UFH SARChI Chair postdoc’s stellar scholarly contributions paves way for prestigious Marie Jahoda Fellowship
A Postdoctoral fellow under the SARChI Chair: Sexualities, Gender and Queer Studies at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) Dr Princess Sibanda’s stellar scholarly contribution has been recognized with a selection to become the first postdoc to join the Marie Jahoda Fellowship programme at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), Germany, as a visiting academic.
Regarded as the beacon for RUB Gender Studies, the programme named after Marie Jahoda - who was an eminent scholar and activist - aims to promote international exchange on research and teaching in the field of gender studies as well as the establishment of sustainable international cooperation.
Dr Sibanda is a scholar-activist whose research interest lies in the in participatory performance forms of every day and their intersections with race, gender and sexualities in Africa. She holds a PhD and a MA in Drama & Performance Studies (summa cum laude) from the University of KwaZulu Natal.
Her selection follows the SARChI Chair, Prof. zethu Matebeni’s tenure as a Visiting Prof at the Marie Jahoda Fellowship programme.
While at Bochum, Dr Sibanda will be involved in research activities surrounding the international summer school “Queer Masculinities”, which will be hosted by the SARChI Chair in East London, South Africa next march. At RUB, she will work in particular with Prof Henriette Gunkel from the Institute for Media Studies and Paulena Müller from the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). Dr Sibanda will also deliver a public lecture on 17 January 2024.
Commenting on this befitting opportunity, Dr Sibanda said being the first postdoc fellow to be selected since the inception of the prestigious programme is an honour.
“I am elated, humbled, grateful and feeling all kinds of emotions at once. For a person who comes from a very humble background such opportunities remind me that where I come from does not determine my destiny.”
“This recognition is also an affirmation of my scholarly contributions in the field. I feel seen. As an emerging scholar who is trying to carve a niche in the field there is nothing more fulfilling for me than being afforded space to tell stories, share my truths, knowledge, insights, curiosities and thoughts with the world.”
The 2018 Canon Collins scholars scholar awardee graduated with her PhD in Drama and Performance Studies last year, for her research she explored Zimbabwean sex workers’ stories. This October will mark one year with the SARChI Chair at UFH.
Through her work, Dr Sibanda hopes to encourage more nuanced engagements with African subjects and their experiences on gender and sexualities.
“A lot has been written about gender and sexualities in Africa by scholars and activists from the Global North. Often these stories are premised on peripheral knowledge about our people and how gender and sexualities manifest. As an African scholar who lives on the continent, telling our stories and experiences from an African perspective is what we have been hankering for.”
Dr Sibanda will also be running a participatory theatre workshop with students at the university. “Participatory theatre methods are collaborative and dialogic which allows for all of us to learn from one another.”
“One of the things that I am looking forward to is networking. I will get the opportunity to meet and work with some notable scholars in gender studies. I am also excited about the prospects of working with and being mentored by Prof Gunkel, and meeting students who will be coming to the International Queer Masculinities Summerschool that will be hosted by the Chair.”
“This opportunity is testament to the top-tier mentorship that I have received from SARChI Chair at UFH. It is an affirming space in which I feel seen and heard. I am very grateful to my host, Prof. Zethu.”