Crishet - Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation

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Crishet - Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation

This is a strategic post introduced to drive the Transformation agenda of the University by groundin

06/10/2026

SAVE THE DATE | 12 October 2026, 16:00 SAST, online (Teams)

Join us for The Intellectual Directions of Higher Education in South Africa, a national webinar on reimagining the futures of the university.

Keynote: Honourable Buti Manamela, Minister of Higher Education and Training, followed by a panel with Prof Sibongile Muthwa, Prof Linda Meyer and Prof Hester C. Klopper.

Themes: transformation, knowledge production, AI, institutional autonomy, social justice and sustainability.

Check 2026 Highlights for RSVP link.

30/09/2026

Introducing The Politics of Student Hunger Project which explores student hunger within the broader social, political and economic landscape of South African higher education.

Using Nelson Mandela University as a site of inquiry, the project considers how historical inequalities, the changing nature of universities, and COVID-19 have shaped experiences of student hunger. It also maps existing initiatives responding to food insecurity at the University and considers how effective and accessible these initiatives are.

The project considers not only hunger itself, but how we understand and talk about it. This includes looking at media and institutional representations of student hunger and asking whether students are represented with dignity and agency.

Ultimately, the research asks what student hunger can tell us about the university itself—and what a more caring and transformative university might look like.

25/08/2026

NEW RELEASE: Racism’s Knowledge: Disciplines, Decolonisation, and the Renewal of the Academy

Edited by André Keet and Shirley Anne Tate, this is Volume 5 in the On Higher Education Transformation series.

What if racism doesn’t merely infiltrate knowledge but owns it? This collection advances a bold and unsettling proposition: that formalised disciplinary knowledge itself belongs to racism, implicating scholar, reformer, and activist alike. Grounded in Black and Decolonial Studies, Indigenous epistemologies, and feminist praxis, the book refuses easy comfort. It exposes how transformation discourse and diversity machinery can slide into complicity while still charting pathways toward reparation, refusal, and renewal.

This book was made possible with the support of 8 members of the Engagement and Transformation Portfolio staff, who contributed to writing, editing, and producing this volume.

14/08/2026

This National Women’s Month, we’re sitting with a question that lives closer to home than we’d like to admit: why do so many women still reach for lightness?

One of the most intimate legacies of colonialism is colourism, the privileging of lighter skin within a racial group. And women are on the receiving end.

Lightness has long been marketed as capital, the currency of beauty, belonging and opportunity, from the “beauty queue” to the multi-billion-dollar skin-lightening industry.

But the story doesn’t end there. The women of the Black Consciousness Movement threw out their skin-lighteners and declared Black is Beautiful.

We’re proud to introduce Simran, our newest colleague, whose research refuses to let us look away from this history 💛

29/07/2026

Madibaz Reading Group recap to Dr Qhama Noveve and Professor Babalwa Maqogwana’s academic piece on Queering Citizenship in Policy Language: Reflections on sexual harassment policies in Eastern Cape Universities

07/07/2026

Madibaz Reading Group Recap 1

The session breaks down how colonial borders and migrant labour still shape inequality in SA today. The Conversation continues.

23/06/2026

Conversations, collaborations, and a few memorable stops along the way. 🇬🇧

During her recent UK visit, Dr Jenny Du Preez connected with colleagues and partners at Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Galway, Oxford University, the University of Bristol, and the University of Bath, strengthening relationships and exploring new opportunities for collaboration.

This carousel captures some of the moments that shaped the journey, both inside and outside the meeting rooms.

16/06/2026

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising. Let’s talk student activism burnout and keeping momentum.

27/04/2026

Freedom Day

30/03/2026

Staging History. Tracing voices. Holding space.

On 14 March 2026, CriSHET’s Madibaz Reading Group and Experiential Writing Space collaborated with Eastern Cape poets, the Bay Creative Writing Development Project and Imbizo Arts at Nelson Mandela University’s Concert Hall for Staging History: Tracing East Cape Poetry.

Filled with writers, thinkers, artists, and community, the room embodied honesty, curiosity, and dedication. Unathi Slasha’s keynote address anchored the day in history and significance. We explored Eastern Cape poetry’s roots and shared unfinished works.

Browse this photo dump. Gratitude to all who contributed their words, time, and energy.

The journey has just started.

Address

Bird Street
Port Elizabeth
6401

Telephone

+27415044036

Website

https://crishet.mandela.ac.za/

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