Psychobiographical perspectives on the development and manifestation of extraordinary human achievements
- Authors: Van Niekerk, Roelf
- Subjects: Psychology -- Biographical methods , Social psychology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53211 , vital:45050
- Description: Psychobiographical research has several characteristic features. Firstly, it is an interdisciplinary approach that uses contributions and perspectives from several scientific disciplines (for example, business science, economics, psychology, political science) and the humanities (for example, history, philosophy, sociology, and religion/spirituality). Secondly, it typically approaches life stories from a longitudinal perspective. Thirdly, psychobiographical research comprises in-depth studies of extraordinary individuals in the contexts in which they made their contributions. Fourthly, psychobiographical research does not afford anonymity or 2 | P a g e confidentiality to participants. Instead, it requires that profiled leaders be identified by name. Fifthly, psychobiographical profiling employs indirect methods to analyse the development or characteristics of individuals. Usually, extensive use is made of biographical material available in the public domain and originally compiled by biographers, journalists, or researchers. This material is not collected primarily to solve a scientific problem, but rather to answer questions and describe phenomena that are inherently important, particularly from psychological and historical perspectives. Lastly, psychobiographical research often focuses on completed lives (Van Niekerk, 2007).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Van Niekerk, Roelf
- Subjects: Psychology -- Biographical methods , Social psychology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53211 , vital:45050
- Description: Psychobiographical research has several characteristic features. Firstly, it is an interdisciplinary approach that uses contributions and perspectives from several scientific disciplines (for example, business science, economics, psychology, political science) and the humanities (for example, history, philosophy, sociology, and religion/spirituality). Secondly, it typically approaches life stories from a longitudinal perspective. Thirdly, psychobiographical research comprises in-depth studies of extraordinary individuals in the contexts in which they made their contributions. Fourthly, psychobiographical research does not afford anonymity or 2 | P a g e confidentiality to participants. Instead, it requires that profiled leaders be identified by name. Fifthly, psychobiographical profiling employs indirect methods to analyse the development or characteristics of individuals. Usually, extensive use is made of biographical material available in the public domain and originally compiled by biographers, journalists, or researchers. This material is not collected primarily to solve a scientific problem, but rather to answer questions and describe phenomena that are inherently important, particularly from psychological and historical perspectives. Lastly, psychobiographical research often focuses on completed lives (Van Niekerk, 2007).
- Full Text:
Re-thinking our pedagogical approaches in teacher education to subvert the neoliberal stronghold on higher education
- Authors: Athiemoolam, Logamurthie
- Subjects: Education, Higher--South Africa , Teacher educators
- Language: English
- Type: text , PDF , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/66405 , vital:75239
- Description: The focus of this lecture is on an interrogation of neoliberalism, what it entails, the pedagogies it espouses, and some pedagogies that we could consider implementing in our classes, with reference to teacher education, or broader, to subvert its influence. While the initial conceptualisation of the university was to prepare students to be critical and creative thinkers for democratic citizenry, this notion of the university has been severely impacted with the onset of neoliberalism, which uses market-based logic to dictate the kind of knowledge that students should receive at university, as its focus is specifically on preparing them for the workplace, and nothing else. This implies that, according to neoliberalism, the role of universities is not to prepare students to become critically engaged citizens for a democratic society, but to specifically prepare them for the market economy. It is with this background in mind that the lecture commences by firstly providing an overview of the key features of neoliberalism, as it manifests in society, with reference to how it aims to disrupt democracy by infiltrating principles, synonymous with the market economy, into all aspects of society. Thereafter, the lecture will proceed to examine some of the key features that drive its agenda, such as competition, individualism, narrow minded self-interests, and its focus on preparing students for the market economy to serve a capitalist society. Using this premise as a base, the lecture will examine the impact of neoliberalism on higher education, especially in terms of how the relationship between lecturers and students becomes increasingly commodified, with a strong focus on measurable performativity. Hence universities are perceived as institutions where knowledge is bought and sold to students who are the obedient consumers of knowledge, being prepared for the workplace. By critically engaging with the pedagogies that inform neoliberalism, such as its focus on a measurement-based, positivistic, banking approach to education, the lecture aims to shed light on the teaching strategies and approaches that underpin its philosophy, and to examine how its influence could be subverted. Hence, to curtail its impact on teaching and learning in higher education contexts, the lecture sheds light on alternative pedagogies that we could embrace that could lead to transformative learning spaces for enhanced critical reflection and meaning making. This then leads to an examination of the pedagogies that I believe could counter its harmful impacts on pedagogy in higher education, especially in terms of our focus on preparing young people to become critically engaged citizens, who will become agents of change. Based on many years of teaching and lecturing experience I believe that the following three pedagogies namely transformative pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy and arts-based pedagogies could make a constructive contribution to impeding its influence. The lecture will examine these pedagogies by providing an overview of what they entail and the ways in which they could subvert neoliberal principles, especially in terms of their transformative nature. Since the key features of these pedagogies are that they lead to collaborative meaning-making through dialogical engagement, develop students’ critical and creative thinking skills, promote critical consciousness, and stimulate reflective practice, they offer the potential to contribute to the development of a critically reflective citizenry, thereby subverting the influence of neoliberal pedagogy in higher education teaching and learning contexts.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Athiemoolam, Logamurthie
