List of Titles

“When the rainbow is enuf”: black postgraduate women’s experiences and perceptions of higher education and institutional culture – a case study of Rhodes University

- Gamedze, Ayanda

Authors: Gamedze, Ayanda
Date: 2020
Subjects: Rhodes University , College students, Black -- South Afrca , Women college students, Black -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147215 , vital:38605
Description: This thesis sets out to investigate the perceptions which Black postgraduate students hold of the present-day toward Historically White Universities (hereafter referred to as HWUs) in South Africa as unique sites from which to investigate institutional culture and the legacy of educational marginalisation. Black women are of particular focus because of the interlocking nature of social inequalities that uniquely influence their comparable experience in the academy. Rhodes University, a top-ranked traditional university provides the institutional site for this investigation into HWUs. This thesis seeks to further explore the suggestion that desegregation of South Africa's institutions of higher learning have meant access, but not always acceptance. The paper explores what Black women students perceive to be Rhodes University's institutional culture and its impact on their lived realities. Subsequently, these women have learned who they are, and what place they occupy in South Africa today, through navigating a space not necessarily accommodating to Blackness and difference. There exists a plethora of literature on the issues which Black women scholars systematically encounter daily in the academy, in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Nonetheless, there needs to be a further inquiry on the question of belonging of Black womanhood in HWU post the student-led movements of the past few years that have renewed the challenge to South Africa's colonial past, its neoliberal present, and its scourge of gender-based violence. This paper captures an ongoing conversation around the role of Black women in addressing transformation in HWU. As a Black woman in an HWU, I found myself wondering whether there are certain experiences students like me have in common – realities with nuances we call to identify with to some extent. I collected data from six Black women with whom I conducted interviews, and used it to compile this report and its analysis. I believe that the social significance of this study speaks to the importance of hearing the stories of subaltern groups that are positioned in spaces of privilege, yet continue to be defined by the disadvantage of their gender, race, and various other factors.
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Date Issued: 2020

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‘This sea of darkness, craziness and opportunity’: students experiences of depression and social identities at a South African university

- Craig, Ashleigh

Authors: Craig, Ashleigh
Date: 2020
Subjects: Depression, Mental -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Depression in adolescence -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students -- Mental health -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Group identity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Phenomenological psychology , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Rhodes University
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/118632 , vital:34655
Description: This study explores how the interaction between depression and social identities is experienced by South African university students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight students at Rhodes University who have had depressive experiences and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The following five superordinate themes emerged out of the data: 1) the self looking in, 2) the self looking out, 3) the misunderstood self, 4) the student self and 5) the loss of self. Findings showed that students’ depression is significantly influenced by their social identities, which are experienced as multi-faceted and ever-changing within the university context. The related therapeutic implications are also discussed.
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Date Issued: 2020

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Who are you? Online practices of self-representation of black gay men at Rhodes University on the geosocial networking application Grindr

- Olivier, Jason Eben

Authors: Olivier, Jason Eben
Date: 2021-10-29
Subjects: Grindr (Computer program) , Gay men, Black South Africa Makhanda , Gay men Identity , Internet and gay men South Africa Makhanda , Social media and college students South Africa Makhanda , Masculinity South Africa Makhanda , Racism in the sexual minority community South Africa Makhanda , Sexism South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes University
Language: English
Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294851 , vital:57262
Description: The study investigates how young black gay men at Rhodes University use technology to explore their sexual identity and focuses specifically on their self-representation choices. Incorporating qualitative semi-structured interviews and a walkthrough of Grindr, the research asked participants to share their experiences of using Grindr, a geo-social networking application, and how their self-representation practices on the site contributed to their conception of what it means to be a young black gay man online. Using a thematic analysis of the data collected from five self-identified black gay Rhodes University students, findings indicate that self-representation choices of black gay men on Grindr become a complex experience influenced by overt sexist and racist micro-aggressions in an environment where masculinities operate in a hierarchy of desire, preference, and attractiveness with race operating as an important signifier of these even in a post-Apartheid South Africa that is celebrated for its world-class Constitution. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Journalism and Media Studies, 2021
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Date Issued: 2021-10-29

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What are the pertinent intersections in the lives of black women at Rhodes University?

