Researchers

Duduzile Unathi Ndlovu is one of the internationally prestigious Hardiman PhD scholars at University of Galway, in Galway Ireland. While qualified in law, international relations, and African Studies, her work and research remain in the field of education. Having been involved in student organising and activism in the RhodesMustFall (RMF) movement, she is particularly interested in activist education and critical higher education studies. She is a transdisciplinary decolonial afro-feminist scholar interested in higher education institutions as sites for answering questions about what, why and how Africa/ns know/s, is/are known and can know. Supported by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s (NMMU) Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation (CriSHET) and the Hardiman scholarship, her current research considers the implications of RMF and ‘fallism’ in discourses around decolonising higher education in South Africa and beyond. Her research interests further include decolonial and interdisciplinary methodologies in social research for and about African epistemic justice. In particular, she has produced first class research, presented at international conferences, and written for publication, around the decolonial possibilities of autoethnography, Collective Memory Work, ‘dialogical archives’ and ‘deep listening’. Outside the university, she has done work as a volunteer tutor, and, public and activist educator through non-profits such as the South African Education and Development Project (SAEP), Equal Education (EE) and Embrace Dignity – End Demand Now. She is also an African music enthusiast with over a decade of experience performing African music and instruments locally and internationally.

Dr Simphiwe Tsawu is an experienced fieldwork researcher in agrarian studies, development and sustainability, land reform challenges, traditional authorities and people’s education in rural communities on land rights in South Africa. He holds qualifications from several universities, including a PhD in African Studies from the University of Cape Town.