DIALOGUE ON GANG VIOLENCE - 15 October 2012

Dialogue on Gang violence

Hosted by Political Studies/Pugwash/SABC on  15 October 2012

The event, jointly hosted by the South African brance of Pugwash and Radio Sonder Grense (RSG) saw a panel of guests being questioned by the reasoned jounalist, Lynette Francis, and fielding questions from the audience and public. 
Guests were: 

·         Minister Dan Plato, MEC for Community Safety, Western Cape

·         Ivan Waldeck (ProPeace)

·         Errol Valentine (Community Action towards A Safer Environment)
Elrena van der Spuy (Centre of Criminology, UCT)

·         Lukas Muntingh (Community Law Centre, UWC)

The debate was broadcasted live from UWC. The broadcast was followed by a panel discussion on gangs and gang violence, including:

Serena Isaacs (Lecturer, Department of Psychology, UWC): The influence of exposure to community violence on adolescents’ sense of hope and perceptions of well-being

Dr. Cleeve Robertson (Division of Emergency Medicine): A view from the medical profession on gang violence

Derica Lambrechts (Lecturer, Political Studies, University of Stellenbosch): The impact of gang-community interaction on state authority

Ashley Potts (Cape Town Drug Councelling Centre): Addressing gang violence through addressing addiction

Mr Eric Nduna (South African National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders -NICRO): The challenges of reintegrating former gang members into society: NICRO’s work

 

Radio interview: The Politics of Fear

Rian Leith from the Department of Political Studies was the featured guest on the live morning actuality programme Praat Saam, broadcast on Radio Sonder Grense 100-104fm on Monday, 1 October 2012. The topic of the interview was The Politics of Fear.

To listen to the interview (in Afrikaans), click here.

Post-graduate Applications for 2013: Deadline 31 October 2012

Applications for post-graduate studies in the Department of Political Studies for 2013 close on 31 October 2013. So get those applications in NOW!

We offer:
B.Admin Honours and BA Honours degrees in Political Studies:
Admission requirement is a Bachelors degree with Political Studies (or a cognate discipline) as major and 60% average.
M.Admin or MA or MPhil (full thesis OR structured) in Political Studies:
Admission requirement is an Honours degree in Political Studies (or a cognate discipline) with 60% average. 
PhD in Political Studies:
Admission requirement is a Masters degree in Political Studies (or a cognate discipline) with 65% average.

Note that the application process is competitive and places are limited.

Please apply online here and remember to send the following supporting documentation:

• Degree certificate Transcript of grades
• Academic writing sample, e.g. an essay you prepared for your last degree course 
• Research note - 2 page description of the topic you would like investigate in your research project or thesis
• Names and contact details (email/phone no) of 2 referees
• SAQA certificate is compulsory for all foreign students, please see here.

Contact details: Dr. Joelien Pretorius Email: jpretorius@uwc.ac.za

Departmental Seminar Series 2012

As coordinator of the Political Studies Departmental Seminar Series it is my great pleasure to announce that the first term progamme of the Political Studies Departmental Seminar Series has just been uploaded on this website. In addition, an eTeaching website has been created from which all Political Studies Staff and Students at UWC can download background readings and presentations for the sessions and seminars of this year. The course name of the eTeaching site is "politicsseminars". The site also includes a discussion forum feature, if you would like to share your comments and views.

This year we are linking up in a global south dialogue with the American University Cairo in Egypt to explore together key topics, including the 'Arab Spring', 'China and India's role in Africa' and 'African Regional Integration'. Thus, with the global south dialogue series in political studies involving UWC and ACU, a truely intellectual Cape-to-Cairo bridge is established, thanks to the initiatives of Prof. Mohamed Fahmy Menza of ACU and Prof. Joelien Pretorius of UWC. In addition, we have guest scholar Prof Jessica Piombo from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, presenting on peace processes in Africa. More to come.

Yours, Thierry Luescher-Mamashela