- Subjects: Education, Higher--South Africa , Teacher educators
- Language: English
- Type: text , PDF , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/66405 , vital:75239
- Description: The focus of this lecture is on an interrogation of neoliberalism, what it entails, the pedagogies it espouses, and some pedagogies that we could consider implementing in our classes, with reference to teacher education, or broader, to subvert its influence. While the initial conceptualisation of the university was to prepare students to be critical and creative thinkers for democratic citizenry, this notion of the university has been severely impacted with the onset of neoliberalism, which uses market-based logic to dictate the kind of knowledge that students should receive at university, as its focus is specifically on preparing them for the workplace, and nothing else. This implies that, according to neoliberalism, the role of universities is not to prepare students to become critically engaged citizens for a democratic society, but to specifically prepare them for the market economy. It is with this background in mind that the lecture commences by firstly providing an overview of the key features of neoliberalism, as it manifests in society, with reference to how it aims to disrupt democracy by infiltrating principles, synonymous with the market economy, into all aspects of society. Thereafter, the lecture will proceed to examine some of the key features that drive its agenda, such as competition, individualism, narrow minded self-interests, and its focus on preparing students for the market economy to serve a capitalist society. Using this premise as a base, the lecture will examine the impact of neoliberalism on higher education, especially in terms of how the relationship between lecturers and students becomes increasingly commodified, with a strong focus on measurable performativity. Hence universities are perceived as institutions where knowledge is bought and sold to students who are the obedient consumers of knowledge, being prepared for the workplace. By critically engaging with the pedagogies that inform neoliberalism, such as its focus on a measurement-based, positivistic, banking approach to education, the lecture aims to shed light on the teaching strategies and approaches that underpin its philosophy, and to examine how its influence could be subverted. Hence, to curtail its impact on teaching and learning in higher education contexts, the lecture sheds light on alternative pedagogies that we could embrace that could lead to transformative learning spaces for enhanced critical reflection and meaning making. This then leads to an examination of the pedagogies that I believe could counter its harmful impacts on pedagogy in higher education, especially in terms of our focus on preparing young people to become critically engaged citizens, who will become agents of change. Based on many years of teaching and lecturing experience I believe that the following three pedagogies namely transformative pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy and arts-based pedagogies could make a constructive contribution to impeding its influence. The lecture will examine these pedagogies by providing an overview of what they entail and the ways in which they could subvert neoliberal principles, especially in terms of their transformative nature. Since the key features of these pedagogies are that they lead to collaborative meaning-making through dialogical engagement, develop students’ critical and creative thinking skills, promote critical consciousness, and stimulate reflective practice, they offer the potential to contribute to the development of a critically reflective citizenry, thereby subverting the influence of neoliberal pedagogy in higher education teaching and learning contexts.
- Full Text:
Relationship marketing in retail banks: superannuated concept?
- Authors: Tait, Madele
- Subjects: Relationship marketing , Banks and banking , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20923 , vital:29418
- Description: All business is based on relationships. The firm only has to make them meaningful for its customers – provided that the customers want this (Grönroos 1994). Relationship marketing concerns the facilitation and managing of the relationships between the business and its customers and was developed as a response to the realisation that businesses were spending vast resources in time and money to attract new customers but very little on retaining existing ones. Relationship marketing is particularly relevant when a customer has alternative service providers to choose from, when the customer makes the selection decision and when there is an ongoing desire or need for a product or service, such as in the banking industry (Morgan & Hunt 1999).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Tait, Madele
- Subjects: Relationship marketing , Banks and banking , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20923 , vital:29418
- Description: All business is based on relationships. The firm only has to make them meaningful for its customers – provided that the customers want this (Grönroos 1994). Relationship marketing concerns the facilitation and managing of the relationships between the business and its customers and was developed as a response to the realisation that businesses were spending vast resources in time and money to attract new customers but very little on retaining existing ones. Relationship marketing is particularly relevant when a customer has alternative service providers to choose from, when the customer makes the selection decision and when there is an ongoing desire or need for a product or service, such as in the banking industry (Morgan & Hunt 1999).
