[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text]<\/p>\n
Tot hy ses jaar oud was, het Gibson Ncube nie \u0149 woord ges\u00ea nie. Vandag praat di\u00e9 seun wat aan stomheid gely het, vier Afrika- en drie internasionale tale.<\/p>\n
Dr Ncube is tans \u0149 lektor in die Universiteit Stellenbosch (US) se Departement Moderne Vreemde Tale en word as een van die blinkste opkomende sterre in die akademiese w\u00eareld beskou.<\/p>\n
Hy het \u201cuiters verheug en ge\u00eberd gevoel\" om saam met dr Tawanda Zininga, \u0149 biochemikus, genooi te word om die US te verteenwoordig in die prestigeryke Toekomstige Professorsprogram (TPP), \u0149 vlagskipinisiatief van die Departement van Ho\u00ebr Onderwys en Opleiding.<\/p>\n
Die TPP staan onder leiding van prof Jonathan Jansen, uitgelese professor in opvoedkunde aan die US, en het ten doel om die akademiese uitnemendheid en leierseienskappe van \u0149 sorgvuldig uitgesoekte groep lektore aan Suid-Afrika se 26 universiteite te versterk.<\/p>\n
Al die TPP-genote toon belofte om leiers op hul gebied te word en hul plek in te neem as deel van \u0149 getransformeerde volgende generasie van Suid-Afrikaanse professors oor alle dissiplines heen.<\/p>\n
Ncube is in Zimbabwe gebore, het Frans en Spaans aan die Universiteit van Zimbabwe gestudeer en het in 2011 \u0149 meestersgraad in Frans behaal. Kort daarna het die Nagraadse Skool in Lettere en Sosiale Wetenskappe \u0149 beurs aan hom toegeken om \u0149 PhD in Frans en Franstalige Letterkunde onder toesig van prof Eric Lev\u00e9el aan die US te doen. Sy tesis het op nie-normatiewe seksualiteite in Noord-Afrika-letterkunde gefokus.<\/p>\n
In Desember 2014 was hy die eerste van twee studente wat \u0149 PhD in Frans behaal het sedert di\u00e9 Departement by die US tot stand gebring is.<\/p>\n
Die studie van letterkunde het oor die afgelope dekade Ncube se roeping en heeltydse passie geword. \u201cDit fassineer my hoe tale onderling verbind is en veral hoe tale ons in staat stel om sin van die w\u00eareld en ons ervarings te maak. Ek is aangetrokke tot die w\u00earelde wat woorde en tale deur letterkunde moontlik maak,\" s\u00ea hy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAl was my ouers nie op universiteit nie, het hulle seker gemaak ek en my sibbes kry die beste moontlike geleenthede om akademies te floreer. Ek was gemotiveer om sukses in my studies te behaal omdat ek die eerste lid van ons familie was wat universiteit toe gegaan het. En nadat ek myself in die akademiese w\u00eareld bevind het, het ek daarna gestreef om die beste weergawe van myself te wees.\"<\/p>\n
As 'n kind het sy bekommerde ouers hom dokter toe gevat om vas te stel waarom hy nie kan praat nie. Hulle was baie verlig om te hoor daar was fisies geen fout met hul seuntjie nie. Hy het eenvoudig sy tyd gevat om taal te begin gebruik. \u201cMy sussie, wat twee jaar jonger as ek is, was 'n ywerige prater en sy het my uiteindelik gehelp om uit my dop te kruip,\" verduidelik Ncube.<\/p>\n
Hy is een van die enkele akademici in Suider-Afrika wie se navorsing heen-en-weer vleg oor die sub-Sahara-skeidslyn wat neig om Afrika-letterkundestudies in twee afsonderlike linguistiese segmente te beskou.<\/p>\n
Hy het samewerkende navorsingsprojekte met kollegas van die Leeds-Universiteit (VK) en die Bayreuth-Universiteit (Duitsland) onderneem. Voorts het hy ook etlike post-doktorale genootskappe voltooi, soos \u0149 Vrystaande Nadoktorale Genootskap wat deur die Nasionale Navorsingstigting van Suid-Afrika (NNSSA) gefinansier word, asook die Africa Humanities Programme se post-doktorale genootskap wat deur die American Council for Learned Societies gefinansier word.<\/p>\n
Ncube se navorsingsbelangstellings l\u00ea in vergelykende letterkunde, queer- en genderstudies, asook postkoloniale Afrika-studies. Hy stel veral belang in die verteenwoordiging van gender- en seksuele identiteite in verskillende dele van die vasteland van Afrika, veral in Noord- en Suider-Afrika. \n\n\u201cEk fokus op liter\u00eare tekste en ander kulturele produksies soos romans, outobiografie\u00eb en films om transkontinentale, interstreeks- en transtalige dialo\u00eb te ontleed wat \u0149 meer volledige en allesomvattende verbeelding van nie-konformerende seksuele en genderervarings in Afrika toelaat.\"<\/p>\n
