SEMINAR AIMS TO INCREASE RESEARCH OUTPUT WITHIN THE VUT’S FACULTY OF HUMAN SCIENCES
By: Puleng Maphisa 25 October 2022
The Faculty of Human Sciences at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) recently hosted a research seminar organised by its Department of Legal Sciences. Under the theme “Rebuilding and Revitalising: New Advances and Research in Social Sciences and Humanities”, the primary aim of the seminar was to promote research within the faculty and ultimately contribute towards achieving VUT’s strategic goal to increase research productivity.
In his welcome address, the Faculty’s Executive Dean, Professor Michael Masemola, mentioned that the university’s strategic goal 2 to increase research productivity finds expression in the Faculty of Human Sciences research seminar. The seminar creates a platform to “enhance research output, innovation, technology transfer and commercialisation to contribute to the quality of teaching and learning in the university, to contribute to the institution’s sustainability and to strengthen social impact through community engagement.”
Prof Masemola also addressed all the presenters and members of the faculty in the audience, saying, “this is an occasion for us to increase the frontiers of knowledge production within the university. It is time that we not only propose new ideas but also put a footprint on the research landscape.” Prof Masemola further stated, “There is great enthusiasm to innovate, and that is our strength. I’m quite clear that this seminar allows us all to think very clearly about what we want to achieve in the next three years.”
Dr Veruschka Pelser-Carstens from the North-West University (NWU) delivered the seminar’s keynote address with a presentation titled “Creating a Disparate Social Perspective through Integrated thinking in Higher Education.”
During the seminar, a total of fourteen papers that were presented by scholars within the – both emerging and seasoned. The following were papers and their respective presenters:
- Challenges and Pitfalls of Managing Staff Discipline and Performance Remotely by Ms N Raath and Ms I du Preez.
- A Postphenomenological Reading of the Impact of Interactivity on the Non-Fiction Representation of Place in Far Away from Far Away by Dr A de Klerk.
- Examining e-mountain biking as part of the active and adventure tourism market in South Africa by Ms A van Vuuren.
- A Critical Discussion of the History and Development of Pension Fund by Mr N Mbedzi.
- Exploring the use of Biometrics in Gauteng Institutions of Higher Learning by Ms NS Mokoena.
- Stakeholders’ Perceptions Regarding the Economic Impacts of World Heritage Sites: Case Study in Vredefort, Free State by Ms K Ngidi.
- A critical review of the application of marketing mediums in the accommodation sector: An SME perspective by Dr K Twala.
- An Empty Promise? – A View on the National Credit Amendment Act, 7 of 2019 by Ms M Sowerby and Mr M Maanda.
- Visual representation of the July 2021 violence/civil unrest through political cartoon in South Africa: Marxist analysis by Mr MJ Makwela; Mr AM Pillay & Mr TP Bojabotseha.
- Going out there – A literature review on drive tourism within the South African context by Ms L Hattingh.
- Neither X nor XY? Accommodating Non-Binary Individuals in the Workplace by Adv. L Japtha
- A Political Lull? South Africa between 1960 and the early 70s by Mr T Bojabotseha.
- Different expectations strain tourism development: a tale of three stakeholder groups by Mr V Mukundamago.
- Reflecting on the future for the South African higher education sector in the post-Covid-19 era by Dr C Chitumwa.