Humanities News

Unique research into Afrikaans #**! words

Many would argue that there is nothing like an Afrikaans swear word if you really want to get something off your chest; now the Faculty of Humanities at the North-West University (NWU) is conducting a unique multidisciplinary research project on Afrikaans swear words and related phenomena.

The NWU is undertaking the project in…

NWU’s humanities recognised in world rankings

The North-West University (NWU) has always prided itself on its performance in international and national rankings. These rankings are good benchmarks for comparing the quality of education at the university with that of other universities, locally and abroad.

The newest ranking results by Times Higher Education World University…

PhD in Setswana: a first for NWU’s campus in Mahikeng

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Mahikeng conferred the first ever Setswana PhD in the history of the Department of Setswana, since its establishment about 39 years ago.

A Doctor of Philosophy in Languages and Literature in Setswana was conferred on Eileen Elizabeth Pooe, an educator, lecturer and head of the Department…

ILMA conference to highlight social media challenges

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) research niche area is gearing up for its 2020 conference on Social Media, Fake News and Hate Speech.

ILMA’s research director Prof Abiodun Salawu says the research entity’s goal is to research indigenous language media and traditional communication systems…

NWU women shine at prestigious science awards

North-West University (NWU) women continue to shine during Women’s Month and their extraordinary achievements do not go unnoticed.

On 15 August a researcher from the NWU took home a South African Women in Science award and a student received the DST-Albertina Sisulu Fellowship award for her doctoral studies at the prestigious award…

Africa’s first language centre launched to promote indigenous languages

At last! Hard work and dedication finally paid off. The government-established South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) was officially launched on 7 August 2019 on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Potchefstroom.

SADiLaR is a platform that creates and manages digital resources and software supporting…

Prof Monica Ferreira receives an honorary doctorate from the NWU

The North-West University (NWU) honoured Prof Monica Ferreira with an honorary doctorate on 22 May 2019 as the most prominent first-generation exponent of research on and the development of a policy on ageing in Africa.

She was nominated by the Faculty of Humanities for her extensive pioneering work in this field in Africa and…

Game of Thrones does not play by the rules

Game of Thrones breaks all the rules of film making. That is why it is such a huge success. “There are rules and laws of film making that you have to abide by, unless you want to create a specific effect,” says Phil Pretorius from the School of Communication Studies on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark.

He partly…

Graduation ceremony signals dawn of new generation of impact makers

“A graduation ceremony is essentially a symbolic recognition of a new generation of leaders, opinion-makers, experts, artists, scientists and entrepreneurs. In short: a day when the doers of tomorrow step to the fore to be counted as proud stewards of sustainability, innovation and progress.”

This is according to Prof Linda du Plessis, deputy…

Research explores the spread and prevention of HIV/Aids in Africa

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) Prof Erhabor Idemudia recently broke ground on research that looks at African cultural practices that aid the spread of HIV/Aids and what can be done to curtail this. 

According to Prof Idemudia’s research, African culture is generally male-dominated, with women accorded a lower status than men.…