- Full Text:
Research & innovation report 2019/2020
- Subjects: Universities and colleges - Research , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53066 , vital:44937
- Description: Annual report highlighting research and innovation undertaken at the Nelson Mandela University.
- Full Text:
- Subjects: Universities and colleges - Research , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53066 , vital:44937
- Description: Annual report highlighting research and innovation undertaken at the Nelson Mandela University.
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Research and professional work in Gender Based Violence: lessons learned and perceived risks
- Authors: Ngcobo-Sithole, Magnolia
- Subjects: Rural women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/32386 , vital:32078
- Description: South Africa has made some strides in recognizing women’s rights in this country. However, women in the rural areas have not benefitted from most of the developments. They are still exposed to cultural practices that are dehumanising. I explore how these practices are linked to gender based violence. There are also well-articulated policy frameworks and laws aimed at the protection of women. However, gender-based violence (GBV) remains very high in the country and can lead to death. GBV has been understood from a western perspective with limited attention to the traditional perspective. Perhaps the controversies in the legal and policy framework are a reflection of an application of a Western perspective on cultural African beliefs. In this lecture, I present these contrasting views in the legal framework. The lecture aims to advance an understanding of African customs linked to GBV. It is a timely lecture in view of the drive towards Afrocentric psychology. The available literature has focused extensively on cultural aspects related to mental illness and therapy with a limited focus on cultural aspects linked to GBV. Finally, interventions that take cognisance of the dynamic nature of cultural beliefs and practices are highlighted. In conclusion, it is indicated that we must choose to adhere to cultural practices that are not discriminating against women.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ngcobo-Sithole, Magnolia
- Subjects: Rural women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/32386 , vital:32078
- Description: South Africa has made some strides in recognizing women’s rights in this country. However, women in the rural areas have not benefitted from most of the developments. They are still exposed to cultural practices that are dehumanising. I explore how these practices are linked to gender based violence. There are also well-articulated policy frameworks and laws aimed at the protection of women. However, gender-based violence (GBV) remains very high in the country and can lead to death. GBV has been understood from a western perspective with limited attention to the traditional perspective. Perhaps the controversies in the legal and policy framework are a reflection of an application of a Western perspective on cultural African beliefs. In this lecture, I present these contrasting views in the legal framework. The lecture aims to advance an understanding of African customs linked to GBV. It is a timely lecture in view of the drive towards Afrocentric psychology. The available literature has focused extensively on cultural aspects related to mental illness and therapy with a limited focus on cultural aspects linked to GBV. Finally, interventions that take cognisance of the dynamic nature of cultural beliefs and practices are highlighted. In conclusion, it is indicated that we must choose to adhere to cultural practices that are not discriminating against women.
- Full Text:
Research in financial services: professing a way forward
- Authors: Rootman, Chantal
- Subjects: Financial services industry -- South Africa , Financial services industry -- Customer services -- South Africa , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21066 , vital:29435
- Description: Outline: What do we know about financial services research? What is the current state of financial services in South Africa? Professing the way forward for financial services research.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rootman, Chantal
- Subjects: Financial services industry -- South Africa , Financial services industry -- Customer services -- South Africa , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21066 , vital:29435
- Description: Outline: What do we know about financial services research? What is the current state of financial services in South Africa? Professing the way forward for financial services research.
- Full Text:
Resource nationalism: a threat or a panacea to economic development
- Authors: Ocran, Matthew
- Subjects: Natural resources , Nationalism , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20901 , vital:29412
- Description: I seek to achieve three objectives in my lecture: first I attempt an outline of the evolution of economic thought regarding progress from the medieval period to contemporary times. Following the discussion of the mainstream theories of economic growth I then review the associated empirical literature. I also consider a brief case study on two successful countries before addressing the question whether resource nationalism matter in determining economic development. Lastly, I provide some policy recommendations for economic development in South Africa and other resource rich countries on the continent.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ocran, Matthew
- Subjects: Natural resources , Nationalism , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20901 , vital:29412
- Description: I seek to achieve three objectives in my lecture: first I attempt an outline of the evolution of economic thought regarding progress from the medieval period to contemporary times. Following the discussion of the mainstream theories of economic growth I then review the associated empirical literature. I also consider a brief case study on two successful countries before addressing the question whether resource nationalism matter in determining economic development. Lastly, I provide some policy recommendations for economic development in South Africa and other resource rich countries on the continent.
