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Godsell’s history book chapter

Sarah Godsell’s chapter on ‘“Both Sides of the Story”: The Epistemic Nature of Historical Knowledge as Understood by Pre-service History Teachers in a South African University’ appears in the open-access book Teachers and the Epistemology of History 

Abstract

Godsell draws on “Both sides of the story”, a concept outlined by Teeger (American Sociological Review, 80(6):1175–1200, 2015), to explore ways in which pre-service history teachers in a South African institution position themselves towards history epistemically, including positions on neutrality, and historical “truth.” Godsell draws on how pre-service teachers grapple with the “both sides of the story” concept—which Teeger has shown as a false narrative used to quell discomfort when teaching uncomfortable Apartheid history in South African schools. Godsell draws on her own students’ interaction with this concept, often defending it as an appropriate pedagogical choice to navigate painful history. Godsell argues for an understanding of epistemic stance that takes into account a range of issues about learning context: the students’, the country, and the history curriculum.

Source: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-58056-7_5

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Sarah Godsell at Future Nation Schools

Sarah Godseel at Future Nation Schools

An honour beyond measure: Dr Sarah Godsell’s inspiring words filled our hearts at the Future Nation Schools’ Queen’s Day High Tea.

Sarah Godsell is a renowned South African poet, academic, and activist known for her profound insights and passionate advocacy for social justice. Born and raised in South Africa, Sarah’s journey has been marked by a commitment to using literature and academia as tools for empowerment and impactful change.

Watch how we celebrated the incredible mothers who light up our school community…

Video: Instagram

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All African Women Poetry (AAWP) Festival wraps up, hosted successful four days Poetry & Play event, vangile gantsho was there!

vangile gantsho far left is a member of the small girl rising trio

Some of the scheduled guests, panelists and performers who attended the poetry festival were Moyosola Olowokure, Winnie Madoro, Nyangari Macharia, Claudia Owusu, Deborah Johnson, Effie Nkrumah, Titilope Sonuga, Maryam Bukar Hassan (Alhanislam), Mo’Africa Wa Mokgathi (born Muriel Mokgathi-Mvubu), vangile gantsho, Theresa Ankomah, Agness Panfred and Vivian Boeteng.

Source: AAWP festival

Video: vangile gantsho

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Busisiwe Mahlanga

This is the sixth in a series of long-form interviews by Patron Makhosazana Xaba that focus on contemporary collections by Black women and non-binary poets.

An extended interview with Busisiwe Mahlangu

Busisiwe: I used to think ‘House’ was my most popular poem (and I stopped performing it because I wanted to be known for other works). A vivid moment stands out: during my Current State of Poetry showcase at the Joburg Theatre, the audience began reciting the poem with me on stage! It felt like the poetry version of a sing-along.  

Read more: Johannesburg Review of Books

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danai mupotsa et al. published in the parallax journal

‘Memory Work Alerts Consciousness’: Danai S. Mupotsa and Mbali Mazibuko in Conversation by Danai Mupotsa, Mbali Mazibuko,Maya Caspari, and Ruth Daly

“This article forms part of the special issue of parallax, ‘Reading Otherwise: Decolonial Feminisms’. The issue features conversations which took place 2021–2023. Prompts relating to the speakers’ work and the key terms of the issue were circulated ahead of this conversation. We started the conversation by asking what had brought them to their work.

Danai Mupotsa is Senior Lecturer in African Literature at Wits University. She is a poet, feminist teacher, researcher, and cultural critic. Her work focuses on gender and sexualities, Black intellectual traditions and histories, intimacy and affect, popular culture, and questions of justice and feminist pedagogies. In 2018, she published her debut collection of poetry, feeling and ugly, with impepho press. Recent publications include ‘Framing notes–COVID-19: The intimacies of pandemics’ (2021), ‘Cinematic imaginaries of the African city’, in Social Dynamics (2021), and ‘A Queering-to-Come’ (2020).

Mbali Mazibuko is Lecturer in Gender Studies at the University of South Africa. Mazibuko completed her doctoral degree titled ‘Rebellious Black femininities: Embodiments of freedom, desire and agency in South African popular culture from 1980 to present’ in 2023. Her work focuses on gender-based violence, power, affect theories, popular culture, methodological ethics of sensuality, care, compassion and rage and feminist pedagogical justice. Her most recent publications include ‘Nasi iStocko! Forging contemporary feminist imaginaries of liberation’ (2022), ‘Being a Feminist in the Fallist Movement in Contemporary South Africa’ (2020), and a review essay of Surfacing: On Being Black and Feminist in South Africa (Desiree Lewis and Gabeba Baderoon, eds.) (2022). ‘Semhle, Sbwl: Where Black Women Can Meet Grief During and Beyond a Pandemic’ was published in Lavender Fields: Black Women Experiencing Fear, Agency and Hope in the time of COVID-19 (ed. Julia S. Jordan-Zachery) in 2023.”

Please read the article here.

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feeling and ugly reviewed by The Johannesburg Review of Books

Danai Mupotsa

[Conversation Issue] ‘Poetry refuses the abstraction of theory’—danai mupotsa in conversation with Makhosazana Xaba

Mupotsa’s feeling and ugly presents femininity as a complex framework for thinking about how private life intersects with politics. It shows how through poetry, something as ubiquitous as feeling becomes a powerful means of conveying as much as transcending the ugly side of life. (Ainehi Edoro)

Source: The Johannesburg Review of Books