Prof Ian Rothmann

Sebastiaan (Ian) Rothmann is a professor of Industrial Psychology and the director of the Optentia Research Unit at the North-West University (NWU). He completed a PhD in Industrial Psychology (1996) and is a rated scientist by the National Research Foundation. Ian’s research focus on work-related well-being (job demands/resources, personality, burnout, and work engagement; 2000-2010) moved towards sustainable employability (work capabilities, decent work, and flourishing; 2011-2024). His research was published in 262 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Ian is a fellow of the Society of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology in South Africa and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).

Prof William Mpofu

William Jethro Mpofu holds an undisciplinary Phd centred on the Philosophy of Liberation of the Global South in general and Africa specifically. He is a senior researcher at the Wits Centre for Diversity (WiCDS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in South Africa. He is a Senior Research Fellow at Good Governance Africa (GGA), a continental think-tank, headquartered in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Mpofu’s latest book is; Africa Otherwise: Essays in the Philosophy of Liberation (2024) which is in production by the Lexington Press.

Lance Bunt

Lance Bunt is a senior lecturer at North-West University, specializing in game-based learning, instructional game design, and educational technology. Since 2017, Lance has been shaping the future of students at the Vanderbijlpark campus, blending idealism with pragmatism in his teaching philosophy. His approach incorporates free-choice learning, role-playing scenarios, and AI fortification, preparing students for the dynamic tech industry. With a strong background in communication and IT, Lance's research delves into integrating playful pedagogy in learning scenarios and improving instructional design processes through a creative lens.

Prof Tunde Ope-Davies

Professor Tunde Ope-Davies is a Full Professor of Digital Cultures, Digital Linguistics & Discourse Studies at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He is the founder and director of the Centre for Digital Humanities, University of Lagos. He has been Commonwealth Fellow at the University of Westminster, London, and visiting researcher, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and visiting research professor at the University of Technology, Germany, and a grantee of the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany. He has served as Senior Advisor to the Governor and Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria, respectively. He is a member of the prestigious Nigerian Academy of Letters.

Mrs Doris Viljoen

Doris Viljoen is the director of Institute for Futures Research (IFR) at Stellenbosch Business School, where she endeavours to interpret global as well as local trends and assess their relevance for South Africa and Africa. She has specialised skills in environmental scanning, the application of foresight methodology, scenario planning as well as strategy development. She has a wide range of research interests and is passionate about asking the right questions, searching for and finding relevant data as well as designing tools and techniques to facilitate thinking about plausible futures. She also lectures on Stellenbosch Business School’s Postgraduate Diploma and M Phil in Futures Studies.

Byron Bunt

Byron J. Bunt is an Associate Professor, NWU Faculty of Education, South Africa, Self-Directed Learning Research Unit. As the subject leader for the subject of History Education, his research is in the area of cognitive education and strategies such as game-based learning (GBL) to develop students' historical, creative and critical thought. Byron is a prolific author in the fields of History Education and GBL, with multiple book chapters, and a number of journal articles. To promote self-directed learning in his history module, he developed the card game 'Dogs of War', and created a project that utilized the mobile gaming app 'Habitica' for habit formation via role-playing.

Prof Ian Rothmann

Sebastiaan (Ian) Rothmann is a professor of Industrial Psychology and the director of the Optentia Research Unit at the North-West University (NWU). He completed a PhD in Industrial Psychology (1996) and is a rated scientist by the National Research Foundation. Ian’s research focus on work-related well-being (job demands/resources, personality, burnout, and work engagement; 2000-2010) moved towards sustainable employability (work capabilities, decent work, and flourishing; 2011-2024). His research was published in 262 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Ian is a fellow of the Society of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology in South Africa and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).

Prof Chris van Rhyn

Chris holds a PhD in Musicology from Stellenbosch University. He is an Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition at North-West University and has been the Director of the research entity Musical Arts in South Africa: Resources and Applications since 2019. He is an NRF-rated researcher who focuses on art music composition and composers from Angolophone Africa. Chris is also engaged in practice-based research in Composition. He has published, presented research papers, lectured, and had compositions performed in South Africa and internationally. Chris is an Associate Editor for the US-based journal Perspectives of New Music.

Anneke Butler and Prof Gustav Butler

Prof. Gustav Butler is currently the director of Understanding and Processing Language in Complex Settings (UPSET), a research entity affiliated to North-West University’s School of Languages. His research falls within the Applied Language Studies sub-programme, one of the three sub-programmes within UPSET. His main research interests include the design of Academic Literacy interventions and determining the impact of such interventions on student success. His research further focuses on the development of academic writing, with specific reference to the writing difficulties experienced by post-graduate writers.

