Staff

Dr. Haley McEwen

Senior Researcher

Researcher (Gender, Sexuality and Family)

e-mail: haley.mcewen@wits.ac.za 

Tel: (011) 717 4777

Dr. Haley McEwen's research takes an intersectional decolonial approach to the study of knowledge geo-politics of sexuality, gender, and family. Her work focuses on the ways in which hegemonic formations established by modernity/coloniality intersect and co-construct one another.  Haley has also played a coordinating role in projects that employ art-activist methods to challenge and expand existing social imaginaries so as to subvert these interlocking systems of oppression. She is co-editor of a special issue of Agenda, ‘Queer & trans art-iculations: Decolonising genders and sexualities in the global south’, with Tommaso Milani (2014). She has also published a number of articles in journals including Critical Philosophy of Race, Development Southern Africa, Diversities, and Critical Race and Whiteness Studies.  She is currently convener of Research Methods for Critical Diversity Studies, which forms part of the Honours and Masters programs in Critical Diversity Studies offered by WiCDS.  Haley holds a Doctorate in Critical Diversity Studies (University of the Witwatersrand), an MPhil in Diversity Studies (University of Cape Town) and a BA in Social Relations (Michigan State University).

Sayan Dey

Postdoctoral fellow

email: 

Tel: (011) 717 4779

Dr. Alice Wabule

Postdoctoral fellow

e-mail: alice.wabule@wits.ac.za  

Tel: (011) 717 4780

Alice Wabule is Post-doctoral scholar at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies, University of the Witwatersrand. Her research interests are Normative Ethics, Human rights, Social inclusion and empowerment. Alice specializes in the application of Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach that directs efforts towards creating local and sustainable innovations for social transformation.

Rudo Mzite

Part-time Research Assistant

email: rudo.mzite@wits.ac.za

Tel: (011) 717 4779

Rudo Mzite is a Masters candidate and a Research Assistant at WiCDS. She holds an Honors in Archaeology from the University of Zimbabwe and an Honors in Critical Diversity Studies from WiCDS. Her research interests are gender, race, knowledge production, sexuality and disability

Dr. Scott Burnett

Researcher

email: Scott.Burnett@wits.ac.za 

Tel: (011) 717 4779 

Dr. Scott Burnett is a researcher at WiCDS. He is the former head of strategy at the youth-led social change organisation, loveLife, and a frequent contributor to national debates on race, transformation, and substantive equality. Scott holds a masters in social and political philosophy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and has recently completed his doctoral thesis, entitled “Giving Back the Land: Whiteness and belonging in contemporary South Africa” under the supervision of Prof. Melissa Steyn.

Dr. Zvenyika Mugari

Postdoctoral Fellow

email: zvenyika.mugari@wits.ac.za 

Tel: (011) 717 4779 

Zvenyika Eckson Mugari is a lecturer at the Midlands State University in Gweru, Zimbabwe. His teaching areas include; Theories of Development and Democracy, Media, Human Rights and Crisis Management and Communication Policy and Media Management.Before joining the Media and Society Studies Department of the MSU in 2005 he had short stints as a Sub-Editor at Zimbabwe’s leading national daily newspaper The Herald and as a Knowledge Worker during the pilot phase of the Open Knowledge Network project in Zimbabwe 2004-2005. He obtained a Masters degree in Media and Communication Studies with the University of Zimbabwe in 2004. He then obtained a Phd at Wits Media Studies in 2016 on 'Rethinking news values and newsroom practices in postcolonial contexts and the construction of subaltern identities'. His research interests include Media and democratic participation and Communication for social transformation. 

Dr. Cuthbeth Tagwirei

Postdoctoral Fellow

email: cuthbeth.tagwirei@wits.ac.za 

Tel: (011) 717 4780

Dr Cuthbeth Tagwirei is a Cultural Studies scholar at Wits Centre for Diversity Studies, University of Witwatersrand. He has published articles on subjects which include race, gender, migration and xenophobia in international journals such as the Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Life Writing and Research in African Literatures and African Identities. Currently, he is working on the everyday experiences of power as they relate to violence, poverty and race.