- Full Text:
Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges
- Authors: Nel, Ronel
- Subjects: Sea turtles -- South Africa , Sea turtles -- Conservation , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55258 , vital:51136
- Description: Sea turtles are ocean migrants that nest on the same beaches where they were born but forage on reefs and oceanic waters great distances away. Movement between these locations is sometimes years or even decades apart. Because of these broad-ranging movements and the many countries, they visit throughout their lives, effective conservation can only be achieved through international cooperation. However, wherever and whenever sea turtles come ashore, they fascinate people. Watching a sea turtle nest is like looking back through a window into deep time. This appearance and disappearing act of sea turtles create an enigma that elicits a multitude of disciplinary, inter-, and intradisciplinary teaching, research and engagement opportunities ranging from archaeology to social sciences, including tourism, biology and ecology, conservation and policy. In these different spheres, I operated over the last two decades to understand sea turtles, their biology and behaviour to affect their conservation. The biggest question I have pursued in my research career is to understand why the leatherback sea turtle population (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa, has not increased despite decades of protection. Another sea turtle species, namely loggerheads (Caretta caretta) nesting in the same area, experiencing similar conditions, has responded positively to conservation. Through two decades of research evaluating the intrinsic and extrinsic population drivers, such as reproductive output, age to maturity, natality and mortality, it seems evident that the population dynamics of sea turtles is much more complicated than what a simple population model would predict. From the literature, it is clear that other species, like the Mediterranean monk seal, red knot (a sandpiper) and other coastal species, are suffering a similar fate, i.e., lack of recovery despite conservation. These trends suggest that these species have become refugees in their own habitat. Marine habitats are transformed through human activities and may now be unsuitable to support larger populations under the current climate for these complex species. Current research is aimed to disentangle past and present distributions to assess if these species have responded by using alternative habitats over time or if there are body condition parameters (such as individual size, offspring size or survivorship, or metabolomics) that will point us in the direction to grow these endangered populations. Our research suggests that sea turtles, with their very complex life history facing multiple threats, live at the edge of success and extinction. Understanding and managing their path to success is a delicate balance with many aspects that need consideration.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nel, Ronel
- Subjects: Sea turtles -- South Africa , Sea turtles -- Conservation , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55258 , vital:51136
- Description: Sea turtles are ocean migrants that nest on the same beaches where they were born but forage on reefs and oceanic waters great distances away. Movement between these locations is sometimes years or even decades apart. Because of these broad-ranging movements and the many countries, they visit throughout their lives, effective conservation can only be achieved through international cooperation. However, wherever and whenever sea turtles come ashore, they fascinate people. Watching a sea turtle nest is like looking back through a window into deep time. This appearance and disappearing act of sea turtles create an enigma that elicits a multitude of disciplinary, inter-, and intradisciplinary teaching, research and engagement opportunities ranging from archaeology to social sciences, including tourism, biology and ecology, conservation and policy. In these different spheres, I operated over the last two decades to understand sea turtles, their biology and behaviour to affect their conservation. The biggest question I have pursued in my research career is to understand why the leatherback sea turtle population (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa, has not increased despite decades of protection. Another sea turtle species, namely loggerheads (Caretta caretta) nesting in the same area, experiencing similar conditions, has responded positively to conservation. Through two decades of research evaluating the intrinsic and extrinsic population drivers, such as reproductive output, age to maturity, natality and mortality, it seems evident that the population dynamics of sea turtles is much more complicated than what a simple population model would predict. From the literature, it is clear that other species, like the Mediterranean monk seal, red knot (a sandpiper) and other coastal species, are suffering a similar fate, i.e., lack of recovery despite conservation. These trends suggest that these species have become refugees in their own habitat. Marine habitats are transformed through human activities and may now be unsuitable to support larger populations under the current climate for these complex species. Current research is aimed to disentangle past and present distributions to assess if these species have responded by using alternative habitats over time or if there are body condition parameters (such as individual size, offspring size or survivorship, or metabolomics) that will point us in the direction to grow these endangered populations. Our research suggests that sea turtles, with their very complex life history facing multiple threats, live at the edge of success and extinction. Understanding and managing their path to success is a delicate balance with many aspects that need consideration.