Sy werk het getoon dat nie-konformerende seksuele en genderidentiteite nie vreemd aan die vasteland van Afrika is nie. Alternatiewe gender- en seksuele uitdrukking het, trouens, lankal in Afrika bestaan en bestaan steeds. Belangrik is dat sy navorsing toon hoe gender- en seksuele minderhede nie-akkommoderende sosiokulturele, godsdienstige en politieke kontekste te bowe kom.<\/p>\n
Dit was nogal \u0149 verrassing om gekies te word om die US in die Toekomstige Professorsprogram te verteenwoordig, s\u00ea Ncube.\u201cEk het by die Hoof van my Departement, prof Catherine du Toit, van die TPP gehoor. Al het ek pas by die US aangekom, het sy my aangemoedig om aansoek te doen en ek was geskok toe my aansoek een van vyf was wat die kortlys gehaal het om die US te verteenwoordig. Ek was selfs meer geskok toe ek as een van die 30 akademici vir die 2023-groep gekies is. Di\u00e9 ervaring was alreeds verrykend, veral om my in \u0149 multikulturele groep van uiters begaafde akadamemici by verskillende universiteite in Suid-Afrika te bevind.\"<\/p>\n
Die vaardighede wat Ncube danksy die program ryker word, het hom reeds gehelp om sy navorsing meer toeganklik te maak. Hy hoop sy navorsing sal uiteindelik openbare beleid oor gender- en seksuele minderhede in Suid-Afrika en verder be\u00efnvloed.<\/p>\n
Ncube meen die FPP sal hom ook help om netwerke te vorm om langtermyn- volhoubare samewerking te bevorder. \u201cEk kon reeds kollegas in die 2023-groep met soortgelyke navorsingsbelangstellings vind. Ek bearbei tans \u0149 kollega om mede-outeur te wees van \u0149 spesiale vaktydskrifuitgawe wat die verteenwoordiging van queerheid in verskillende Afrika-letterkundetekste bekyk. Die FPP is wonderlik in hierdie opsig, omdat dit oorkruis- en multidissiplin\u00eare samewerking toelaat wat my navorsing en loopbaan myns insiens net kan verryk en positief kan raak.<\/p>\n
\"Ek hoop ook om deur ons opleidingsessies te leer om \u0149 gesonde balans tussen die verskillende fasette van my werklewe en my lewe weg van die werk te vind. Ek dink akademici sukkel dikwels om \u0149 gesonde balans in hierdie opsig te handhaaf.\"<\/p>\n
Sy ervaring by die US as \u0149 PhD-student, \u0149 nadoktorale student en tans as lektor was niks minder as verrykend nie, s\u00ea Ncube. \u201cDie gesonde werkomgewing en die steun wat aan navorsers gebied word, is buitengewoon. Die kaliber van ons studente maak klasgee aan die US \u0149 plesier. Hulle is ywerig om te leer en klaskamers is \u0149 ruimte waar nuwe dinge ontdek en kennis saam met studente geskep word. Kollegas in my Departement is ook baie ondersteunend en ek geniet dit om saam met mense te werk wat net so besorg oor my werk as oor my lewe buite die werkkonteks is.\"<\/p>\n
Ncube is tans die assistent-redakteur van die\u00a0South African Journal of African Languages<\/em>\u00a0en was van 2020-2022 die medesameroeper van die Queer African Studies Association. Sy talle toekennings sluit in sy aanwysing in 2021 as die Mary Kingsley Zochonis- Uitgelese Lektor (African Studies Association UK & Royal African Society). Hy dien in talle eindredaksies, insluitende di\u00e9 van\u00a0Nomina Africana<\/em>; die\u00a0Journal of Literary Studies<\/em>; die\u00a0; die Canadian Journal of African Studies<\/em>;\u00a0; Imbizo:\u00a0<\/em>die\u00a0International Journal of African Literary<\/em>\u00a0en<\/em>\u00a0Comparative Studies<\/em>; die\u00a0; die Nordic Journal of African Studies<\/em>; en die Governing Intimacies in the Global South Book Series van Manchester University Press.<\/p>\n Ncube se tweede boek,\u00a0Queer Bodies in African Films<\/em>, is in 2022 as deel van die African Humanities Programme Book Series deur NISC gepubliseer. Di\u00e9 boek is een van die eerste wat \u0149 ontleding oor streke heen en tussen kontinente bied van queerheid in die Afrika-rolprentbedryf anderkant koloniale linguistiese grense. \u0149 C1-gradering is ook onlangs deur die NNSSA aan Ncube toegeken.