- Gushman, Lutho Phinda

Authors: Gushman, Lutho Phinda
Date: 2021-10-29
Subjects: Women, Black South Africa Makhanda , Student movements South Africa Makhanda , Intersectionality (Sociology) , Pluralism , Matrix organization South Africa Makhanda , Women, Black Education (Higher) South Africa Makhanda , Social action South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes University
Language: English
Type: Master's theses , text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190990 , vital:45047
Description: After the 2016 #FeesMustFall protest(s), higher education institutions were dramatically altered with respect to their institutional cultures; the narratives of those who were historically side-lined and marginalised took centre stage. At Rhodes University social activism was constitutive of three components; a ‘revolt’ against the fee increment; a contestation of the rape culture; and a rejection of the colonial curriculum. These concerns, in their varied articulations, made up different social and academic realities that define(d) Rhodes University and affected how individuals experienced institutional culture. According to Ndlovu (2017) while these expressed acts (in the form of protests and institutional shutdowns) of resistance against the system of higher education subsided after the fees must fall campaign, these served to centre the narratives of the marginalised. Keeping with this thinking, the argument presented in this thesis explores the experiences of black women in higher education after the call towards coordinated resistance. Using qualitative data in the form of narrative interviews, the thesis documents how the participants continued their academic and social life post-resistance. This rupture of resistance created a complex matrix of individual subjectivity where participants engaged with traditional social academic norms in new spaces of resistance; a phenomenon that enlivened the intersectionality that came to define the higher education landscape of the country. This thesis explores the stories of the participant’s as they engage(d) with what is becoming a new institution—that is the University in South Africa, with a case-in-point being Rhodes University—and to understand the power relations and intersections that define their lived experiences. This study found that the reality of existing within the confines of power—with its fluidity—meant that black women operate both within spaces of privilege and oppression simultaneously. As such, and following Vivian May’s (2015) argument, this study concludes that black women are situated and simultaneously constrained by power. Thus spaces of resistance are constantly in flux and determined by their relations within power. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Politics and International Studies, 2021
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Date Issued: 2021-10-29

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Transformation at Rhodes University: investigating the extent of support for the participation of students with disabilities in the transformation processes of the Institution

- Israel, Veronica

Authors: Israel, Veronica
Date: 2018
Subjects: Rhodes University , Educational change -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Educational equalization -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students with disabilities -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Students with disabilities -- Services for , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA)
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62006 , vital:28095
Description: This study is motivated by the vigorous discourse around transformation at Rhodes University and investigates the extent of support for and engagement with students with disabilities in the transformation processes of the institution. It analyses the extent to which integration is holistic at institutions of Higher Learning. Particular interest is given to the institutional culture of Rhodes University, namely whether it values and embraces diversity and is committed to inclusivity, centering the presence and voice of students with disabilities. It explores institutional responses to students with disabilities and their capacity to flourish beyond notions of access, therefore, delivering on the demand for institutional transformation. The thesis draws on the Critical Disability Studies Approach (CDSA), the social justice reform agenda with reference to the feminist analysis of disability, and the concept of inclusive education. The study uses a qualitative research methodology. The sample size used in the study was sufficient to highlight the challenges students with disabilities at Rhodes University face and their coping mechanisms while investigating the extent of support and active participation in the transformation discourse. The study found that the majority of the participants’ academic capabilities were influenced by their disability and impacted on their academic success. The study further revealed that there is a disjuncture between policy and practice in terms of awareness, and as such, effectiveness. While there is a supportive institutional framework, as indicated by more than 50% of the participants in the study, the recommendations ensuing from this research indicate that there are areas in which the university can improve its support mechanisms. Improving support structures is possible through establishing platforms which can be used for students to share their lived experiences and making disability a visible part of the institutional discourse on transformation. The study concludes by arguing for the application of principles of Ubuntu which demonstrate the commitment of Rhodes University in inculcating an inclusive institutional culture and understanding that disability is intersectional with social registers such as race and gender. It emphasises the recognition of the institution as a transforming one if the body that matters is the body whose presence, voice and lived experience is acknowledged and recognised.
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Date Issued: 2018

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The role of local level agency in a just green transition: the case of Rhodes University

