Turbulent convection in stars

Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017.This thesis investigates in detail the structure of models of turbulent convec tion with phenomenological closures for the eddy-viscosity. It explores the merits of replacing the canonical Mixing Length Theory of stellar convection with more realistic models of fluid turbulence that take into account the full spectrum of eddy sizes. The author provides a detailed exposition of the fun damental assumptions and the modus operandi of various approaches to the treatment of convective energy-transfer in stars. He focuses in particular on spectral descriptions of the convective process. The structure of several clo sure models developed by various authors are investigated, and he identifies and elucidates those aspects of these closures that lead to an improved descrip tion of convective turbulence in the stellar interior. The author also develops an implementation within the public-domain code, called Modules for Experi ments in Stellar Astrophysics, of two of these models and reports and discusses the results of his numerical experiments.XL201

Nostalgia contretemps: A theory of contemporary South African literature

Employing Derrida’s contretemps as central to my study, I undertake a close reading of time and nostalgia in contemporary South African fiction as that which is ‘out of joint’ with itself. The main premise of my research involves an illustration of how nostalgic affect is projected towards the ‘lost’ potential of the post-apartheid future, as opposed to the past. I explore how authors represent nostalgia contretemps as a central feature of the cultural imaginary and yet, at the same time, gesture towards its increasing untenably in a ‘post-transitional’ context

Foregrounding a social justice agenda in economic education : critical reflections of a teacher education pedagogue

Published ArticleSocial justice as a higher education project in South Africa has been a subject of intense debate mainly at institutional level, with considerable time and energy devoted to how such projects should take shape. There is, however, a need for a more profound understanding of how such an agenda plays itself out at classroom level. By engaging a self-study methodology, I argue for how the critical spaces that comprise a teacher education pedagogy curriculum can be effectively harnessed to foreground issues of social justice. I proceed to theorise an integrated social justice model for a pedagogy curriculum by demonstrating how the social justice teacher education pedagogue, a social justice pedagogy and a social justice troubling of disciplinary knowledge is likely to shape the social justice dispositions of the imagined student teacher

Towards an integrative Philosophy of Education: The contemplative case of Economic Education

Acquiring a basic a knowledge of philosophy is usually a matter of deprioritized choice for students in undergraduate programmes across the world. Seldom is even a basic philosophy course mandatory in the hard sciences. It may however be an option in social sciences degrees. While many undergraduate teacher education programmes do have standalone courses in the philosophy of education or some variant thereof in general educational studies courses, of note is that philosophical inspiration is largely drawn from continental philosophy, often critiqued for its efficacy at understanding the Southern Other. The problematic then is twofold. Firstly, there is uncertainty as to the extent to which preservice teachers are able to see philosophy of education’s wider relevance and application to disciplinary fields (school subjects) they choose to teach.  Secondly, contemporary philosophy of education courses especially in the (South) African context, may still be paying homage to western, Eurocentric philosophical canons despite recent calls by the broader student collective in South Africa for (African) contextual relevance.  In this paper, I present an account of a curriculum initiative in a teacher education course that attempts a disruption of traditional western canons that underpin economics and economic education. I argue that the disciplines (such as economics) are fertile spaces for engaging teacher trainees in a philosophical exposé with the view to contesting the universality of the philosophies of (economic) sciences to explain contemporary societal crises.  The paper concludes with insights for how philosophy (of education) might be conceptualised as an ‘across the curriculum’ competence as opposed to an insular packaging as standalone offering.      &nbsp