<\/p>\n Outeur: Korporatiewe Kommunikasie & Bemarking<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Until he was six years old, Gibson Ncube didn't utter a word. Today the boy who suffered from mutism, speaks four African and three international languages.<\/p> Dr Ncube now works as a lecturer at Stellenbosch University's (SU) Department of Modern Foreign Languages, and he's considered one of the brightest rising stars in academia.<\/p> He was \u201cextremely delighted and honoured\" to be selected with Dr Tawanda Zininga, a biochemist, to represent SU in the prestigious Future Professors Programme (FPP), a flagship initiative of the Department of Higher Education and Training.<\/p> The FPP is administered under the helm of Prof Jonathan Jansen, a distinguished professor of education at SU, and aims to enhance the academic excellence and leadership qualities of a carefully selected group of lecturing staff at country south Africa's 26 universities.<\/p> All FPP fellows show promise of becoming leaders in their field and taking their place as part of a transformed next generation of South African professors across all disciplines.<\/p> Born in Zimbabwe, Ncube studied French and Spanish at the University of Zimbabwe and completed a master's degree in French in 2011. Shortly thereafter, he received a scholarship at SU through the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences to complete a PhD in French and Francophone Literatures under the supervision of Prof Eric Lev\u00e9el. His thesis focused on non-normative sexualities in North African literatures.<\/p> In December 2014, he was one of the first two students to be awarded a PhD in French since the establishment of the French Department at SU.<\/p> Over the past decade, the study of literature has become Ncube's vocation and full-time passion. \u201cI've been fascinated by how languages are interconnected and especially how languages allow us to make sense of the world and our experiences. I've been drawn to the worlds that words and languages make possible through literature,\" he says.<\/p> \u201cAlthough my parents did not go to university, they made sure that my siblings and I had the best possible opportunities to thrive academically. Being the first person to attend university in my family pushed me to want to succeed in my studies. And having found myself in academia, I have also strived to always be the best version of myself that I can be.\"<\/p> As a child, his concerned parents consulted doctors to find out why Ncube couldn't speak. They were relieved to learn their little boy's mutism didn't have a physiological cause. He was just taking his time to use language. \u201cMy little sister spoke earlier than me and was very helpful in getting me to speak,\" Ncube explains.<\/p> He is one of the few scholars in Southern Africa whose research weaves back and forth across the sub-Saharan divide which has tended to keep African literary scholarship in two distinct linguistic segments.<\/p> He has undertaken collaborative research projects with colleagues at Leeds University (UK) and Bayreuth University (Germany). He has also completed several postdoctoral fellowships such as a Free-Standing Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRFSA), and the African Humanities Programme Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the American Council for Learned Societies.<\/p> Ncube's research interests are in comparative literatures, queer and gender studies as well as postcolonial African studies. He is particularly interested in the representations of gender and sexual identities in different parts of the African continent, specifically in North and Southern Africa. \u201cI focus on literary texts and other cultural productions such as novels, autobiographies and films to examine trans-continental, inter-regional, and trans-lingual dialogues that allow for a fuller and all-inclusive imagining of non-conforming sexual and gender experiences in Africa.\"<\/p> His work has demonstrated that non-normative gender and sexual identities are not foreign to the African continent. In fact, alternative gender and sexual expressions have long existed and continue to exist in Africa. Importantly, his research shows how gender and sexual minorities negotiate sociocultural, religious, and political contexts which are unaccommodating.