Dr Nokuthula Cele of the School of Social Sciences and Dr Janine Hicks of the School of Law have been honoured for their excellence in teaching and learning support.
The presentations were made during the annual Culture Cluster (College of Humanities) awards.
Said Cluster Leader: Culture (Anthropology and Tourism) Dr Maserole Kgari-Masondo, who pioneered the event: ‘This award acknowledges these two role models who enhance cultural cohesion in our University. Dr Cele is an inspiration. Despite being critically ill, she has excelled, going beyond her duties to help our students and staff. We also honour Ms Hicks who has impacted the landscape of UKZN in ensuring that debates about gender-based violence take place candidly. She is a lecturer who also takes the same spirit of community service into her classroom.’
Said Hick: ‘I feel deeply honoured to receive recognition from colleagues in this Humanities cluster. We have all been working under very difficult circumstances – our students in particular. I appreciate opportunities for us to network and learn across our disciplines, and share best practice in teaching and learning.’
Hicks serves as Chairperson of the UKZN Gender-Based Violence Committee, and as convenor for the Navi Pillay Research Group, a collective of academics from the School of Law seeking to address critical emergent issues of race, class, gender and disability in post-apartheid South Africa through research, law and policy reform.
She is also Project Leader for the SA Law Reform Commission’s Project 143: Maternity and Paternity Benefits for Self-Employed Workers, and a former Commissioner with the South African Commission for Gender Equality. Hicks holds a PhD from UKZN, an MA degree from the University of Sussex, and an LLB degree from the former University of Natal.
Cele, a lecturer in UKZN’s Culture and Heritage Tourism Programme on the Howard College campus, has a PhD degree in History from Michigan State University in the United States. Before joining UKZN she taught for a year at Hope College, Michigan. Her research interests include marine-related studies, human settlements, and gender-based violence.