- Full Text:
SEK Mqhayi in the 21st Century: Mzantsi youth ideologies within the African renaissance paradigm for sustainable economic and political development
- Authors: Saule, Ncedile
- Subjects: Pan-Africanism , Mqhayi, S E K , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21011 , vital:29427
- Description: I am advancing a celebratory synopsis of Mqhayi, uMzima, uBhomoyi kaCedume at a time when the South African contemporary society is attempting to restructure itself in order to regain lost values before it can successfully and rationally embrace values of other people. In my presentation, I have mindfully taken cognisance of the plight of the so called lost generation, especially among our youth, those who have become strangers in their own land – no language, only misguided and distorted cultural values, no self, distorted history - this of course because of indoctrinations of some psycho-socio-histori-cultural and political imperatives. Strangely enough these are some of the issues that SEK Mqhayi warns us about in his creative works and has made efforts for us to see, but unfortunately no one listened or saw anything. Now that we “have the truth but denied the truth and now that we have the light, but we sit in darkness, Shivering, benighted in the bright noon-day sun,” and now that we are all blind, I think, this evening is the right time to see.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Saule, Ncedile
- Subjects: Pan-Africanism , Mqhayi, S E K , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21011 , vital:29427
- Description: I am advancing a celebratory synopsis of Mqhayi, uMzima, uBhomoyi kaCedume at a time when the South African contemporary society is attempting to restructure itself in order to regain lost values before it can successfully and rationally embrace values of other people. In my presentation, I have mindfully taken cognisance of the plight of the so called lost generation, especially among our youth, those who have become strangers in their own land – no language, only misguided and distorted cultural values, no self, distorted history - this of course because of indoctrinations of some psycho-socio-histori-cultural and political imperatives. Strangely enough these are some of the issues that SEK Mqhayi warns us about in his creative works and has made efforts for us to see, but unfortunately no one listened or saw anything. Now that we “have the truth but denied the truth and now that we have the light, but we sit in darkness, Shivering, benighted in the bright noon-day sun,” and now that we are all blind, I think, this evening is the right time to see.
- Full Text:
Social cohesion: is it possible in a diverse society?
- Authors: Pauw, H C
- Subjects: Social interaction -- South Africa , South Africa -- Social conditions , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21914 , vital:29801
- Description: The Faculty of Arts has been requested to drive one of the NMMU research themes, namely "Social cohesion". Being a memeber of the Faculty of Arts and from the School of Governance and Social Sciences I have decided to provide some input regarding this theme. South Africa experienced violent xenophobic attacks on non-South African Africans during May 2008. In a report in The Times (17 June 2008) under the title Mandela calls for 'Social cohesion', former president Nelson Mandela urged the youth of South Africa to work for social cohesion in the country. "The struggle for democracy has never been a matter pursued by one race, class, religious community or gender among South Africans. As future leaders of this country, your challenge is to foster a nation in which all people, irrespective of race, colour, sex, religion or creed, can ascertain a social cohesion fully," (http://www.TheTimes-Mandela calls for 'social cohesion'.htm). My perspective regarding humans is, to paraphrase the late Clyde Kluckhohn, that: Every human is like all other humans, some other humans and no other human.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Pauw, H C
- Subjects: Social interaction -- South Africa , South Africa -- Social conditions , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21914 , vital:29801
- Description: The Faculty of Arts has been requested to drive one of the NMMU research themes, namely "Social cohesion". Being a memeber of the Faculty of Arts and from the School of Governance and Social Sciences I have decided to provide some input regarding this theme. South Africa experienced violent xenophobic attacks on non-South African Africans during May 2008. In a report in The Times (17 June 2008) under the title Mandela calls for 'Social cohesion', former president Nelson Mandela urged the youth of South Africa to work for social cohesion in the country. "The struggle for democracy has never been a matter pursued by one race, class, religious community or gender among South Africans. As future leaders of this country, your challenge is to foster a nation in which all people, irrespective of race, colour, sex, religion or creed, can ascertain a social cohesion fully," (http://www.TheTimes-Mandela calls for 'social cohesion'.htm). My perspective regarding humans is, to paraphrase the late Clyde Kluckhohn, that: Every human is like all other humans, some other humans and no other human.
- Full Text: false
South African estuaries in the Anthropocene
- Authors: Perissinotto, Renzo
- Subjects: Estuaries -- South Africa , Geology, Stratigraphic -- Anthropocene , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20977 , vital:29424
- Description: In the new geological epoch of total human dominance of the planet, already widely referred to as the “Anthropocene”, estuaries are among the most vulnerable ecosystems to the changes that man’s activities have imposed on the coastal zone. For the non-specialist, an estuary is a “semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a permanent or temporary connection with the open sea, and within which sea water is diluted with fresh water from land drainage”.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Perissinotto, Renzo
- Subjects: Estuaries -- South Africa , Geology, Stratigraphic -- Anthropocene , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20977 , vital:29424
- Description: In the new geological epoch of total human dominance of the planet, already widely referred to as the “Anthropocene”, estuaries are among the most vulnerable ecosystems to the changes that man’s activities have imposed on the coastal zone. For the non-specialist, an estuary is a “semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a permanent or temporary connection with the open sea, and within which sea water is diluted with fresh water from land drainage”.