Analysis on the Administration and Governance of the South African Case Docket

The minor dissertation is a desktop literature study on the debates and research on the matter of docket management and administration in South Africa. The purpose of the minor dissertation is to understand the latest developments and trends that have transformed the administration and governance of case dockets globally and particularly in South Africa. A compendium of literature including governmental reports, scholarly journal articles and newspaper reports were utilised as the basis for this minor dissertation. The limitation to this study is primarily the paucity of South African literature on the subject matter as well as data gaps in empirical research. Effective case management has been the focal point for courts facing burgeoning bottlenecks throughout the world. Hence, techniques such as case screening or docket control, judicial intervention, attorney and advocate support, specialisation of courts and the integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) have been employed globally to expedite case flow. This research paper will draw on global paradigms and world’s best practices for case docket management from North America, Europe and Namibia. Thereafter the research turns to administrative reform from a South African perspective; what will be examined is the transition from policing practices under the apartheid regime to case docket management under the constitutional dispensation of democratic governance. As part of an Integrated Justice System (IJS) strategy, South African policymakers have drawn from the pool of experience by adopting ICT projects within the Criminal Justice System (CJS), primarily giving rise to the electronic or e-Docket system. The e-Docket system, which is said to take up to at least 10 to 20 years to fully implement, faces its own hurdles and dilemmas, not least as a result of police officials preferring the old traditional paper-based dossiers, thereby resisting the technological movement. In addition to the e-Docket system, the CJS has reeled in principles from the private sector such as outsourcing and New Public Management (NPM) philosophies in order to effectively regulate docket management as well as accelerate court processes. The research problem, which is twofold, first aims at examining case docket reform ie how case dockets have transitioned from the apartheid era to the constitutional dispensation and whether or not this has been effective. This issue will be answered in Chapter Two, in which case chronology will be discussed. The second concerns the adoption and implementation of techniques borrowed from the West, such as the implementation of ICT projects and the success of first world systems in a country like South Africa with a turbulent socio-economic background. This problem will be addressed in Chapters Two and Three in which the eDocket will be introduced and critically examined against South Africa’s CJS strategies. Arguably, the adoption and implementation of Western ideologies and first world best practices in South Africa may not be feasible given the current landscape of constrained and limited resources, both financial and in the field of human capital. Additionally, the climate is further exacerbated by low levels of computer literacy and an overall scarcity of skilled and knowledgeable workers required to operate sophisticated ICT systems. Until the e-Docket system is fully implemented and effectively operational, the labour intensive paper-based dockets will continue to bear negative ramifications including mismanagement: ie negligent docket handling, lost or stolen dockets and the practice of bartering dockets in exchange for gratuities. The latter provides a host of repercussions for the interests of stakeholders including egregious violations of fundamental human rights. The aim of this research is to understand the rationale behind maladministration and ineffective governance of dockets in the democratic era, as well as the effect it has on stakeholders. The research provides recommendations in which the administration of dockets may be adequately regulated. Therefore, police dockets represent much more than a kneejerk reaction to crime; dockets regulate the entry points into the criminal justice system pipeline. South Africa needs to invest in its greatest asset of all − its human capital, by developing and equipping its people to embrace the technological revolution. Have we sunk our heels in too far into the ‘splendor’ of Western ideologies of technology and privatisation or is it time that South African leadership adopts accountability and charters a course with an authentic framework best suited for South African problems

Transactional ethics and ‘damage-centred’ research: Of banality and oblivion

The recent article by Nieuwoudt, Dickie, Coetsee, Engelbrecht and Terblanche (2019) entitled “Age- and education-related effects on cognitive functioning in Colored South African women” published in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, attracted considerable negative attention, leading to its official withdrawal from circulation. While it may be argued that this unfortunate piece of “scholarship” had “slipped through the cracks”, there is certainly a need for a more nuanced analysis of what constitutes ethical social research practice. In this article, the issue of intentionality and (un)witting Othering is contemplated by invoking Tuck’s notion of “damage-centred” research, an approach that continues to frame contemporary investigations in the name of social justice. It is argued that there is a need to reconsider the practice of transactional ethics. Arendt’s concept of the banality (of evil) has resonance, as it speaks to the notion of “blissful oblivion of complicity”, even in the context of a widespread contemporary discourse of social transformation and decolonisation in South African higher education

(Re)counting the high cost of predatory publishing and the effect of a neoliberal performativity culture

In this self-critical account, I engage the concepts of ‘critique’ and ‘judgement’ and why they are crucial for protecting and maintaining the integrity of academia and scholarship. I argue that a naive or ignorant academic is a somewhat paradoxical position to assume, as academia is necessarily a critical space, which demands astuteness and constant vigilance. I contend that blissful ignorance is a fragile justification for the neglect of due diligence, as it relates to the selection of locales for knowledge dissemination. I engage the tenets of self-study and critical autoethnography to reflect on my practice as an academic and the consequences of my own poor judgement, not as an act of arrogant disclosure, but with a view to embracing this ‘elephant in the national academic room’ and also bringing to the fore, other ‘frail’ current knowledge vetting processes. The article draws on a Žižekian notion of perverse analysis with the view to evoke a primal confrontation of a particularly sensitive issue. I exploit the metaphor in the title to draw attention to the gravity of the act of predatory publishing and its almost irrevocable consequences. I also reflect on my grief, trauma, guilt and shame, of this self-inflicted academic reputational mutilation, and the arduous task ahead of ‘rebuilding’ one’s academic integrity. I hope that this paper might serve to intensify our alertness to the potential new perils that present, in the neoliberal research productivity-driven higher education space, where online publishing and open access has become common place, and where ‘opportunities’ to transgress and expose oneself to risk, present themselves on a daily basis, often with well-disguised ‘authenticity’. Finally, I reflect on my public exposé of personal flaw and its restorative effect of a necessary humility in the academic space

