Rhodes University: Hosted Journals
Not a member yet
1486 research outputs found
Sort by
Responsive pedagogies and access pathways in Kenyan music education: insights from a university–community engagement
No full textKenya has a vibrant and diverse musical heritage that holds significant potential for fostering inclusive cultural, social, and educational development. However, formal music education in Kenya, particularly at the tertiary level, remains largely informed by colonial legacies that historically marginalised indigenous knowledge systems. Drawing on both personal experience and empirical findings, this article examines the music education landscape within the formal education system in Kenya. Special attention is given to the higher education sector, the influence of which could easily constrain the integration of local music practices. This article presents an evaluative account of a collaborative music programme initiated by Moi University in partnership with the Utafiti Foundation and implemented by means of a public–private framework. The programme adopted participatory and experiential pedagogies to conceptualise music education in a manner that is culturally grounded and engages with the community. Using qualitative methods, including a longitudinal cohort study implemented by means of tracer studies of selected participants, the article illustrates how transgressive pedagogies can enhance access to African music education while simultaneously bridging the divide between academic institutions and broader society. The findings suggest that culturally responsive workshops may serve as viable alternatives for expanding music learning opportunities in African contexts, thereby affirming the value of societal knowledge and practice in contemporary higher education
Sonic contours of modernity in Buganda, Uganda
No full textIn 1993, President Yoweri Museveni restored traditional kingship in Uganda following the abrogation of the 1962 independence constitution by Prime Minister Milton Obote in 1966. This development was in response to the return of relative but precarious peace after several military regimes, including that of General Tito Lutwa, which was overthrown in 1986 ushering in Museveni’s presidency. The restoration of traditional institutions in Uganda coincided with the liberalisation of the media in the early 1990s, giving rise to the proliferation of private radio and TV stations, as well as recording studios. In 1996, an elite group of men and women started Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) – a radio station owned by the Buganda Kingdom – to create a mediated forum of participation through talk shows.1 In addition, CBS started featuring, among others, Sir Paul Ssaaka’s educative choral songs about the kingdom, thus reinforcing the content presented on talk shows such as Mambo Bado (Things Are Still) in the cultivation of what became a modern and audible Buganda.2 Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, this article discusses the emergence of radio talk shows and the airing of choral songs as forums of constructing an African modernity in Buganda. I analyse the musical structure of the choral song, “Omulembe Omutebi” (The Reign of Mutebi II), by Saaka, in order to demonstrate how traditional and foreign idioms and ideas are interactively employed to create a modern sonic entity that does not fully subscribe to either musical territory. I argue that choral music, radio, and TV created new forums of participation where an episteme of a sonic modernity in Buganda was cultivated
Jonkvrouw Augusta Uitenhage De Mist: Diary of a journey to the Cape of Good Hope and the interior of Africa in 1802 and 1803
Get PDFAugusta (1784-1832) wrote a charming and impressive diary, which begins:
‘The peace of Amiens had made an end to a long war. England had returned the Cape of Good Hope to the Batavian Republic, and my father [Jacob de Mist 1749-1823] was honoured with the task of making transfer of it in the name of the Gemeenebest, and to go and install the new Governor.’ [Jan Janssens 1762-1838]
Thomas Stubbs, 1820 Settler: Out the Box and into the Bush
Get PDFA Xhosa oral tradition claims that the great warrior, Chief Maqoma, once asked why Thomas Stubbs fought against them, when he had been raised as one of their own? Even Stubbs’ biographer, Robert McGeoch, believed that he spoke the Xhosa language fluently. Yet, on such things, Stubbs remained silent when he wrote up his Reminiscences. He only told the story of the hunting trips in private to close friends. In Stubbs’s published memoirs, the most solid evidence of his special relationship to the Xhosa people is a map that he drew in 1847, showing all the Xhosa trails through the thick Fish River bush. Where else could this knowledge have come from, but those who showed him? Stubbs also mentioned that one time, just as a battle was about to start, his Xhosa adversaries shouted out and called to him by name
Just anchor institutions: a case study of a University promoting inclusive economic growth
Get PDFThe concept of a just anchor institution emphasises the obligation of higher education institutions (HEIs) to contribute holistically to advance social justice in the local communities in which they are anchored, and can serve as a framework for HEI community engagement. Furthermore, within the higher education sector, community engagement initiatives can be positioned to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those related to economic growth. SDG 8, in particular, is focused on decent work and economic growth. This paper explains how a South African university introduced a programme to promote inclusive economic growth through enterprise development and supplier development, utilising existing legislative frameworks to achieve this goal. The Masakhe Enterprise and Supplier Development Programme at Rhodes University encompasses economic, infrastructural, and educational components. A justice perspective on the concept of an anchor institution is used to analyse the project and the broader role of the Community Engagement Division, focusing on principles of creating shared value, accessibility, visibility, and empowerment. Data collection methods included interviews and documentation related to the project. A content analysis approach was used to analyse the data. The main findings of the study highlight the value of a just anchor institution framework for the holistic development of local communities in realising the SDGs. The case study also highlights the significance of a sustained relationship between the anchor institution and its local community, as well as how broad-based black empowerment legislation can serve as a source of funding for the inclusive economic development of small enterprises
Carefully navigating the messiness of community-engaged feminist internet research
Get PDFCommunity-engaged feminist internet research is often complex, as researchers navigate the needs of communities alongside institutional expectations to produce knowledge that meaningfully serves local digital realities. Rather than viewing this complexity—or \u27messiness\u27—as a weakness, this paper argues that it is a productive and necessary dimension of rigorous, care-centred research. Drawing on two recent studies, the Feminist Internet Research Meta-Research Project and The Left Out Project, the article illustrates how methodological uncertainty, ethical negotiation, and shifting contextual conditions shape feminist internet research in practice. Embracing and making visible this messiness enables greater reflexivity, supports more inclusive and accountable knowledge-making, and strengthens the ethical foundations of engaged research. The paper concludes with three recommendations for navigating the complexities of community-engaged feminist internet research: practising ongoing reflexivity, building communities of practice, and grounding research in an ethics of care
Grounded in place, connected to the world: community engagement at the heart of the African university
Get PDF
Local intelligence: the following singular case was sent to us by Mr. Reid, clerk to the Attorney General for this Colony.
No full textThis is a notice of a singular legal case concerning a female slave named Lea in the district of Swellendam (Cape Colony).
On November 22, 1830, Lea, who was a goat herd for farmer J. A. Moolman, returned home and informed her mother she had been delivered of a stillborn female child in the fields and had buried it. When questioned by her mistress about why she hadn\u27t brought the child home, Lea claimed she didn\u27t know it was necessary and feared being observed by the boys who were with the horses.
The next morning, she led her mother and mistress to the burial spot. Upon removing the earth, the child, which was cold, moaned, indicating it was alive. They warmed the child, and by December 13, it was in perfect health. It was then carried by Lea to Swellendam for an examination before the Resident Magistrate. When confronted by her mistress, Lea simply replied, "I can only say, I thought the child was dead," and did not show any emotion, despite being described as fond of her two other children. The case was sent to the editors by Mr Reid, Clerk to the Attorney General