| News and Awards |
| Written by Tomaselli, Keyan | |
|
The news bulletin is usually managed by Prof Keyan Tomaselli, and he is consistent in sending our news and information about his CCMS colleagues, CCMS students and CCMS graduates. It is rare, however, that he provides any information on his own work and achievements. Tomaselli has been on sabbatical leave this semester, so I am therefore going to take the opportunity of updating recipients on Tomaselli's achievements this year, and on some student activities. 1 UKZN's Top 30 Researchers for 2005 Tomaselli is once again located in this August list of the UKZN top 30. In 2004 he was ranked UKZN's fourth most prolific researcher. This Award has been earned by Tomaselli on a number of occasions, and is testament to the extraordinary research capacity that he has built up in the Faculty over two decades years, to which many of his students have contributed. The grant awarded will be again used by Tomaselli to employ research assistants to work on the various research projects being managed by him in the areas of media, cultural tourism, and public health communication. 2 New book: Encountering Modernity: Twentieth Century Cinemas in South Africa, authored by Keyan Tomaselli. Rozenberg Publishers/SAVUSA, Amsterdam & UNISA Press, Pretoria, 2006. Tomaselli travels to Amsterdam this week to launch his new book. The publisher writes: "A book describing the history of South African cinemas can never be about cinemas only, for the subject will always be intimately intertwined with its context, in this case 20th century South Africa. Keyan Tomaselli, one of the founders of cultural studies in South Africa, explores in this book how South African cinemas and films have been decidedly shaped by the country's history. In turn, films have inspired their makers and audiences to understand, and come to terms with, the complex phenomenon of modernity. Discussing film theory, narratives, audiences and key South African films and filmmakers, Tomaselli aptly demonstrates that the time has come to adapt a more 'African' view on South African cinemas, since western theories and models cannot automatically be applied to an African context. Far from shying away from the personal, Tomaselli gives a conscientious and telling account of how his own experiences as a film maker, a cultural studies scholar, and a South African, have inevitably influenced his academic viewpoints and analysis." Tomaselli says he's like to thank Diedre Donnelly and Lauren Dyll especially for their research and editing assistance on the book over the past two and a half years. Lauren is currently studying for her PhD, and Diedre took up a post with Country Life, and is presently working on Oprah's magazine in Cape Town. The book has one co-authored chapter with the late Arnold Shepperson. This is the second of his books in the SAVUSA Series. The first title which launched the series, also published by Keyan, was published in November 2005, also in Amsterdam (Where Global Contradictions are Sharpest: Research Stories from the Kalahari") 3 Keynote and Plenary Conference Addresses Keynote Addresses and presentations at influential conferences and meetings have been invited from Tomaselli since July from organisations in London (media studies), The Hague (public health communication), Sardinia (film festival jury), Rhodes University (cyberdemocracy), Australia (film and history), Stellenbosch (African media studies), and Johannesburg (documentary film). The presence of CCMS staff (and sometimes students) at these meetings always positively raises the profile of UKZN and of those associated with these projects. 4 Critical and Indigenous Methodologies My congratulations to Tomaselli, Lauren Dyll and Mick Francis on their contribution, "Self and Other: Auto, Reflexive and Indigenous Ethnography" In Denzin, N. et al. (eds.) The Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies. London: Sage. The prestige of being invited to contribute to this series cannot be overstated: only the world's top scholars are invited to contribute to this social science series. Their chapter arises directly out of the 12 years of research that Tomaselli and over 70 graduate students (especially Lauren and Mick) have conducted in the Kalahari and the Drakensberg since 1995. 5 Memories of Modernity In June I traveled with Natalie Emslie and Alison Copley to Sweden where we participated in the first phase of a two year collaborative project with the University of Malmo, Memories of Modernity. We then participated in a development media seminar a the Nordic-African Studies Centre Upsala, where the University there was established in 986AD. The second phase of this project occurs in Durban in November, where a number of CCMS students will participate with their peers from Sweden. The project is being organized at UKZN with the cente for Creative Arts and the department Art History and Fine Arts in PMB. Natalie is coordinating the project in Durban, while Alison and Chrs Logie are currently studying on an exchange at the University of Oslo. Brilliant Mhlanga was the first CCMS student to study in Oslo, during the first semester of 2006. 6 Other Conferences and events A report on the SA COmmunication Association conference has aready been circulated. Ali Abdi Seid was a delegate at the Highway Africa Conference at Rhodes University in early September. Mary Lange and Laren Dyll took a group of Bechet Secondary School puplis to then UK, as part of the ARROW outreach Project. There they painted the Desmond Tutu Memorial Wall at the University College of St Mark and St John |