC. Ultimately, a splinter group exclusively for POC was formed in order to provide a safer space for feminists of colour to find solidarity and support, discuss issues affecting them, and do the important and necessary work of selfdefinition. I conclude that while these spaces are limited - and absolute safety can never be guaranteed - these exclusive spaces are an integral starting point in the development of a transversal intersectional politics of solidarity between different actors and movements that share the same values.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Roux, Kayla
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8044 , vital:21338
- Description: In this thesis I investigate the construction of an intersectional ‘safe space’ in a closed South African feminist community on the social networking site Facebook. Drawing on my own experience as a group member, observations of group dynamics, focus group interviews with administrators, and interviews with past and present members, I discuss the practices and guidelines employed to ensure the safety and intersectionality of the group. This research spans a period of more than two years, and there were a number of developments in the group over this time. It is a relatively large and well-established feminist Facebook group in South Africa which enforces an intersectional approach to social justice, and it is explicitly formulated and closely monitored so that marginalised voices are privileged in group interactions. Despite the best efforts of group moderators, however, interactions between the privileged and the marginalised tend to reproduce existing power inequalities and jeopardise the safety of those the group is meant to serve. Although some interview participants feel that safe space practices such as the call-out system and exclusionary groups and posts serve to fragment the group and cause conflict, these complaints mainly originate from white women who were required to acknowledge their unearned privilege. Their presence in the group and the problem of ‘white derailment’ makes the space feel unsafe for many POC. Ultimately, a splinter group exclusively for POC was formed in order to provide a safer space for feminists of colour to find solidarity and support, discuss issues affecting them, and do the important and necessary work of selfdefinition. I conclude that while these spaces are limited - and absolute safety can never be guaranteed - these exclusive spaces are an integral starting point in the development of a transversal intersectional politics of solidarity between different actors and movements that share the same values.
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“She is my sister although she’s got factory faults”: a psychosocial study of Xhosa women’s sister-sister relationships
- Authors: Moifo, Hunadi Senkoane
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Sisters -- South Africa -- Case studies , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Psychology , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4443 , vital:20671
- Description: The current study examines the constructions that Black, Xhosa women from the working class and in middle adulthood draw on to make meaning of their sister-sister relationships. In addition to this, it aims to uncover their motivations for investing in these meanings. It makes use of a psychosocial theoretical framework that draws on discursive psychology and psychoanalysis. Discursive psychology is used to analyse the constructions the participants used to make meaning of their relationship, while psychoanalysis is used to interpret their investments in these constructions. Six participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The findings emphasise the psychosocial nature of the participants’ sisterly relationships, as caught between ‘inner’ world of feelings and emotions and the ‘outer’ world of social practices and expectations. Their narratives pointed to the obligatory nature of the sister-sister relationship, which drives participants to downplay the hatred or dislike that is present in their relationship and to emphasise traditional scripts of helping each other, promoting solidarity amongst sisters and other women. The analysis highlights the ways in which the participants negotiate and express their gender roles through sistering, reinforcing and challenging the traditional view of femininity and as a result providing for multiple femininities. In addition to these, the findings show that women may choose specific narratives to construct their sister-sister relationships as they allow them to feel safe and in control of their lives. Using psychoanalysis alongside discursive psychology enables the findings to illustrate how the participants invest in different constructions of their relationship in ways that are influenced by their values and life histories.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Moifo, Hunadi Senkoane
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Sisters -- South Africa -- Case studies , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Psychology , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4443 , vital:20671
- Description: The current study examines the constructions that Black, Xhosa women from the working class and in middle adulthood draw on to make meaning of their sister-sister relationships. In addition to this, it aims to uncover their motivations for investing in these meanings. It makes use of a psychosocial theoretical framework that draws on discursive psychology and psychoanalysis. Discursive psychology is used to analyse the constructions the participants used to make meaning of their relationship, while psychoanalysis is used to interpret their investments in these constructions. Six participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The findings emphasise the psychosocial nature of the participants’ sisterly relationships, as caught between ‘inner’ world of feelings and emotions and the ‘outer’ world of social practices and expectations. Their narratives pointed to the obligatory nature of the sister-sister relationship, which drives participants to downplay the hatred or dislike that is present in their relationship and to emphasise traditional scripts of helping each other, promoting solidarity amongst sisters and other women. The analysis highlights the ways in which the participants negotiate and express their gender roles through sistering, reinforcing and challenging the traditional view of femininity and as a result providing for multiple femininities. In addition to these, the findings show that women may choose specific narratives to construct their sister-sister relationships as they allow them to feel safe and in control of their lives. Using psychoanalysis alongside discursive psychology enables the findings to illustrate how the participants invest in different constructions of their relationship in ways that are influenced by their values and life histories.