Anneke Butler is a lecturer in the School of Languages at the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University in the Subject Group: Academic Literacy. Her research straddles Descriptive Linguistics and Applied Linguistics and she also lecturers Critical and Analytical Thinking. She currently serves as the undergraduate programme leader of the School of Languages.

Dr Pieter Odendaal

Dr Pieter Odendaal is a poet, playwright, lecturer translator and editor. His debut collection, asof geen berge ooit hier gewoon het nie (Tafelberg), received the 2019 Ingrid Jonker Prize. Odendaal holds a PhD in Creative Writing from QUT in Brisbane (2020) and currently teaches Creative Writing at North-West University in Potchefstroom. His play Droomwerk received the ATKV Woordveertjie and was nominated for the Hertzog Prize for Drama. Odendaal’s second poetry collection, Ontaard, appeared at Tafelberg in 2023, and has received the NIHSS award and the Eugène Marais Prize.

Prof Alison Kearney

Prof Alison Kearney is an Associate Professor in Art History and Theory in the Division of Visual Arts, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Johannesburg. She is an accomplished artist and scholar of South African art, with a multi-disciplinary research focus on exploring epistemologies of art. She holds a prestigious rating with the South African National Research Council. Her praxis includes making artworks that critically engage with the discourses and institutions of art, and analyzing modernist and contemporary African artworks that challenge inherited, western discourses of art. These interests inform her approaches to teaching and the educational work that she does with diverse audiences in the art museum. She was awarded an Ampersand Fellowship in 2018 for recognition of her work in museum education in 2018.

Prof Richardt Strydom

Prof Richardt Strydom is an award winning contemporary South African artist who works in a number of mediums including photography, digital collage, video, sound, painting, ceramics, ready-mades and appropriation and AI-generated art. Strydom has participated in numerous national and international art and design exhibitions. He has received a number of South African art awards including an ABSA L’Atelier Merit Award (1997), a Sasol New Signatures Merit Award (1997) and Overall Winner of the Sasol New Signatures Competition in 2008. Strydom as decades of experience in lecturing Graphic Design and has acted as judge for prestigious national design competitions such as the Loeries.

Prof Sol Chapole

Prof Sol Chaphole, MA, PhD. I am a linguist, literary theorist and polyglot. I received my training in Linguistics in South Africa, the UK, and the USA. I have held Visiting Professorships at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, the University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I currently hold the position of Extraordinary Professor at North-West University. My research interests include the development of African Languages.

Prof JS (Kobus) Wessels

JS (Kobus) Wessels (DPhil, University of Pretoria) is a professor of Public Administration at the University of South Africa (Unisa). He is a C2 National Research Foundation (NRF) rated researcher (C2). His research focuses on meaningful knowledge about public administration. He is co-editor of and contributor to several scholarly books, and has authored and co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications as well as several other contributions and reports. His recent interests include the selection of appropriate research approaches (e.g. case studies) and methods for context specific studies, as well as the use of appropriate learning strategies for preparing public administration managers for a changing world of work. He was the lead expert in a European Union funded project on the development of researched case studies to inform teaching and training case studies for the public sector (2018-2020).

Niall Mcnulty

As the Product Lead at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, Niall McNulty specializes in spearheading innovative technology and education initiatives. His primary focus is on harnessing the capabilities of Generative AI to both refine internal processes and provide robust support to educators and educational ministries. His employs AI technologies to enhance workflow efficiency and create effective tools that empower educational leaders and institutions globally.

Prof Jean du Toit

Jean du Toit is an Associate Professor in the School of Philosophy (Faculty of Humanities) at North-West University. He completed his Doctorate in Philosophy in 2018, after concluding his postgraduate studies in Biochemistry. He has studied at both North-West University in South Africa and Ghent University in Belgium. His research focuses on the question of embodiment in relation to digital technologies, tracing the existential and social implications thereof. He has also conducted research in the fields of Phenomenology, Philosophy of Technology, Critical Theory, Existentialism, and Posthumanism.

