The University of KwaZulu-Natal is expected to host a Colloquium on Womxn in the Academy and shaping futures beyond Covid-19 on Thursday.
The event is being hosted by UKZN's College of Humanities in partnership with Is’thebe Mentoring and takes place during International Women's Month.
The colloquium features Professor Mariam Seedat-Khan (UKZN), Xatyiswa Maqashalala (Mandela-Washington Fellow), Dr Sinazo Nomsenge (UKZN), Tembeka Mhlakwaphalwa (University of Cape Town), Londiwe Jali (UKZN) and Dr Maserole Kgari-Masondo (UKZN), and will be facilitated by Mosa Nkoko (UKZN).
Seedat-Khan will present on an Autoethnographic Journey Navigating the Academy: Womxn in pursuit of Academic excellence, healthy work and personal wellbeing. She will share her failures, triumphs yet rewarding journey in the academy. A journey, for her, that is peppered with bullying, exclusion, cancer, disappointment and ultimately success.
Nomsenge, the cluster leader for Society and Social Change within the School of Social Sciences, is the founder of Is’thebe Mentoring. ‘Is’thebe is a mentoring programme and networking hub for womxn and adolescent girls in South Africa.
The Colloquium will bring together academic and professional staff, students and student leaders to reflect on the experiences and complexities of navigating the modern South African university as womxn of diverse identities and backgrounds,’ she said.
Jali will also give an account of her journey in academia: navigating student life, professional pursuits, purpose and self-preservation while Maqashalala will speak about women leadership.
Kgari-Masondo will look at Women in the academy are the Hope for social cohesion and development beyond Covid-19: Ubuntu as a lens for Social progress in which she will discuss how different disciplines can get involved in community engagement and how women in academia can also use their disciplines to impact their communities.
IOL