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Accelerated development programmes for Black academics: Interrupting or reproducing social and cultural dominance?
- Authors: Booi, Masixole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3338 , vital:20483
- Description: A wide body of research literature on transformation of higher education institutions in South Africa has focused on institutional reform and restructuring, change in employment legislation and policies, transforming institutional culture(s) and student and staff demographics (Portnoi, 2009:373; Viljoen and Rothmann, 2002:3; Badat, 2007; 2010; Cloete, Muller, Makgoba and Ekong, 1997; Nieman, 2010). The literature on transformation of higher education institutions shows that the underrepresentation, recruiting and retaining of blacks and women in senior posts is still the major challenge faced by the project of transforming higher education, particularly in Historically White Institutions (HWIs). Universities have introduced a variety of ‘accelerated development’ programmes to meet this challenge and accelerate the entry into academia of black academics. The present study draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s notions of cultural capital, field and social capital to interpret the lived experiences of participants in the Accelerated Development Programme (ADP) of one HWI. In particular the study is interested in how, in the participants’ experience, they, as members of the programme, have or have not been able to contribute to the transformation of the culture(s) of the institution. The study critically examines the assumption that the institutional practices, values and norms can be changed only by socialising ‘new’ lecturers into an already existing dominant culture rather than seeing the need to socialise existing lecturers into a new culture informed by a democratic ethos.
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- Authors: Booi, Masixole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3338 , vital:20483
- Description: A wide body of research literature on transformation of higher education institutions in South Africa has focused on institutional reform and restructuring, change in employment legislation and policies, transforming institutional culture(s) and student and staff demographics (Portnoi, 2009:373; Viljoen and Rothmann, 2002:3; Badat, 2007; 2010; Cloete, Muller, Makgoba and Ekong, 1997; Nieman, 2010). The literature on transformation of higher education institutions shows that the underrepresentation, recruiting and retaining of blacks and women in senior posts is still the major challenge faced by the project of transforming higher education, particularly in Historically White Institutions (HWIs). Universities have introduced a variety of ‘accelerated development’ programmes to meet this challenge and accelerate the entry into academia of black academics. The present study draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s notions of cultural capital, field and social capital to interpret the lived experiences of participants in the Accelerated Development Programme (ADP) of one HWI. In particular the study is interested in how, in the participants’ experience, they, as members of the programme, have or have not been able to contribute to the transformation of the culture(s) of the institution. The study critically examines the assumption that the institutional practices, values and norms can be changed only by socialising ‘new’ lecturers into an already existing dominant culture rather than seeing the need to socialise existing lecturers into a new culture informed by a democratic ethos.
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Rehab is for quitters
- Authors: Maharaj, Keshav
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century South African fiction (English) -- 21st century English language -- Writing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5972 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011901
- Description: My collection has the common theme of addiction: addictive personalities strung across the pages. Not only the usual addictions such as the daily-ritualized beer or joint, but also the pain of addiction to anti-social habits, pathologies, forbidden love, etc. I try to capture the behavior and life that surrounds addictions too: relationships, rehab, criminal behavior, all sorts of abuse, etc. Some of the stories are heavy-handed, slapping the reader in the face, some are subtler. Some are told with lightness and humor, some with gravity.
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- Authors: Maharaj, Keshav
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century South African fiction (English) -- 21st century English language -- Writing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5972 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011901
- Description: My collection has the common theme of addiction: addictive personalities strung across the pages. Not only the usual addictions such as the daily-ritualized beer or joint, but also the pain of addiction to anti-social habits, pathologies, forbidden love, etc. I try to capture the behavior and life that surrounds addictions too: relationships, rehab, criminal behavior, all sorts of abuse, etc. Some of the stories are heavy-handed, slapping the reader in the face, some are subtler. Some are told with lightness and humor, some with gravity.