Prof Abiodun Salawu

Abiodun Salawu is Professor of Journalism, Communication and Media Studies and Director of the research entity, Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) at the North-West University, South Africa. He has taught and researched journalism, media and communication for close to three decades in Nigeria and South Africa. Prior to his academic career, he practised journalism in a number of print media organisations in Nigeria. He has an extensive record of national and international publications and conference presentations. Abiodun has also enjoyed fellowships (visiting researcher) at the University of Oxford, UK (Oppenheimer Fund Academic Exchange); University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Codesria/Carnegie African Diaspora Academic Support to African Universities); Lincoln University, UK (IRG/UK – SA Researcher Links programme); Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; and the University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea. He has also won a number of research grants. He is a co-vice chair of the journalism section of International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) and a member of editorial/advisory boards of a number of journals. He was involved in the founding of the International Association for Minority Language Media Research. He is a NRF C1 rated researcher. He is also a Distinguished Professor in the School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Woxsen University, Hyderabad, India.

Prof Liesl van der Merwe

Liesl van der Merwe is a professor in the School of Music at the North-West University, South Africa. Some of her research interests include music and well-being, positive psychology and music education, Dalcroze Eurhythmics, spirituality and lived musical experiences. She supervises postgraduate students and teaches research methodology, music education and bassoon. Liesl has published articles in high-impact journals. She also performs in chamber music ensembles and is the conductor of the North-West Youth Orchestra.

Prof Mokgadi Molope

Prof Molope holds a Masters in Development Studies and a PhD in Education Management which focuses on continuing professional development of community development practitioners. She serves as a Faculty Quality Coordinator (Humanities faculty) and a Deputy Director in the School of Social Sciences at the Mahikeng Campus of the North-West University. Mokgadi publishes and supervises in the area of community development, basic social services as well as gender and land issues. She co-edited a book abd is currently participating as a researcher in the DAAD sponsored Sustainable Development Goals Plus project with partners in Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Germany and Latin America.

Dr Musara Lebombo

Musara Lubombo is a Senior Lecturer at the NWU School of Communication. He teaches research methodologies at all academic levels. Musara specialises in guiding researchers who draw insight from their figured worlds, having supervised and examined numerous Master’s and doctoral candidates over the past ten years. Before joining the FHUM, Musara served as a Postgraduate Research Advising Specialist at the NWU Centre for Teaching & Learning where he presented numerous workshops on diverse aspects of qualitative research. Musara encourages the creative use of methodologies in ways that challenge the limits of his students' potential and transcend conventional Western-centric paradigms.

Prof Vera Roos

Vera Roos is Professor in the Ageing and Generational Dynamics in Africa (AGenDA) programme in the Optentia Research Unit at the North-West University, and an Affiliate Research Fellow of the Institute of Population Ageing at the University of Oxford. As a socio-gerontologist, she focuses on relational experiences and, from a community psychology perspective, on the contributions of older individuals in challenged contexts. Vera presented her research on topics related to enabling interpersonal contexts, loneliness, friendship, and intergenerational relations at national and international conferences, and has published widely, including three edited books. Vera developed the Mmogo-method®, a projective visual data-collection tool to enable research participation despite age, language or cultural barriers. Findings from this visual method informed the development of a relational theory, Self-Interactional Group Theory (SIGT). She developed an information and communication eDirectory system, Yabelana, with context-specific information for use on smart and older generation mobile phone devices.

Prof Janelize Morelli

Janelize Morelli is an associate professor of community music at the North-West University and a member of the MASARA research entity. She teaches undergraduate modules in community music and music education. Janelize supervises postgraduate students interested in transformative music education and community music. Her research interests include an ethic of care and post-human music education.

Prof Dumisani Moyo

Dumisani Moyo is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at North West University (NWU). He is Professor of Media and Communication Studies, and his research interests include media policy and regulation; and media, politics, culture and technology in Africa, and he has published widely in these areas. His major works include four co-edited books: Radio in Africa: Publics, Cultures, Communities (Wits Press, 2011); Media Policy in a Changing Southern Africa: Critical Reflections on Media Reforms in the Global Age (UNISA Press, 2010); Mediating Xenophobia in Africa: Unpacking Discourses of Migration, Belonging and Othering (Palgrave, 2020); and Re-imagining Communication in Africa and the Caribbean: Global South Issues in Media , Culture and Technology (Palgrave, 2021). He has served as a board member for a number of international organisations, including the African Studies Association (ASA); the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation (IPATC); the Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and the Investigative Journalism Hub (IJ-Hub) where he is currently Board Chairperson.

