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Editorial: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Trust in Higher Education
Full text linkThis September 2025 special issue of Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning (CriSTaL) brings together a collection of thought-provoking papers on the theme of trust. These contributions originated from the Higher Education Close-Up (HECU) 11 conference, a peer-reviewed biennial international gathering. HECU 11 was hosted by Rhodes University in Makhanda, South Africa, from July 3-5, 2024. The conference\u27s ethos is to look up close at issues that are important to all who work and study in higher education, and this special issue does exactly that
UWC art and identity project, 2025
No full textThe 10-week Art & Identity extracurricular workshops I offered on Saturdays on campus over the second semester, 2025, were a response to the vision of your rector, Professor Robert Balfour (UWC Vice Chancellor) – himself an artist and poet and aware of the cognitive and personal benefits of arts-based education.A group of 16 participants were drawn from 113 responses to an open advertisement offering free participation in this initiative. The selection was made on a first-come-firstserve basis, and the workshops were to be held on Saturday mornings. The students represented diverse disciplines: Law, Linguistics, Natural Sciences, Economics and Management Sciences, Arts and Humanities and Linguistics. Very few of these students had been exposed to art education; some had never before picked up a brush to paint
Ben Turok Memorial Lecture 2024: Face climate crisis with courage, creativity, compassion
Full text linkThe world no longer has the time to indulge in pessimism or denialism as we get ever closer to the climate crisis cliff, andthe urgent task at hand is to revise -- and revitalise -- the thinking of activists, academics and leftists world-wide who have taken on the responsibility of being changemakers in pursuit of a more just global order. This was the challenge thrown out to the civil society community by decades-long human rights and climate justice activist, Dr Kumi Naidoo, who delivered the fourth Ben Turok Memorial Lecture in Cape Town on 9 December 2024 on the anniversary of Turok’s passing in 2019
(Bio)medicine meets Art: A physiologist’s reflections on inter-disciplinary liaisons, curriculum renewal and pursuing social justice
Full text linkThis self-reflective article focuses on interdisciplinary intersections between Science, Medicine, and the Arts. It traces the journey of the author, a physiologist, starting with a visual redress project initiated with the late Professor Elmarie Costandius (Visual Arts, Stellenbosch University). The nature of such interactions is considered, revealing the remarkable personality of Professor Costandius, and the unique methodologies she employed to ensure the project’s completion. This project resulted in the author identifying a knowledge gap in the training of science and medical students and thereafter pursuing curriculum renewal for postgraduate students (Features of Science module, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University). There is some reflection on the nature and outcomes of the module, and an exercise that involved Arts and Biomedical students discussing artworks relating to the heart. It is proposed that such inter-disciplinary liaisons can elicit serendipitous outcomes in terms of teaching and learning, and biomedical research pursuits.
At the water table: Seeking the trace in research writing
Full text linkThis paper describes a process of concept development, written in memory of Elmarie Costandius, who I learnt from in a series of workshops to reconfigure scholarship. Elmarie\u27s humble way of working with concepts in art-based inquiry, with a strong commitment to social justice, widened and deepened my interest in the relationship between knowledge-making and writing – a great interest to me after decades of facilitating writers’ circles for postgraduate scholars. Involvement in the writers\u27 circle, and the inspiration of Elmarie and the scholars around her, alert me to the possibilities of more responsive, situated, tentative ways of knowing that honour the traces of knowledge-making. These traces are an alternative to the limitations imposed by omniscient, conquest notions of knowledge and how they are inscribed in conventional genres of research
Navigating power dynamics in food safety governance: The case of South Africa\u27s compulsory specification for processed meat products
Full text linkThe 2017–2018 listeriosis outbreak in South Africa had a severe impact on the processed meat industry, prompting significant regulatory changes including the development of the Compulsory Specification for Processed Meat Products (VC 9100). This regulation aimed to improve food safety standards by mandating the implementation of a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system across all processed meat production facilities. Drafting of the VC 9100 was initiated in 2013 following concerns that existing voluntary standards were inadequate for protecting public health. However, progress was hindered by strong resistance from industry stakeholders who argued that compliance would be financially burdensome, particularly regarding the costs and levies associated with its enforcement. The listeriosis outbreak, which resulted in over 219 deaths, dramatically shifted the regulatory landscape. The crisis brought food safety to the forefront of the national agenda, compelling the government to accelerate the development and implementation of VC 9100. Despite the urgency, industry resistance persisted, with stakeholders lobbying for reduced levies and delaying the regulation\u27s full enforcement. This case study highlights the complex interplay between public health priorities and industry interest in food safety governance. It also demonstrates how crises can serve as catalysts for regulatory change, with the listeriosis outbreak playing a pivotal role in overcoming industry resistance and advancing the implementation of essential food safety measures
Can citizens say \u27no\u27?: Tracking civil society\u27s impact in Parliament
No full textActive citizen involvement, a foundational element of South Africa\u27s democratic framework, aims to ensure that all voices, especially those historically on the margins, are acknowledged and actively incorporated into policy decision-making. Yet this fine principle, clearly stipulated in the Constitution, encounters a fundamental contradiction when it comes up against the challenges of implementation.In reality, South Africa’s organised civil society today, itself the product of an powerful history of community-based resistance that overcame apartheid, is impeded from fulfilling this constitutional duty by severe shortages of capacity and resources. It is trapped in a tangle of bureaucratic inefficiencies, fragmented government coordination and limited public engagement and awareness
Unlocking Academic success through translanguaging: Summary writing at a South African University
Full text linkSummary writing is a core academic activity essential for success in higher education. Proficiency in this skill is crucial for students to perform various academic tasks. However, summary writing poses significant challenges for multilingual students in South Africa, particularly in contexts where monolingual practices prevail. This qualitative study investigates the impact of translanguaging on the summary writing skills of multilingual students at a South African university. Eight participants, who wrote summaries of an English text in English and their home languages, were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that translanguaging enhances comprehension and engagement with texts, as it allows students to use multiple languages freely. Consequently, this paper recommends implementing language policies that treat all languages equally and encourage the use of students’ home languages as learning resources. Future research should focus on incorporating texts in multiple languages for reading and summary writing in literacy education