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Hungry but silent: a content analysis of media reporting on the 2011-2012 famine in Somalia
- Authors: Stupart, Richard
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Famines -- Political aspects -- Somalia Somalia -- In mass media Famines in mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3500 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006054
- Description: This dissertation examines media coverage of the 2011- 2012 famine in Somalia by the websites of BBC News, CNN and Al Jazeera. Using both quantitative and qualitative content analyses, it asks why coverage of the famine began as late as it did, despite ample evidence of the coming famine. It further surveys the famine-related news reports for evidence of four paradigms through which the causes of famine can be understood; as a Malthusian competition between population and land, as a failure of food entitlements as conceived of by Sen (1981), as critical political event (Edkins, 2004), or as an issue of criminality (Alex de Waal, 2008). Findings include a dramatic silencing of victim’s accounts of famine, despite a reliance on their photographic images, as well as an overwhelming preference for Malthusian accounts of the famine. Late media coverage is explored via a new-values paradigm which links the sudden outburst of media coverage for the famine to a formal UN declaration, and suggests that this may have created a new elite-relevance to the event which did not exist before, and therefore making it of relevance to domestic publics.
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- Authors: Stupart, Richard
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Famines -- Political aspects -- Somalia Somalia -- In mass media Famines in mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3500 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006054
- Description: This dissertation examines media coverage of the 2011- 2012 famine in Somalia by the websites of BBC News, CNN and Al Jazeera. Using both quantitative and qualitative content analyses, it asks why coverage of the famine began as late as it did, despite ample evidence of the coming famine. It further surveys the famine-related news reports for evidence of four paradigms through which the causes of famine can be understood; as a Malthusian competition between population and land, as a failure of food entitlements as conceived of by Sen (1981), as critical political event (Edkins, 2004), or as an issue of criminality (Alex de Waal, 2008). Findings include a dramatic silencing of victim’s accounts of famine, despite a reliance on their photographic images, as well as an overwhelming preference for Malthusian accounts of the famine. Late media coverage is explored via a new-values paradigm which links the sudden outburst of media coverage for the famine to a formal UN declaration, and suggests that this may have created a new elite-relevance to the event which did not exist before, and therefore making it of relevance to domestic publics.
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Becoming a business journalist in Malawi: a case study of The Daily Times and The Nation newspapers
- Authors: Manjawira, Ellard Spencer
- Date: 2010 , 2013-07-17
- Subjects: Journalists -- Malawi Journalism -- Study and teaching -- Malawi Journalists -- Training of -- Malawi Journalists -- Education -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3506 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007440
- Description: In the past few decades, the proportion of business news compared to general news has increased tremendously across all media platforms in Africa. While the critical role played by business journalism is recognised, little is known about the people who write and report such news. Most studies on business reporting have tended to focus on analysing the content of business news, rather than the specific processes through which business journalists are socialized and trained. The findings of this study are drawn mainly from in-depth interviews with business reporters and editors at two leading newspapers in Malawi, The Daily Times and The Nation. Three major findings emerge trom the study data. First, business journalists vary in their educational and professional backgrounds, as well as the reasons for working on this beat. Second, the majority of them have no prerequisite formal education and training in business journalism and, therefore, have little knowledge and skills about what constitute good business journalism. Third, professionalism in the sub-field is constrained by a host of factors, influence of advertisers being the critical one. The study recommends that business reporting become an integral component of journalism education and training programmes to adequately prepare future generations of business journalists. In addition there is need for media houses to devise strategies to counter obstacles that business journalists face for them to effectively contribute to political economy debate. , KMBT_363
- Full Text:
- Authors: Manjawira, Ellard Spencer
- Date: 2010 , 2013-07-17
- Subjects: Journalists -- Malawi Journalism -- Study and teaching -- Malawi Journalists -- Training of -- Malawi Journalists -- Education -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3506 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007440