Mrs Doris Viljoen

Doris Viljoen is the director of Institute for Futures Research (IFR) at Stellenbosch Business School, where she endeavours to interpret global as well as local trends and assess their relevance for South Africa and Africa. She has specialised skills in environmental scanning, the application of foresight methodology, scenario planning as well as strategy development. She has a wide range of research interests and is passionate about asking the right questions, searching for and finding relevant data as well as designing tools and techniques to facilitate thinking about plausible futures. She also lectures on Stellenbosch Business School’s Postgraduate Diploma and M Phil in Futures Studies.

Prof Barend Prinsloo

Barend Prinsloo, PhD, is an Associate Professor and serves as the Programme Leader for International and National Security within the School of Government Studies at the NWU. His expertise lies in the analysis of geopolitical events and their impact on South Africa, with a specific focus on threats to the State, including terrorism and transnational organized crime. As an author, he has contributed to numerous accredited academic, as well as opinion pieces in popular literature. As a speaker, panelist, and moderator, he has presented various papers on international platforms. His professionally accredited to the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals (IACSP) since his acceptance in 2017.

Niki Govender

Nikita Govender is an nGAP lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the North-West University (NWU), Potchefstroom Campus. Nikita began her academic journey at the NWU in March 2023 and is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Pretoria. She holds an LLB (cum laude) degree and an LLM Research (cum laude) degree from the Nelson Mandela University. Having worked in the field of international humanitarian law, Nikita is a humanitarian at heart. Her research is rooted in issues of global and regional armed conflict with specific focus on vulnerable, marginalised, and ostracised groups of persons.

Prof Blessed Ngwenya

Blessed Ngwenya is an Associate Professor in the Optentia Research Unit at North-West University, South Africa. He is the Director of Inclusion and Decolonial Praxis, a programme that focuses on research regarding the enhancement of the capabilities of diverse individuals, groups, and institutions. Prof. Ngwenya, who graduated with a DPhil in Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford, has worked on inclusivity, diversity, decoloniality and sustainability projects. He is a transdisciplinary scholar who works on decolonising knowledge and has interests in structural inequities that encompass the law, identity, transformation, education rights and the media.

Prof Piet Croucamp

Piet Croucamp is an associate professor in the School of Government Studies, and is also involved in the Business School, at the North-West University. His research and writing are mostly on violence as a feature of vulnerable democracies. Interrogating the origins of public opinion is a curiosity and part-time hobby.

Mr Johan van Heerden

Johannes Goosen van Heerden (Johan) has a background in intelligence analysis. He was employed with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), Defense Intelligence for eleven years focusing on strategic intelligence. He then spent ten years at the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) with one of the focus areas the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and representing the FIC at the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (NICOC). He is currently a Fraud Analytics Manger at one of the major financial institutions in South Africa. He holds a master’s degree in development & management (Security Studies) whose topic focused on the concept of national security and he is currently working to the completion of a PhD in Security Studies & Management.

Mr Willem Els

Since April 2013, Willem Els has been a Senior Training Coordinator at the Enact Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria. His work focuses on terrorism and the nexus between terrorism and transnational organised crime, with specific emphasis on Africa. Within this context, he also facilitates and renders technical assistance to various bomb disposal and terrorism investigation units in Africa. Willem has travelled extensively throughout Africa, where he delivered specialised training on various aspects of the threat of terrorism, extremism, radicalisation, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE), and counter-terrorism to law enforcement and criminal justice officials. Prior to his current position at the ISS, he served in the South African Police Service for 28 years, including as the commander of the Pretoria Explosives Unit. Willem joined SAPS in 1984 and served in various specialised units, including the VIP Unit, Anti-Hijack Unit, Crime Intelligence Service, and Explosives Unit. Willem has completed various bomb disposal and investigation and CBRNE courses in South Africa and abroad. Willem holds a BA Hons Degree in Policing Practice from the Southern Business School.

Mr Richard Chelin

Richard Chelin is a governance specialist focusing on issues of anti-corruption, governance and criminal justice. He is currently the anticorruption advisor at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in Pretoria. Previously, Richard was a senior researcher exploring issues of corruption and organised crime. His research interests are in the field of governance and development. He holds a MSocSci in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Prof Barend Prinsloo

Barend Prinsloo, PhD, is an Associate Professor and serves as the Programme Leader for International and National Security within the School of Government Studies at the NWU. His expertise lies in the analysis of geopolitical events and their impact on South Africa, with a specific focus on threats to the State, including terrorism and transnational organized crime. As an author, he has contributed to numerous accredited academic, as well as opinion pieces in popular literature. As a speaker, panelist, and moderator, he has presented various papers on international platforms. His professionally accredited to the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals (IACSP) since his acceptance in 2017.