About vicarious blame, containers, and contents: Rejoinder to le Grange

In this article, I reflect on le Grange’s (2019) response to my article (Maistry, 2019) on predatory publishing. I engage with his critique on various levels. While I agree with the notion of embracing positive action, I analyse the usefulness of the dichotomisation of ethics and morality in understanding how this phenomenon should play itself out in academia. I contemplate the “container” versus “contents” debate, and its implications for the South African scholarship context. I also draw attention to the workings of two neoliberal markets at play in the academic publishing space: the neoliberal market for publishing services, and the market for published scholarship and offer some tentative implications for academics who have to inhabit this space. Finally, I argue that for debate to reach a high level of robustness, it has to start somewhere. For a phenomenon like predatory publishing, it might mean accommodating multiple perspectives, be they moralising, engaging an immanent ethics, even defensiveness. In fact, immanent critique urges the need to resist the temptation to “moralise” right or wrong approaches to debating this phenomenon. I reflect on how le Grange has extended the debate to include predation for publishing, an issue I argue is complexly connected to the historicity of containers (journals) serving as conduits for the propagation of racist ideology. Keywords: predatory publishing, ethics, neoliberal publishing market&nbsp

Aligning with feminism: Critical autoethnographic reflections of a profeminist heterosexual male teacher educator

AbstractIn the last two decades, education scholarship has made significant progress in advancing the feminist social justice agenda and female scholars have almost entirely been the drivers of this impetus. Female scholars in teacher education have been successful in establishing and consolidating this disciplinary field of study quite firmly in the teacher education curriculum. Despite this, multiple forms of gender oppression including gender-based violence continue to plague South African universities and society in general. There is a distinct concern that men have been relatively silent and inactive in this social justice project. There is also limited extant scholarship that speaks to the role that profeminist men might play in this social justice enterprise. There is also a dearth of understanding of the level of sophistication with which men understand feminism, which feminisms men might align themselves with and the accountability and responsibility that might come with assuming certain positions. In this critical, autoethnographic piece, I engage the questions as to how critical pedagogical encounters might serve as disruptive device in an attempt to trouble reified gendered socialisations. I draw on my experiences as teacher educator as I struggle to locate and identify my own profeminist positionality and the tensions that present. I contemplate the poststructuralist caution about the tension of writing (my)self into text given that the writing self is an evolving/changing self. I reflect on my attempt to disrupt banality and oblivion as I contemplate the prospect of self-disclosure as point of entry for profeminist men’s praxis in a teacher education programme subscribed to by young men (and women) steeply socialised in a patriarchal history and culture

Correlation between tertiary education and pharmaceutical industry requirements for regulatory affairs pharmacists

A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine Pharmacotherapy June 2016In the pharmaceutical sector, the health of the public is protected by medicines regulatory authorities who enforce regulatory practices to be executed by pharmaceutical companies. In South Africa, the Medicines Control Council (MCC) describes these practice requirements via guidelines, which are based on the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act 101 of 1965. The Regulatory Affairs Department is often the first point of contact between the regulatory authority and the company. Regulatory affairs pharmacists therefore require broader skill sets than scientific and technical skills. Global expansion of regulatory affairs has resulted in significant skills shortage, for which a lack of education in regulatory affairs is partially responsible. Lack of communication between academia and industry further contributes to this skills shortage. In South Africa, the Pharmacy School curricula are approved by the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) in keeping with The Pharmacy Act 53 of 1974. Regulatory practices however, are determined by the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act. The aim of this study was to assess if there are inconsistencies in regulatory affairs between the pharmacy curriculum and job descriptions of regulatory affairs pharmacists, and to determine if graduating pharmacists entering industrial pharmacy are equipped for their role in regulatory affairs. The objectives were to examine regulatory education and regulatory practices in industry to assess deficiencies in the required competencies of a regulatory affairs pharmacist. The appropriate sections in Pharmacy curricula from all eight Pharmacy Schools in South Africa were examined to assess the level to which regulatory affairs is taught, and the job descriptions of regulatory affairs pharmacists were examined to assess the functional competencies required. Survey studies were conducted in the Pharmacy Schools and Pharmaceutical Industry to understand the gaps between what is taught and what is required in industry practice. The results showed that B.Pharm undergraduates were insufficiently prepared for their role in regulatory affairs, once they entered the Pharmaceutical Industry sector. Regulatory Affairs education is covered partially at undergraduate level but in some detail at a post-graduate level, in some Pharmacy Schools. Improvements are required to the current B.Pharm curricula, taking into account the Medicines Act 101 of 1965 and with MCC Guidelines, to accommodate regulatory affairs education. Collaboration between academia and industry has been proposed and employed in other countries and have been shown to be successful, hence this is also recommended for South Africa with most participants expressing a willingness to do so..MB201