Academic News

NWU mourns passing of top economist

Staff and students of the North-West University (NWU) are mourning the untimely passing of Dr Andre Mellet (65), on Monday, 8 May 2017.

Dr Mellet, a highly acclaimed and respected economist, was a lecturer within the School of Economics on the NWU’s campus in Vanderbiljpark. He joined the university (then the PU for CHE) in 1997 as a…

Autumn Graduation Ceremony – the coming of age of future leaders

A total of 1 400 students will graduate during the upcoming Autumn Graduation Ceremony of the North-West University’s (NWU) campus in Vanderbijlpark.

The four-day graduation ceremony, consisting of nine sessions, will be held at the Quest Conference Estate in Vanderbijlpark, where the success and achievement of graduates in the Faculty of…

NWU academic: listening to the sounds of the stars

Prof Thebe Rodney Medupe, an academic from the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Mahikeng presented his inaugural lecture titled “Listening to the sounds of the stars: Molodi wa di naledi” on 4 May 2017 to the Mahikeng community and astronomers alike.

Prof Medupe, a South African astrophysicist and astrophysics professor,…

Teamwork makes the NWU dream work – Prof Linda du Plessis

If teamwork is the ability to marry individual accomplishments to existing institutional goals, then the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark boasts with a dynamic ethos of collegiality and teamwork.

This is the sentiment of Prof Linda du Plessis, acting campus rector, when reflecting upon the campus’s most recent…

NWU expert: UN Security Council crippled by internal power struggles

Is it possible that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has become a pointless forum for the discussion of grave human rights breaches occurring in various parts of the world?

This is the question Dr Illyayambwa Mwanawina, an expert in regional integration, international law, good governance and human rights at the North-West…

Danish expert sheds light on boredom in the classroom

“The optimism that most children are born with – the joy of learning, playing and simply living when they are small – gradually diminishes for many learners. This happens if they sense that, no matter how much they try to do well in school, they can’t succeed.” These are the words of Prof Hans Henrik Knoop, extraordinary professor at the…

NWU’s campus in Mahikeng records a surge in doctoral degrees

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Campus in Mahikeng recorded a surge in doctoral degree graduates during its recent autumn graduation ceremony. Thirty-nine doctoral degrees out of a total of 2 233 degrees across all faculties were conferred, with 11 of these being university staff members.

In addition, the campus also conferred…

NWU produces first Indigenous Knowledge Systems graduates in Africa

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Mahikeng produced its first group of graduates who graduated with a Bachelor in Indigenous Knowledge Systems (BIKS) degree during the recent autumn graduation ceremony. This group is also the first BIKS graduates in Africa.

The significance of this graduation was marked by the presence…

NWU rector shares lessons learned from #Feesmustfall

Prof Linda du Plessis, acting rector of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark, recently acted as key note speaker at the 2017 PMR Awards ceremony held at the Riverside Hotel in Vanderbijlpark. 

Prof Du Plessis gave the audience, comprising members of the private and public sectors of the Sedibeng business community,…

NWU public lecture explores the link between race and identity

The subject group Theology and Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark recently hosted a public lecture about the link between identity and race.

The lecture shared the narratives of two people from different continents: a woman who was born to white parents who views herself…