Rhodes University Anthropology-Personal Reflection
Bulelani 'General' Mvengenya
A lovely senior staff member of the Anthropology department has approached me for a peaice of reflection. I really don't take this lightly, especially because these people have not only told me that they care about me. As it has always been, the Anthropology Department is the small department that comprises a distinctive group of people that distinguishes itself for care and love.
We all speak about transformation and how best education can be delivered in this country but to what extent do we go about practicing it? do the leaders promote such a culture? I want you to judge for yourself as I am laying out my own gained from personal exposure and experience throughout the four years of being an undergraduate student at Rhodes University.
It is in this department that I have gained confidence and faith in my abilities to succeed in the higher education system. My first two years of study in the Anthropology ended with the year 2017 it is throughout these two years that I have enjoyed a lot of support from fellow students who were most of my friends and as smilingly as of today I am happy that it is students we have studied together in this department who understand and respect me most. Not that the entities of social identity such as ,race religion, class, age, gender, nationality and sex that are responsible for the most of conflict do not exist but it is just amazing that in such a department this diversity is embraced.
The strong and positive relationship web that has been in this department can perfectly be illustrated when one looks in the relationship between staff and students who have left the department. Personally I have never been made to feel inferior by either fellow students or staff member at my numerous conditions under which I have been enjoying voluntary and exceptional support from just everyone. Throughout my studies, I have realized how quickly, easy and practically the academics can accelerate the transformation endeavors in this discipline and I think its either or both the willingness and the nature of this discipline.
Through my experience of learning, I have gained the understanding that both the leader and a teacher need be in a way an inspiration and role models for the followers or learners in the case of learning environment to admire such person. I do believe that this plays a role in achieving a common goal in every module thought. If I may elaborate on what is in this package, it is more possibly than impossibly for learners to love the course thought by their best lecturer. Another aspect, when the lecturer has positive expectations about the outcomes from the student, students usually portray or at least exercise high level of dedication especially when these expectations are given birth to by the already-existing positive relation I have attributed to this phenomenal department in a dynamic society of scholarship.
It is in this department that giant lecturers like Dr. Joy Owen, a scholar of note encouraged conversations and engagement of social discourses on a most vulnerable human levels for the therapeutic processes that would happen concurrently as she teaches. In our reflection of such an uncomfortably classroom recreation, one agreed that such conversations as uncomfortable as they are, are necessary for collective healing of our society. The way we reacted when "Mam' Joy" as we referred to her informed us about her departure from Rhodes University in our exam revision session that was highly attended, we all never wanted to take it and she had to convince us that it was for best for her and her son-the most loved, our youngest brother who her mom introduced to all of us many moths before his birth. The way Mam' Joy was so open to us about her own life experiences, I think forms part of why it was always easy for us all to share everything we go are going through to her-I even remember when I started doing Psychology and had to determine whether doing anthropology and Psychology was going to be a good choice and she started introducing me to her education and career journey leading to the entire motivation I got on top of what I went to inquire about.
I am just making an example about few people. Gcobani Qambela who recently graduated with the PhD at Rhodes University and recently recognized by the University of Johannesburg for going an extra mile in teaching and guiding students in their education is among people I have had a privilege of of meeting and interacting with in my first year and I was able to retain a friendship. 'Dr. Qambela' as I call such a social scientist this days 'you are an inspiration', "Thank you Bulelani, it's because of students like you that I am today" such a response reflects how humble the person is but as unsurprisingly as I was about this recognition was deserved, going an extra mile is what Gcobani used to do. During the the 2016 RU Reference List protest, Gcobani provided a space of reflection ofr students and as that was very vital to us being new to the university in our first year of study, Gcobani supported us and remained a shoulder to cry on and a lessening ear even in the protest spaces.