- Full Text:
Stigma syndemics & symbolic (isms) in the context of HIV: ways of knowing in health care
- Authors: Naidoo, Joanne Rachel
- Subjects: Stigma (Social psychology) , HIV-positive persons -- Care , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55010 , vital:48778
- Description: The negating effect of stigma on health outcomes has been widely established. Described as a hidden burden of disease, stigma significantly influences the inequities in health. The seminal work of Sociologist, Erving Goffman’s initially published in 1963 continue to underpin our current understanding of stigma as socially influenced through the symbolic interactions of everyday experiences that influences behaviour. Within the context of HIV, stigma remains a barrier in ending the epidemic and is associated with diminished health outcomes, health seeking patterns and poor quality of life. The significant advances in HIV treatment, has increased the life expectancy of people living with HIV, and has shifted the management of HIV as a manageable chronic illness. However the negative stigma outcomes experienced by people living with HIV remains. Moreover, the interactions of other syndemics (that is the co-existence of another disease/s, or social factors) further contributes to the stigma experienced by people living with HIV. This may refer to the co-existence of TB, depressive or other mental health disorder, younger woman, pregnancy, and occupations or work type industry, such as mini-bus taxi drivers, sex workers to name a few syndemics. Central to the health are the values and attributes of caring, towards the restorative process for sustained health and improved wellbeing. To enable care, there is a need for health care professionals to know how to care. Patterns of Knowing or Ways of Knowing developed by nurse theorist Barbra Carper (1975, 1978) and extended by Chinn and Kramer (2008) has become widely applied in nursing and health professions education and training. Ways of knowing acknowledges five inter related facets (empirical, ethical, personal, aesthetic and emancipatory) inherent in the provision of holistic care. The lecture will reflect on the syndemics associated with HIV related stigma, and the symbolic interactions with health care; in the provision of health care and in education and training of health care professionals. This will be framed against ways of knowing, how health care professionals know how to care, the inherent and learnt symbolic meanings in how care is provided, and its potential to demystify and eliminate the perpetuated HIV related stigma.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Naidoo, Joanne Rachel
- Subjects: Stigma (Social psychology) , HIV-positive persons -- Care , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55010 , vital:48778
- Description: The negating effect of stigma on health outcomes has been widely established. Described as a hidden burden of disease, stigma significantly influences the inequities in health. The seminal work of Sociologist, Erving Goffman’s initially published in 1963 continue to underpin our current understanding of stigma as socially influenced through the symbolic interactions of everyday experiences that influences behaviour. Within the context of HIV, stigma remains a barrier in ending the epidemic and is associated with diminished health outcomes, health seeking patterns and poor quality of life. The significant advances in HIV treatment, has increased the life expectancy of people living with HIV, and has shifted the management of HIV as a manageable chronic illness. However the negative stigma outcomes experienced by people living with HIV remains. Moreover, the interactions of other syndemics (that is the co-existence of another disease/s, or social factors) further contributes to the stigma experienced by people living with HIV. This may refer to the co-existence of TB, depressive or other mental health disorder, younger woman, pregnancy, and occupations or work type industry, such as mini-bus taxi drivers, sex workers to name a few syndemics. Central to the health are the values and attributes of caring, towards the restorative process for sustained health and improved wellbeing. To enable care, there is a need for health care professionals to know how to care. Patterns of Knowing or Ways of Knowing developed by nurse theorist Barbra Carper (1975, 1978) and extended by Chinn and Kramer (2008) has become widely applied in nursing and health professions education and training. Ways of knowing acknowledges five inter related facets (empirical, ethical, personal, aesthetic and emancipatory) inherent in the provision of holistic care. The lecture will reflect on the syndemics associated with HIV related stigma, and the symbolic interactions with health care; in the provision of health care and in education and training of health care professionals. This will be framed against ways of knowing, how health care professionals know how to care, the inherent and learnt symbolic meanings in how care is provided, and its potential to demystify and eliminate the perpetuated HIV related stigma.
- Full Text:
Structure and agency in the age of climate change
- Authors: Cherry, Janet
- Subjects: South Africa -- Economic conditions , South Africa -- Social conditions , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21033 , vital:29429
- Description: What I will present here is based on my grappling over the past three decades with one of the central problems of social science – the relationship between social structure and human agency. This is not a new problem for social scientists; from Karl Marx, who understood that human beings make history, but not in circumstances of their choosing; to the French structuralists who conceived the term ‘relative autonomy’ and ‘overdetermination’; to Anthony Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ and other contemporary sociologists. What is new are the changing physical circumstances of the world in which we live, which mean that human society can no longer afford to analyse ourselves and our social, political and economic systems independently of the natural world.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Cherry, Janet
- Subjects: South Africa -- Economic conditions , South Africa -- Social conditions , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21033 , vital:29429
- Description: What I will present here is based on my grappling over the past three decades with one of the central problems of social science – the relationship between social structure and human agency. This is not a new problem for social scientists; from Karl Marx, who understood that human beings make history, but not in circumstances of their choosing; to the French structuralists who conceived the term ‘relative autonomy’ and ‘overdetermination’; to Anthony Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ and other contemporary sociologists. What is new are the changing physical circumstances of the world in which we live, which mean that human society can no longer afford to analyse ourselves and our social, political and economic systems independently of the natural world.
