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.