Wits Centre for Diversity Studies

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Wits Centre for Diversity Studies
WiCDS Logo.jpg
Type Academic department
Non-governmental organisation
Established2014
DirectorMelissa Steyn
Location, ,
South Africa
Campus Braamfontein
Affiliations University of the Witwatersrand
Website www.wits.ac.za/wicds

The Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS) was launched in 2014 and is based in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). [1] Initially started as Intercultural and Diversity Studies of Southern Africa (iNCUDISA) at the University of Cape Town, [2] WiCDS was then established at Wits in 2014 and aims to build capacity to meet the challenges of diverse societies, especially in post-apartheid South Africa through interdisciplinary postgraduate education and research. [1] [3]

Contents

Academic Programmes

The Centre presents three interdisciplinary programmes that can be undertaken by students from various disciplines, although most come from disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences. [4]

WiCDS is grounded in social justice imperatives, the research and education of the programme is informed by Melissa Steyn’s 2007 notion of Critical Diversity Literacy. [5] The Centre has adapted the racial literacy concept developed by sociologist  France Winddance Twine to analyse other axes of oppression, such as gender, sexuality, disability and class amongst others to describe the field of critical diversity studies as that which develops diversity literacy in scholars and researchers. The following are the ten criteria for critical diversity literacy: [5]

Drawing on cutting edge social theory, the critical diversity studies lens opens up challenging research questions which emerge in the interstices of current disciplinary boundaries. These questions have the capacity to shift common sense assumptions about the social, enabling fresh and penetrating analyses of current social challenges. While no single research methodology need necessarily flow from critical diversity literacy, it involves the recognition of social construction and the constitutive role of discourse in employing critical social theory.

The centre also collaborates with Pitzer College in a study abroad programme offered by Pitzer in which undergraduate students come to Southern Africa for a semester long immersive experience in Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. During their stay in South Africa, students are hosted by WiCDS. [6]

Notable Events

Conferences - The centre hosts annual international conferences. It has hosted 5 conferences thus far. These include Troubling seasons of hate, Decolonising feminism, Doing human, (Re)Imagining Liberations and Disabling Normativities. [7] Notable people who have spoken at the conference include Lewis Gordon, [8] Grada Kilomba, [9] Boaventura De Soussa Santos, [10] Shelley Tremain and Garth Stevens.

Dialogue and debates [11]

Paul Chappell Disability reading group - a dedication to the late WiCDS researcher, Paul Chappell, hosted twice every month for students and staff, with and without disabilities. The group provides space for people to critically engage with disability research and its application within an African context. [12]

WiCDS Wednesdays - a series of monthly seminars that are held on the last Wednesday of the month to promote dialogue between the public and the centre on a range of diverse topics that promote transformation within the society. [13]

HAYIBO! - a web series via YouTube presenting short videos, each portraying a different diversity issue currently playing out in South African society. [14] Scenarios, which involved actors and members of the general public, deal with the Bystander Effect. HAYIBO! Intends to: [12]

  1. develop the capacity of individuals and communities to interrupt oppression,
  2. identify and challenge the ways in which power relations linked to race, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, are expressed in everyday situations,
  3. understand how silences operate to reproduce the social injustices that underlie systems of oppression.

Publications

Related Research Articles

Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the study of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, intersex people and cultures.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of the Witwatersrand</span> Public university in Johannesburg, South Africa

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in the mining industry, as do Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand in general. Founded in 1896 as the South African School of Mines in Kimberley, it is the third oldest South African university in continuous operation.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersectionality</span> Theory of discrimination

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Critical literacy is the ability to find embedded discrimination in media. This is done by analyzing the messages promoting prejudiced power relationships found naturally in media and written material that go unnoticed otherwise by reading beyond the author's words and examining the manner in which the author has conveyed his or her ideas about society's norms to determine whether these ideas contain racial or gender inequality.

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Ruth Sacks is a South African artist who lives and works in Johannesburg. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the South African Research Chair Initiative (SARChI) for Social Change at Fort Hare University. Sacks holds a PhD (Arts) from the University of the Witwatersrand where she was a fellow at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER). Her third artist book, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under Seas, was launched in 2013. She is a laureate of the HISK in Ghent. She was one of the facilitators of the artist-run project space the Parking Gallery, hosted by the Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) in Johannesburg. Ruth Sacks' work has been presented internationally in venues such as the African Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennalein 2007, the ZKM Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe in 2011 and the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi in 2017.

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Archibald Boyce Monwabisi Mafeje, commonly known as Archie Mafeje, was a South African anthropologist and activist. Born in what is now the Eastern Cape, he received degrees from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Cambridge. He became a professor at various universities in Europe, North America, and Africa. He spent most of his career away from apartheid South Africa after he was blocked from teaching at UCT in 1968.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wits Centre for Diversity Studies - Wits University". www.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  2. "SELF-REVIEW PORTFOLIO" (PDF). pp. 97–101. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  3. carladebouchet (2014-02-26). "Launch of the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies". Carla De Bouchet's Blog. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  4. "Academic Programmes - Wits University". www.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  5. 1 2 Steyn, Melissa (2014-11-26). "Chapter 14". In Vertovec, Steven (ed.). Critical diversity literacy. Routledge Handbooks Online. doi:10.4324/9781315747224. ISBN   978-0-415-81386-0. S2CID   218274548.
  6. "Pitzer in Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe". Study Abroad and International Programs. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  7. "Conferences - Wits University". www.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  8. eNCA (2017-12-08). "[WATCH] A conference currently taking place at Wits University titled "Seasons of Hate" is exploring discrimination and threatened diversity around the world. Professor Lewis Gordon tells us more. Courtesy #DStv 403pic.twitter.com/Yi8txtRBIk". @eNCA. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  9. "Events - Wits University". www.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  10. "DISABLING NORMATIVITIES" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  11. "Dialogues and Debates - Wits University". www.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  12. 1 2 "Upcoming Events - Wits University". www.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  13. "WiCDS Wednesdays - Wits University". www.wits.ac.za. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  14. "HAYIBO!". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  15. "International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies". Pluto Journals. Retrieved 2020-05-12.