- Full Text:
The 45th Annual Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists – Work-in-Progress Papers
- Coetzee, Marijike, Gerber, Aurona
- Authors: Coetzee, Marijike , Gerber, Aurona
- Subjects: Computer science
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/63484 , vital:73381
- Full Text:
- Authors: Coetzee, Marijike , Gerber, Aurona
- Subjects: Computer science
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/63484 , vital:73381
- Full Text:
The Entrepreneur as a disequilibrating factor in economic process
- Authors: Ncwadi, Mcebisi Ronney
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship , Equilibrium (Economics) , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55844 , vital:54275
- Description: The evidence of entrepreneurship's significant contribution to economic growth and development, challenges the dominance of general equilibrium theory in microeconomics. The assumptions of the neoclassical economic model which underlies general equilibrium theory has long time been criticised; yet its consideration in policy formulation has not been dismissed despite the fact that general equilibrium theory does not incorporate entrepreneurship. The assumptions embedded in neoclassical economic theory exclude entrepreneurship as an economic variable. However, as microeconomic research finds more and more evidence confirming the importance of new business formation and growth, general equilibrium theory remains incapable of adapting to this reality. To this end general equilibrium theory produces policy prescriptions which favour mainly large, established firms over new, small firms. It is therefore no wonder that a large number of small businesses in South Africa are failing. This lecture presents the theory of the firm and also defines an entrepreneur within the context of the theory of the firm. In doing so, this lecture exposes the shortcomings of the general equilibrium theory which is used to explain entrepreneurship. Based on Schumpeter’s description of an entrepreneur, namely, a Disequilibrating factor of economic processes; this lecture demonstrates how entrepreneurship should be understood and developed within a broader scope of microeconomics discourse.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ncwadi, Mcebisi Ronney
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship , Equilibrium (Economics) , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55844 , vital:54275
- Description: The evidence of entrepreneurship's significant contribution to economic growth and development, challenges the dominance of general equilibrium theory in microeconomics. The assumptions of the neoclassical economic model which underlies general equilibrium theory has long time been criticised; yet its consideration in policy formulation has not been dismissed despite the fact that general equilibrium theory does not incorporate entrepreneurship. The assumptions embedded in neoclassical economic theory exclude entrepreneurship as an economic variable. However, as microeconomic research finds more and more evidence confirming the importance of new business formation and growth, general equilibrium theory remains incapable of adapting to this reality. To this end general equilibrium theory produces policy prescriptions which favour mainly large, established firms over new, small firms. It is therefore no wonder that a large number of small businesses in South Africa are failing. This lecture presents the theory of the firm and also defines an entrepreneur within the context of the theory of the firm. In doing so, this lecture exposes the shortcomings of the general equilibrium theory which is used to explain entrepreneurship. Based on Schumpeter’s description of an entrepreneur, namely, a Disequilibrating factor of economic processes; this lecture demonstrates how entrepreneurship should be understood and developed within a broader scope of microeconomics discourse.
- Full Text:
The four P's of Pharmacy: potions, products, profits and people
- Authors: Truter, Ilse
- Subjects: Pharmacy , Pharmacy -- Study and teaching , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21626 , vital:29721
- Description: A short overview of my academic journey by focusing on the three pillars of academia, followed by what I consider to be the four "P's" of Pharmacy, a question about a further "P", and in conclusion what I consider to be the way forward for Pharmacy.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Truter, Ilse
- Subjects: Pharmacy , Pharmacy -- Study and teaching , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21626 , vital:29721
- Description: A short overview of my academic journey by focusing on the three pillars of academia, followed by what I consider to be the four "P's" of Pharmacy, a question about a further "P", and in conclusion what I consider to be the way forward for Pharmacy.
