Renee completed a master’s degree in development studies majoring in Conflict, Transformation and Peace studies, and holds both an Honours Degree Psychology and an Honours Degree in Geography at the University of the Western Cape. She holds a Diploma in Project Management and is also a certified Executive and Management coach. Renee has been actively involved in the field of Social Development for the past twenty -five years. She has presented several lectures on topics including healing and transformation, restorative justice, restitution, student- driven social impact, social identity and youth development in a South African context. Renee currently holds the position of Deputy- Director for the Division of Social Impact holding the work on Visual Redress as Restitution and the ethical role of Universities in Community- University partnerships. Her research thesis is entitled: Hector-Kannemeyer R, 2010, Current Manifestations of Trauma by Forced Removals, Interviews with a Former Vlakte Inhabitant.

Current Research Project

Renee’s doctoral research, an autoethnography of a Black woman residence head working towards racial repair at a historically White South African university, is closely aligned with AVReQ’s key research pillars of exploring intergenerational trauma, the impact of violent histories on institutions of higher learning, and the ‘reparative quest.’ This autoethnography aims to describe and interpret how institutional racism manifests in a residence space and how racial repair may be affected through decolonial methodologies. The work will explore the following overarching research question: What do the specific experiences encountered by a Black woman residence head reveal about institutional racism and the possibilities for racial repair?

Supervisor: Prof Ronelle Carolissen

Email: reneehk@sun.ac.za