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Department of Economics and Finance took hands with alumni students in writing a book

01 April 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Supplied

Personal finance authors_web read more — Back: Dr Nico Keyser (editor), Dr Ivan van der Merwe. Front: Minette Weideman (Portfolio Manager at Levevis Investment and Consulting Services), Melanie Ferreira (Business Development Manager at Allan Gray), Dr Cecile Duvenhage (editor) and Lizelle Jansen van Rensburg (Lecturer). Dr Jesse de Beer (Lecturer at University of Namibia) was absent.

Two lecturers from the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of the Free State (UFS) teamed up with alumni – who were once students in their department – to write a book on personal finance. This book is the latest hands-on application of the theory in practice.

“From the book it is evident how our alumni – who once were learners – became educators and contributed to teaching and learning,” says Dr Cecile Duvenhage, Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Finance, about the book Personal Finance. The desire to write this book stems from previous studies done by Dr Duvenhage and Dr Nico Keyser, Senior Lecturer, on the financial literacy levels among young adults.

One such study was published in the Journal of Psychology in Africa (29(4):460-465). According to the study, young adults lack the basic understanding of financial aspects. Theory can be learned by heart, but the understanding and execution of well-informed financial decisions need to be addressed. Thus, the book was written in such a way that it is easy to understand, and with the aim of changing financial behaviour and attitude in a positive manner. The book provides useful websites and appendices for additional information and reading, and is aimed at the man on the street, researchers, and practitioners.

Acording to the authors, during the writing of the book in 2020, new challenges arose, including the dramatic impact of COVID-19 on the financial market, and these aspects were included during the final stages and editing of this book.

“Why personal finance? ‘Money makes the world go round’, the saying goes. Good financial decision making has a positive influence on overall well-being, allowing people to maximise their opportunities and lead more fulfilling lives. Personal finance teaches individuals financial skills so that they can manage their money better. The subject, Personal finance, is an interdisciplinary subject and encompasses many areas and core topics such as decision making, cash-flow management, savings, credit, debt, housing, and planning for the future.”

Personal Finance (first edition) was published by Van Schaik Publishers and has been available from leading bookshops since the end of December 2020. All chapters were critically reviewed by three (3) university lecturers and a qualified editorial panel.

News Archive

Prof Helene Strauss delves into the emotion and politics of contemporary South African protest cultures

2014-12-22

Prof Helene Strauss from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of English currently researches the relationship between emotion and politics in contemporary South African public and protest cultures.

The research foregrounds the complex set of concerns opened up by a study of intimacy, read as not simply a sign for emotional and sexual closeness, but more broadly as a complexly mediated site from which to observe the embodied, affective coordinates of various forms of control and contestation. Through the analysis of a range of cultural texts that, for instance, recompose moments of spectacular social upheaval through the lenses of everyday, embodied experience, this research considers what aesthetic responsibility might mean in both post-transitional South Africa and elsewhere.

One aspect of this research charts a gradual shift in South Africa from what is frequently referred to as the ‘liberation euphoria’ of the mid- to late 1990s – and the optimistic fantasies of a future South Africa that characterised dominant public discourse in the period immediately following the political transition – toward an emotional culture in which expressions of anger, disillusionment and disappointment seem to have become relatively widespread.

Prof Strauss asks, for instance, how these public feelings have been managed in the aftermath of events such as the Marikana massacre, and suggests that the affective and temporal dimensions of current attempts at containing perceived threats to financial and political stability on the part of South Africa’s business and political elite are key to understanding increasingly violent and repressive securitisation strategies.

Earlier this year, Prof Strauss presented papers on aspects of this research at two international conferences: (i) the Association for Cultural Studies conference in Tampere, Finland, where she was invited to be part of a ‘Spotlight Panel’ on the topic of African Cultural Studies, (ii) and at a conference at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, which she helped to co-organise.

An article based on some of this work has been published in the journal Safundi.

For more of Prof Strauss’s research published in journals, follow the links below:
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rsaf20/current#.VAf88_mSxqU
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/riij20/15/1#.VAf80vmSxqU
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/sub/journal/v4/n2/index.html

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