- Full Text: false
The Interplay between Universal and Unique Contexts in Shaping Child Developmental Assessment
- Authors: Stroud, Louise
- Subjects: Child development -- Testing , Developmental psychology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21088 , vital:29437
- Description: In this lecture the revision of the Griffiths Scales of Child Development, or Griffiths III as it is now known, will be described. It is not a description or story that falls easily and smoothly into sequence. It is one that has been garnered from many sources and from many people. Some of it comes in the form of fragments from professional men and women who have looked upon developing children with a unique and unrelenting eye. It comes from men and women who carry the germ of knowledge, implanted somewhere deeply in their beings, a place where a curious, natural rhythm exists and a kind of magic. Additionally a suggested plan for the future or “what next” phase in the interplay between universal and unique contexts in shaping child developmental assessment specifically using the Griffiths III will be described and proposed.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Stroud, Louise
- Subjects: Child development -- Testing , Developmental psychology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21088 , vital:29437
- Description: In this lecture the revision of the Griffiths Scales of Child Development, or Griffiths III as it is now known, will be described. It is not a description or story that falls easily and smoothly into sequence. It is one that has been garnered from many sources and from many people. Some of it comes in the form of fragments from professional men and women who have looked upon developing children with a unique and unrelenting eye. It comes from men and women who carry the germ of knowledge, implanted somewhere deeply in their beings, a place where a curious, natural rhythm exists and a kind of magic. Additionally a suggested plan for the future or “what next” phase in the interplay between universal and unique contexts in shaping child developmental assessment specifically using the Griffiths III will be described and proposed.
- Full Text:
The invisible enemy of satellite electronics
- Authors: Smith, Farouk
- Subjects: Aerospace engineering , Extraterrestrial radiation , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53574 , vital:45642
- Description: Spacecraft electronics are susceptible to the adverse effects of space radiation. Our jobs as engineers and scientists is to find ways to characterize these effects and find ways to mitigate it in order to ensure seamless operation of the satellite mission.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Smith, Farouk
- Subjects: Aerospace engineering , Extraterrestrial radiation , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53574 , vital:45642
- Description: Spacecraft electronics are susceptible to the adverse effects of space radiation. Our jobs as engineers and scientists is to find ways to characterize these effects and find ways to mitigate it in order to ensure seamless operation of the satellite mission.
- Full Text:
The Plastic University: Knowledge, Disciplines and Decolonial 'Circulations'
- Authors: Keet, Andre
- Subjects: Critical pedagogy , Transformative learning , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21077 , vital:29436
- Description: The university is as plastic as the social figure of ‘Mandela’ after whom it is named. It is as plastic as the globe and its humanity in whose name it exists. And, it is as plastic as the human subject that is ‘perpetually called on to reconfigure itself in relation to the artefacts of the age’, as Mbembe2 argues in Critique of Black Reason. The very nature of addressing, of writing … of inaugurating … oneself, through an address is an act of reconfiguration, of responding to an artefact of the university and the professoriate. It is, when all is said and done, a performance, a performative act: declaring so and so a professor of this or that status, authorizing ‘it’ to utter something with some kind of formative force.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Keet, Andre
- Subjects: Critical pedagogy , Transformative learning , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21077 , vital:29436
- Description: The university is as plastic as the social figure of ‘Mandela’ after whom it is named. It is as plastic as the globe and its humanity in whose name it exists. And, it is as plastic as the human subject that is ‘perpetually called on to reconfigure itself in relation to the artefacts of the age’, as Mbembe2 argues in Critique of Black Reason. The very nature of addressing, of writing … of inaugurating … oneself, through an address is an act of reconfiguration, of responding to an artefact of the university and the professoriate. It is, when all is said and done, a performance, a performative act: declaring so and so a professor of this or that status, authorizing ‘it’ to utter something with some kind of formative force.
- Full Text:
The reward preference/motivation paradox and implications for performance and education
- Authors: Snelgar, Robin
- Subjects: Employee motivation , Incentive (Psychology) , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21897 , vital:29799
- Description: The focus on reward preference has emerged essentially as a result of the need to identify what really motivates productive behaviour within the workplace, despite the fact that other variables such as retention and attraction have also been taken into consideratin. Motivation has always been an issue of great interest to both reserachers as well as practitioners within the organizational setting, the intention being to find ways to improve performance and, more specifically, particular types of performance within the world of work. Ultimately, the issue has always been how to understand, predict, shape and control human behaviour.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Snelgar, Robin
- Subjects: Employee motivation , Incentive (Psychology) , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21897 , vital:29799
- Description: The focus on reward preference has emerged essentially as a result of the need to identify what really motivates productive behaviour within the workplace, despite the fact that other variables such as retention and attraction have also been taken into consideratin. Motivation has always been an issue of great interest to both reserachers as well as practitioners within the organizational setting, the intention being to find ways to improve performance and, more specifically, particular types of performance within the world of work. Ultimately, the issue has always been how to understand, predict, shape and control human behaviour.
- Full Text: false