<\/p> Being selected to represent SU in the Future Professors Programme has been quite a surprise, Ncube says. \u201cI heard about the FPP from the Head of my Department, Prof Catherine du Toit. Although I had only just arrived at SU, she encouraged me to apply and I was shocked that my application was one of five that were shortlisted to represent SU. I was even more shocked to be among the 30 scholars selected for the 2023 cohort. The experience has already been enriching, especially being in a multicultural cohort of very gifted scholars at different universities in South Africa.\"<\/p> The skills Ncube is acquiring through the programme have already helped him make his research more accessible. He hopes his research will eventually influence public policy on gender and sexual minorities in South Africa and beyond.<\/p> Ncube thinks the FPP will also help him leverage networks to foster long-term sustainable collaborations. \u201cAlready, I have been able to find colleagues in the 2023 cohort who have similar research interests. I am currently engaging a colleague to work on co-editing a journal special issue that looks at the representation of queerness in different African literary texts. In this way, the FPP is great in that it allows cross and multidisciplinary collaboration which I believe can only positively impact and enrich my research and academic career.<\/p> \u201cThrough the coaching sessions we receive, I also wish to learn how to find a healthy balance between different facets of my work life and my life away from work. I think academics often struggle to strike a healthy balance in this respect.\"<\/p> His experience at SU as a PhD student, a postdoctoral scholar and currently as a lecturer has been nothing short of enriching, Ncube says. \u201cThe conducive working environment and support given to researchers are exceptional. I also enjoy teaching at SU because of the caliber of students we have. They are eager to learn, and classrooms are a space for discovering new things and co-creating knowledge with the students. Colleagues in my Department are also very supportive and I have enjoyed working with people who are as concerned about my work as they are about my life outside of the work context.\"<\/p> Ncube is currently the assistant editor of the\u00a0South African Journal of African Languages<\/em>\u00a0and from 2020-2022, he co-convened the Queer African Studies Association. His many accolades include being selected as the 2021 Mary Kingsley Zochonis Distinguished Lecturer (African Studies Association UK & Royal African Society). He sits on various editorial boards, including that of\u00a0Nomina Africana<\/em>; the\u00a0Journal of Literary Studies<\/em>; the\u00a0Canadian Journal of African Studies<\/em>;\u00a0Imbizo:\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0International Journal of African Literary<\/em>\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0Comparative Studies<\/em>; the\u00a0Nordic Journal of African Studies<\/em>; and the Governing Intimacies in the Global South Book Series by Manchester University Press.<\/p> Ncube's second book,\u00a0Queer Bodies in African Films<\/em>, was published in 2022 within the African Humanities Programme Book Series at NISC. The book is one of the first to offer a cross-regional and intra-continental analysis of queerness in African cinema beyond colonial linguistic boundaries. Ncube has recently been awarded a C1 rating by the NRFSA.<\/p> Author: Corporate Communications and Marketing<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3256],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11681"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4106"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4121,"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4106\/revisions\/4121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arts.sun.ac.za\/af\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}