It gives Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela great pleasure to announce that AVReQ is hosting Dr Thando Njovane as a visiting scholar. As a fellow alumnus of Rhodes University, Prof Pumla is thrilled to welcome Thando back to our academic community.

Dr Njovane and Prof Pumla previously worked together as members of the Trauma Studies Group, where they curated a series of conversations with leading scholars in the field of trauma. This collaboration was part of their shared goal of rethinking trauma and its transgenerational legacies. Thando’s contributions to this project were invaluable, and she continues to be a critical voice in the field of trauma studies.

During her time here, Thando will be working on her first monograph titled Trauma and Childhood in Contemporary African Fiction. In addition to this, she will be leading conversations with postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff to share her knowledge and insights on trauma theory, childhood, psychoanalysis, political philosophy, critical race theory, feminisms, and higher education. Her expertise in these areas promises to spark new avenues of research and deepen our understanding of the complex issues surrounding violence and its aftermath.

It is worth noting that Thando is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Literary Studies in English at Rhodes University, where she is an Andrew Mellon early career scholar. She also holds the position of Gender and Diversity, and Early Career Officer at the Rhodes African Studies Centre (RASC), and co-directs Finding Africa, a postcolonial African studies platform convened in collaboration with the University of Leeds and Bristol in the UK.