As a student leader, a social justice activist and student representative who have served for a longer period at Rhodes University, I got to note how each department is viewed by its students and the structural limitations and injustices that hinder the students' success. There is definitely something that this department is doing well in hence I never have to handle any form of a case brought to the student leadership or university committee about Anthropology department. Effective communication is definitely among the most strategic techniques employed in this department. I must say it that for as long as I have been part of students in this department that is dominated by women, I have noticed that it is characterized by decentralization of powers in such that students have a say in the final learning approach and teaching style as much as the lecturers are also allowed to bring their innovative ideas for the development of the modules that they teach.
The equality among just everyone has been shown throughout the seminar series in which even the culture around the sitting arrangements, engagement and the general behaviour before, during and after the seminars has manifested.
In my registration into the course which was very late after dropping another course, I was under a lot of pressure. The dean was only willing to register me with a special permission from the head of department. This was of course possible thorough Mrs. Desiree Bekker (most referred to as Des)'s help as she quickly liaised with everyone in the department and the dean's office for my assistance happily and as passionately as always adding to that how she believes in my academic qualities as from as early as from my first year. This effort portrayed by Mrs. Bekker meant that I should commit to this course should I be admitted as much as Anthropology is not an easy course and despite me being behind in terms of the content. Prof. Aswani raised his concerns being that I was too behind but for me that was not as much of a challenge as the fact that I was going to be knew to his teaching styles and language. It took me some time to understand the content as I learnt Prof. Aswani's teaching styles and concepts in the module. Rinisa Naidoo stepped in during exams to mitigate for me a lot of fear and feeling of despair.
I was so worried when I realized that there was a group research introduced in the beginning of the year and that I was going to be added to a certain group that is happy to accept me as late as it was. Of course among the things I would bring into that group was going to be an additional ineffective group member that will probably excuse himself from almost every meeting of the group on the account of Student Representative Council (SRC)'s duties or fail to integrate myself into a social group of professional scholars. No one knew why I went to subscribe for Anthropology at that time of the year. I write about these things because they are very important to me. I went to cancel the course because I could not find a research partner and left a message to the lecturer that I have decided to drop a second-year course because I was not allowed to do a research alone and it was only then that lecturers were prepared to see what could possible happen with me not partnering with other people in that research.
Maybe the conversations that embarked in the journey towards our third year of Anthropology inform they way in which Anthropology students and lecturers were able to receive me differently from other people.
I used to say, you get what you are expecting' and the fact that my Anthropology research partners expected guidance, that i would go an extra mile in the site for the social capital and the fact that I was the only male students who is familiar with Xhosa tradition is probably why I have lived to impress my team. Another two possible truths include me loving the Anthropology research than other things that I was in groups for before or that I worked with just different people with different attitude towards me in such a particular research.
In 2018, a classmate whom we were doing together with other two colleagues an assignment used just more than five hundred (500) words to label me as an incompetent, unfit and inadequate student who went into a typical public school and a peasant that never deserve an education provided by such university as Rhodes. As surprisingly as I was as to why a fellow student whom I respected and loved just like everyone who violently take away my humanity and harm me in a basic level of humanity, she justified her insults by identifying me as a useless and racist member of the SRC. I then had tp endure the insults from all three ladies in the WhatsApp group convincing me that I will not be able to succeed if I report this as abuse because they are all against me. I printed all the messages and emailed the lecturer prior to our meeting in which they hardly apologized alleging that I once have verbally discriminated against white people in a lecture discussion. I tool the opportunity to contextualize my points in front of the class in the following day. I cannot mention and explain every moment that I felt a particular way in the university in social space or otherwise but I wanted to contextualize why I think my life within the Anthropology Department was always best experience.
It is within the Anthropology Department that one is able to articulate more than known human feelings and be understood by lecturers and students. Supportive members of stuff who take interest on many aspects of students' lives and make sure that even if students are not continuing with studies in the department continue to enjoy the company of such a nice family. If it was not for the understanding and willingness of the Anthropology lecturers to go an extra mile in assisting people like me who did not really do well towards the end of the year, we could not have managed to finish. I have enjoyed everyone's support and appreciate the patience and acceptance as strong attributes of all lecturers in this department.
Having Anthropology a bid of challenging social science study is much mitigated by the resourceful and nice staff in the department.