- Nel, Vanray

Authors: Nel, Vanray
Date: 2023-10-13
Subjects: Green economy , Just Transition , Clean energy South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes University , Triple bottom line , Sustainable development South Africa Makhanda
Language: English
Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419643 , vital:71662
Description: The research uses a richly contextualised case study of Rhodes University to explore the role of local level agency in a just green transition. The central concept of the thesis is mainstreaming sustainability. Sustainability has become a core objective both at the macro and micro levels. The just green transition and triple bottom line are shorthand for these macro and micro concepts. At the macro level, there is increasing evidence suggesting that transitioning to a sustainable economy can be a key driver of economic development. At the micro level, the elements of the triple bottom line increasingly overlap, with sustainability no longer a separate goal, or a ‘nice to have’, but integral to organisational success. However, this potential is clearly not being realised, and sustainability often remains ‘niche’. Lack of progress at the macro-level reinforces the importance of bottom-up, local level agency. In keeping with the broader micro-level literature, the case study strongly suggests that mainstreaming sustainability would have multiple benefits. These include reducing dependence on unreliable state-provided services and enhancing Rhodes University’s standing as a genuinely transformative institution. The evidence suggests that there is a pure financial case for green investments, such as the construction of a solar farm at Rhodes University, even before accounting for the social and environmental benefits of such an initiative. This shifts the focus to why institutions like Rhodes University have not been proactive in mainstreaming sustainability. The document analysis and the interviews showed that there is an awareness of the importance and potential of mainstreaming sustainability. However, the funding squeeze is often misperceived as a binding constraint, and there is an absence of innovative thinking about how to finance projects with high returns, such as a solar farm. A theme amongst several of the interviewees was that the university should embrace a policy of enhancing small changes as a way of mainstreaming sustainability gradually. Even here, there are doubts about whether the organisational structure of the university will allow this. On the other hand, there are positive signs that the increasing sense of crisis means management and other key stakeholders are gradually shifting towards seeing the crucial importance of the university embracing a more proactive stance. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Economics and Economic History, 2023
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Date Issued: 2023-10-13

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The changing face of Rhodes University: exploring aspects of visuality, sexuality and protest between the apartheid and postapartheid periods

- Stein, Jonathan Harry

Authors: Stein, Jonathan Harry
Date: 2018
Subjects: Rhodes University , Apartheid South Africa , Post-apartheid era South Africa , College students Attitudes , Student movements South Africa , Decolonization South Africa , Aesthetics Political aspects South Africa , Sex Political aspects South Africa
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60530 , vital:27790
Description: This thesis seeks to provide an historical overview of changing trends within specific spheres of the institutional and student culture of Rhodes University between the apartheid and post-apartheid periods. In particular, this thesis seeks to examine changes and developments within the visual and aesthetic culture of the university, and within the sphere of sexual norms and relations within the Rhodes student community. The historical dimensions of these two spheres of the university’s culture will be explored in light of the #RhodesMustFall protest of 2015 and the #RUReferenceList protest of 2016, which drew attention to a perceived lack of institutional transformation related to these two areas.
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Date Issued: 2018

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Teaching problem solving: the "Ten Commandments" approach

- Matiwane, Noluvuyo

Authors: Matiwane, Noluvuyo
Date: 2024-10-11
Subjects: Problem solving Study and teaching , Physics Study and teaching , Curriculum change , Rhodes University , College students Attitudes
Language: English
Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/464897 , vital:76555
Description: The evident need for an intervention to help physics students, especially incoming university students, develop their problem-solving skills led to exploring possible curriculum structures to achieve the goal. A modified curriculum structure of the first-year physics course, including explicit teaching of physics problem solving, was developed and implemented at Rhodes University, South Africa, in 2017. First-year physics students learn to solve problems by implementing the "Ten Commandments" of physics problem solving in their solutions, following a three-stage problem-solving framework. Additionally, students attend whiteboard tutorial sessions where they actively practise using the problem-solving framework in their solutions to physics problems with peers in an environment where help is available. Students are explicitly prompted to use the \Ten Commandments" during the whiteboard tutorials and not prompted for other assessment tasks. Students' solutions to formative physics assessment tasks (problem sets and tests) in the first semester were examined, problem-solving scores were determined using a problem-solving rubric developed in the department, shifts in attitudes and beliefs about physics and solving problems in physics were measured, and relationships between their problem-solving scores and task performance were evaluated to investigate how students adopted the framework and its implications over one semester. The problems issued to students differed in context and difficulty level; as a result, not all of the "Ten Commandments" were applicable to solve all problems, and different combinations of the commandments were applied to different problems. The explicit use of the problem-solving rubric to mark student problem sets was an indirect prompt for students to use commandments when doing their problem sets. As a result, students attempted to implement more applicable "commandments" (mostly partially correct) in their solutions to problem sets than in tests. Moreover, students' solutions to problems show that they used more of the "commandments" they were familiar with from school and less of the new ones, such as drawing diagrams without being prompted, producing algebraic solutions before substituting numbers, and doing dimensional analysis. Problem sets are often assumed to help prepare students for tests; however, correlations between students' problem-solving scores and performance between the two assessments did not give clear indications of whether problem sets were helping to prepare students to solve problems. Lastly, students' attitudes and beliefs also show a negative shift in students' perceptions of problem-solving by the end of the first semester. Problem-solving is a skill that develops in stages and over time; therefore, a timeframe longer than one semester is needed to report on significant changes in students' problem-solving habits and perspectives about problem-solving in physics. The study results are also important in giving insights into the initial developments of problem-solving skills and teaching problem solving. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Physics and Electronics, 2024
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Date Issued: 2024-10-11

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