- Description: In the past few decades, the proportion of business news compared to general news has increased tremendously across all media platforms in Africa. While the critical role played by business journalism is recognised, little is known about the people who write and report such news. Most studies on business reporting have tended to focus on analysing the content of business news, rather than the specific processes through which business journalists are socialized and trained. The findings of this study are drawn mainly from in-depth interviews with business reporters and editors at two leading newspapers in Malawi, The Daily Times and The Nation. Three major findings emerge trom the study data. First, business journalists vary in their educational and professional backgrounds, as well as the reasons for working on this beat. Second, the majority of them have no prerequisite formal education and training in business journalism and, therefore, have little knowledge and skills about what constitute good business journalism. Third, professionalism in the sub-field is constrained by a host of factors, influence of advertisers being the critical one. The study recommends that business reporting become an integral component of journalism education and training programmes to adequately prepare future generations of business journalists. In addition there is need for media houses to devise strategies to counter obstacles that business journalists face for them to effectively contribute to political economy debate. , KMBT_363
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The presentation of the orphan child in eighteenth and early nineteenth century English literature in a selection of William Blake's 'Songs of innocence and experience', and in Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre', and Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights'
- Authors: Singh, Jyoti
- Date: 2010 , 2013-07-18
- Subjects: Blake, William, 1757-1827 -- Songs of innocence and of experience -- Characters -- Orphans Blake, William, 1757-1827 -- Criticism and interpretation Brontë, Charlotte, 1816-1855 -- Jane Eyre -- Characters -- Orphans Brontë, Charlotte, 1816-1855 -- Criticism and interpretation Brontë, Emily, 1818-1848 -- Wuthering Heights -- Characters -- Orphans Brontë, Emily, 1818-1848 -- Criticism and interpretation Orphans in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2267 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005628
- Description: This thesis is a study of the presentation of the orphan child in eighteenth and early nineteenth century English literature, and focuses on William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. It is concerned with assessing the extent to which the orphan children in each of the works are liberated from familial and social constraints and structures and to what end. Chapter One examines the major thematic concern of the extent to which the motif of the orphan child represents a wronged innocent, and whether this symbol can also, or alternatively, be presented as a revolutionary force that challenges society's status quo in Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. Chapter Two considers the significance of the child "lost" and "found", which forms the explicit subject of six of Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience and explores the treatment of these conditions, and their differences and consequences for the children concerned. Chapter Three focuses on Charlotte Bronte's depiction of the orphan in Jane Eyre, which presents two models of the orphan child: the protagonist Jane, and Helen Burns. The chapter examines these two models and their responses to orphan-hood in a hostile world where orphans are mistreated by family and society alike. Chapter Four determines whether the orphan constitutes a subversive threat to the family in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and also explores the notion that, although orphan-hood often entails liberation from adult guardians, it also comprises vulnerability and exposure. The thesis concludes by considering the extent to which orphan-hood can involve a form of liberation from the confines of social structures, and what this liberation constitutes for each of the three authors.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Singh, Jyoti
- Date: 2010 , 2013-07-18
- Subjects: Blake, William, 1757-1827 -- Songs of innocence and of experience -- Characters -- Orphans Blake, William, 1757-1827 -- Criticism and interpretation Brontë, Charlotte, 1816-1855 -- Jane Eyre -- Characters -- Orphans Brontë, Charlotte, 1816-1855 -- Criticism and interpretation Brontë, Emily, 1818-1848 -- Wuthering Heights -- Characters -- Orphans Brontë, Emily, 1818-1848 -- Criticism and interpretation Orphans in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2267 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005628
- Description: This thesis is a study of the presentation of the orphan child in eighteenth and early nineteenth century English literature, and focuses on William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. It is concerned with assessing the extent to which the orphan children in each of the works are liberated from familial and social constraints and structures and to what end. Chapter One examines the major thematic concern of the extent to which the motif of the orphan child represents a wronged innocent, and whether this symbol can also, or alternatively, be presented as a revolutionary force that challenges society's status quo in Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. Chapter Two considers the significance of the child "lost" and "found", which forms the explicit subject of six of Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience and explores the treatment of these conditions, and their differences and consequences for the children concerned. Chapter Three focuses on Charlotte Bronte's depiction of the orphan in Jane Eyre, which presents two models of the orphan child: the protagonist Jane, and Helen Burns. The chapter examines these two models and their responses to orphan-hood in a hostile world where orphans are mistreated by family and society alike. Chapter Four determines whether the orphan constitutes a subversive threat to the family in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and also explores the notion that, although orphan-hood often entails liberation from adult guardians, it also comprises vulnerability and exposure. The thesis concludes by considering the extent to which orphan-hood can involve a form of liberation from the confines of social structures, and what this liberation constitutes for each of the three authors.
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