Nombulelo Shange spent two years working as groundWork’s Media Manger before joining University of Free State. Her work within the environmental justice NGO spaces saw her working with environmental and gender issues with communities adversely affected by polluting industries and mining companies. She documented community members’ stories and shared them with mainstream media. She also ran media training workshops where she encouraged communities to take advantage of the rising digital age, by creating their own media and creating a counter narrative to the otherwise misrepresented or silenced voices of the people.

Nombulelo holds a Master’s degree in Sociology, as well as an honours and undergraduate qualification in Political Science and International Relations, obtained at Rhodes University. Her Master’s thesis is titled: Shembe Religion’s Integration of African Traditional Religion and Christianity: A Sociological Case Study. She has a background as a social researcher and has over 5 years’ experience as an educator, she has taught everything from kindergarten to university level. She has also worked with young children and spent some time teaching primary school English in South Korea. She is passionate about writing and education and believes that it can and should be used as a vehicle for change and equality. She also believes in people led storytelling and knowledge production that is decolonized and free of government and corporate control. She has also occupied a role as a Gender Studies, Classical and Contemporary Theory lecturer at University of Kwa Zulu Natal.

Nombulelo is currently working on her PhD, which is provisionally titled: An Ethnographic study on the Emerging Mountain Doctors of Cape Town: Their Revitalisation of African Indigenous Medicine and Their Struggle for Land and Acceptance in Modern Day South Africa. She is supervised by Prof Pearl Sithole and her research is housed in the Anthropology department. 

Shange, N.T. (2017). “Mapping of feminist/womanist resistance within student movements across the African continent” Agenda, 31, 3-4, pp 60 - 67 http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/TGX8FT8AHv8RMXYYqyUT/full

Shange, N.T. (2021). “Fighting for Relevance: The Revitalization of African Knowledge in the Learning Sphere in South Africa” in Mthembu, N.C. Ethical Research Approaches to Indigenous Knowledge Education. Hershey: IGI Global. https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/fighting-for-relevance/261286 

African Traditional Religion

Race and Gender Studies

Environmental Justice

Social Change and Revolutionary Politics

SOCI6806: Sociology of Health and Illness. Sociology of health and illness focuses on social determinants that make us healthy or ill. At the heart of SHL is a belief that many health problems have social origins. Meaning illness seldom takes place randomly, it can often be traced back to environment, socio economic status, race, gender and many other issues. This module focuses on the relationship between the social and health, with the overarching theme of Plurality and Inequality in Health and Illness.  More specifically, the module deals with the following themes:

1.            Introduction to Sociology of health and illness    

2.            Social determinates of health: Poverty, Inequality and Class         

3.            Social Theory and the Body, Embodiment and Bodily Experiences             

4.            Masculinity and Health 

5.            Environment and Health              

6.            African Indigenous Knowledge and Health

SOCC2614 and SOCC6808: The sociology of consumerism and consumption. This module explores the role of human beings as consumers and their behaviour in contemporary consumer society. Themes covered in this module include: consumers and consumerism; the historical context of consumerism and consumption; theoretical perspectives concerning consumerism and consumption; identity and consumption; living in a consumer society; and the consumer-citizenship debate.

SOCP2624: Population Dynamics and Environmental Issues. This module focuses on the relationship between the social and natural environment, specifically on facets of human interaction that can disturb the balance of this relationship. Topics covered in this module include: the nature and extent of environmental issues; the nature and extent of human population growth as an issue; the formulation of population policy; and sustainability as a solution to the environmental crisis.

SOCP6808: The Sociology of Population and the Environment. This module explores several themes pertaining to understanding the nature of the relationship between society and nature. Topics include: environmental sociology; the state and challenges of populations, development, and the environment; population and environmental policy frameworks; and conducting social and environmental impact assessments.

SOCT3718: Social Theory. The focus of this module is on different sociological paradigms: the classical paradigms, race paradigms; Western Marxist and critical paradigms; phenomenology; post modernism; structurationist paradigms; feminism; globalisation paradigms and the multi-paradigmatic status of sociological theory.

SOCL2614: Industrial Sociology. The module focuses on the social organisation of work.