Prof Heath Grant

In addition to being full-time faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Dr. Grant was recently the Director of Research at the Police Executive Research Forum, a leading Washington policing think tank. A 15-year program executive, he has led the creation of both crime prevention programs and innovative methods to promote the rule of law in public schools, police agencies, and correctional facilities throughout Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas on behalf of the US State Department. He is the author of numerous books, training curricula, and articles on the rule of law and social crime prevention efforts globally.

Mr John Melkon

Mr. John Melkon is the Director of the Center for the Study of Civil-Military Operations and an Assistant Professor at the United States Military Academy. He teaches the Geography of the Middle East and Africa and the Civ-Mil Ops Colloquium. From 2006-2012, Mr. Melkon served as a Senior Operations Advisor to the United States Army Africa with service to OPERATION ODYSSEY DAWN, and a Strategic Operations Officer for the Department of Defense globally with service to OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. He is a retired Army Special Forces Officer with tours in Europe, Africa, SE Asia, the Middle East and multiple combat tours in Afghanistan. He has been awarded the Ranger Tab, Special Forces Tab, and the Combat Infantry Badge. John is a PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University. He holds an AB History from Princeton, an MA European Politics and Certificate of Professional Achievement in Enterprise Risk from Columbia, and an MBA and MAIA from Texas A&M University.

Prof Pieter du Toit

Pieter is a professor of law at the North-West University in South Africa. His teaching and research activities focus on criminal law and procedure. He established the Professional LLM in Criminal Law and Procedure, the first qualification of its kind at a South African law faculty. Some of his research outputs have been considered in judgments of the High Court and the Constitutional Court. Pieter was initially in private practice as an attorney. Before joining the university in 2006, he was employed by the national prosecuting authority as a prosecutor in the regional court and the High Court.

Adv Adele Barnard

As a seasoned Senior State Advocate at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of South Africa, I have dedicated 26 years to serving justice. My expertise lies in prosecuting complex criminal cases, particularly those related to terrorism and specialized commercial crime offenses. Notably, I successfully led the prosecution in the high-profile case of State vs Brandon-Lee Thulsie and another, involving twin brothers linked to the Islamic State group in South Africa. Additionally, I have extensive experience prosecuting high-profile matters involving commercial crimes such as corruption, fraud, and racketeering. My commitment to upholding the law and ensuring that those who threaten national security and economic stability are held accountable has been a driving force throughout my career.

Mr Sello Moerane

Mr. Sello MOERANE is a citizen of the Republic of South African, with vast experience in law enforcement in the employ of South African Government. He boasts a highly decorated career that spans 32 years of both national and international police cooperation, having served in numerous positions and portfolios such as financial investigations, intelligence collection and analysis, multi-agency and interagency collaboration. Mr. Moerane is the current Head of INTERPOL Regional Bureau for Southern Africa in Harare, which doubles as the operational implementation coordination office of Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation (SARPCCO) in partnership with Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat. He worked at INTERPOL I.C.P.O. Lyon-France for a period of ten (10) years, as a Criminal Intelligence Officer, Program and Project Manager and Head of the Drugs Unit, covering thematic operational matters on Aviation, Maritim\e and border security on transnational organized crime and financial investigative matters. He coordinated, facilitated, and managed the implementation of international joint activities and projects with agencies such as World Custom Organization (WCO), United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), European Union Commission (EU), and various regional police organizations such as EUROPOL, AMERIPOL, ASEANPOL and AFRIPOL. He holds qualification on Postgraduate Degree in Public Management in Security, BTECH in Policing, Diploma in Policing and has number of certificates including Fraud Examiner, Certificate on PRENCI Project Management, Project approach on highly organized syndication and follow proceeds of crime.

Warrant Officer Wynand Olivier

Warrant Officer Wynand Olivier is an individual with an exemplary career in law enforcement, starting with the South African Police Service in January 1992. He began his service in the Uniform Branch, where he rose to the rank of Warrant Officer in 2001. By 2008, he transitioned to the Detective Branch, specializing in the investigation of serious violent crimes. Since 2011, he has served with the DPCI, focusing on high-profile, complex cases related to terrorism, espionage, and sabotage. His dedication has earned him numerous commendations, including for his role in prosecuting South Africa’s first ISSI-related case.