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Emerging Adults in Search of Self

26 September 2022 | Story Michelle Nöthling | Photo Stephen Collett

Prof Luzelle Naude — Prof Luzelle Naudé, Professor in the Department of Psychology, delivered her inaugural lecture on the topic: In Search of Self: Emerging Adults as Actors, Agents and Authors.

How do people endeavour to answer the question: Who am I? This is the central question that Prof Luzelle Naudé – professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Free State (UFS), has built her academic career on. Under the title of her inaugural lecture, In Search of Self: Emerging Adults as Actors, Agents and Authors, delivered on14 September 2022, Prof Naudé traced the arc of her academic career over the past three decades.

Development as a Scholar

Prof Naudé started by giving an overview of her research as an early scholar, investigating students’ learning experiences and predictors of student success, followed by an exploration of the adolescence stage within the context of South Africa. Prof Naudé’s research interest then led her to investigating the third decade of life: emerging adulthood.

Interestingly, from the turn of the century, the group of 18- to 25-year-olds take longer to transition into adulthood. This group finds themselves in an in-between space, “not being an adolescent anymore, but definitely not being an adult either,” Prof Naudé explained. This has sparked an interesting scholarly debate: is emerging adulthood indeed a new developmental stage, or is it something only applicable to a minority of Western, affluent middle-class, university students? The answer is the former. There are actually many emerging adulthoods – also among our South African youth.

Current Research Focus

Currently, Prof Naudé is interested in the narratives of emerging adults at the intersection of self and society. The self, she pointed out, unfolds through different layers, namely the actor, the agent, and the author. “Our South African emerging adults are acting in an increasingly complex and transitioning social world. As agents, they advance through this complexity by telling redemptive stories of generativity, upward mobility, and of liberation. And as authors, they reconstruct their past, present, and future into a coherent life story and a narrative identity,” Prof Naudé said.

Naude Inaugural From the left; Dr Edwin du Plessis, Head of Department of Psychology; Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of The Humanities; Prof Luzelle Naudé , and Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation. Photo: Stephen Collett.

The Way Forward

“I’ve became convinced,” Prof Naudé emphasised, “about South Africa and the Global South’s ability to contribute to global knowledge production.” Prof Naudé and her team are therefore adding a South African voice to several multicultural, multinational projects, including the African Long-Life Study – in collaboration with the University of Zurich – and the Selves within Selves project. Prof Naudé’s vision, however, is to ultimately establish an Identity Research Hub at the UFS to consolidate research activities in this field and to formalise interdisciplinary partnerships.

Watch recording video below:

News Archive

UFS honours many during Autumn diploma and graduation ceremony

2007-04-16

The University of the Free State (UFS) will award 797 diplomas and 2 633 degrees from 23-26 April 2006 during this year’s autumn diploma and graduation ceremony. Students from the Main Campus and Vista Campus will take part in the ceremony.

Altogether 32 doctorates and two honorary doctorates will be awarded. The honorary doctorandi are Prof. Barend Johannes (Bannie) Britz and author Mr Khotso Pieter David Maphalla.

On 26 April 2007 Prof. Britz will be honoured for his contribution to architecture when the degree D.Arch. (h.c.) will be awarded to him.

Mr Maphalla will be honoured for his contribution to the development of the Sesotho language and culture. He will receive the degree Ph.D. (h.c.) on 12 May 2007 during the graduation ceremony of the Qwaqwa Campus.

On 23 April 2007 at 08:30 altogether 497 diplomas will be awarded in the upgrading programmes of the School of Education in the Faculty of The Humanities, namely A.C.E, N.P.D.E. and C.E. At 14:30 on the same day 300 diplomas will be awarded to students from all the faculties.

On 24 April 2007 at 08:30 altogether 442 degrees and three doctorates will be awarded in the School of Education and at 14:30, 461 degrees and four doctorates will be awarded in the Faculty of The Humanities, excluding the School of Education.

On 25 April 2007 at 08:30 altogether 296 degrees and one doctorate will be awarded to students in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. This includes students in B.Acc., B.Admin., B.Pub., related honours degrees and all masters and doctors degrees. At 14:30 on the same day degrees will be awarded to 482 students from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, excluding students in B.Acc., B.Admin., B.Pub., related honours degrees and all masters and doctors degrees.

On 26 April 2007 at 08:30 altogether 595 degrees, 19 doctorates and one honorary doctorate will be awarded in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. At 14:30 on the same day 357 degrees and five doctorates will be awarded to students in the Faculties of Health Sciences, Law and Theology.

Both the diploma and degree ceremonies will be held in the Callie Human Centre on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein.

Media release

Issued by: Lacea Loader

Assistant Director: Media Liaison

Tel: 051 401 2584

Cell: 083 645 2454

E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
16 April 2007

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