Sisanda Nkoala

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Associate professor, University of the Western Cape Profile Articles Activity

Sisanda Nkoala is an Associate Professor in the Linguistics Department at the University of the Western Cape, and holder of the UWC Chair in Media Inclusion and Diversity.

She is the recipient of the 2024 NRF Emerging/Early Career Researcher award and 1st Runner up in the 2024 South African Women in Science awards in the Young Women in Humanities and Social Sciences category. She is also the winner of the 2023 NIHSS Digital Humanities: Best Visualisation or Infographic award, the recipient of the 2023 Western Cape Cultural Affairs Award for Best Researcher Contributing to Archival Heritage and the 2023 HERS-SA Young Women Leader in Higher Education winner for 2023.

She holds a PhD in rhetoric studies at the University of Cape Town's Centre for Rhetoric Studies. She researches rhetoric and South African media ecologies. She also publishes on multilingualism in higher education and journalism studies.

She serves on the IAMCR's International Council, as well as the African Journalism Educators Network secretary-general, and an associate editor for the Journal of Communication Technology. She is also a public representative on the South African Press Council, a member of the Film & Publication Board's Appeals Tribunal and a former board trustee of Brand South Africa. She is also the vice-president of the South African Communication Association.

Before joining academia, she was a radio journalist and was the 2015 recipient of the Vodacom Journalist of the Year: Western Cape Radio Features category.

Experience

• 2024–present Associate professor, University of the Western cape
• 2023–2023 Senior Lecturer, University of South Africa
• 2022–2023 Senior Lecturer, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Education

• 2022 University of Cape Town, PhD: Rhetoric Studies
• 2015 University of Cape Town, MPhil: Rhetoric Studies
• 2012 University of Cape Town, BA Hons: Political Communication
• 2011 University of Cape Town, BA Film & Media Production

Grants and Contracts

• 2024 NRF Thuthuka Role: Primary Researcher Funding Source: National Research Foundation

Honours

NRF Y rating (2024 - 2028), 2023 NIHSS Digital Humanties: Best visualisation or infographic winner, 2023 Western Cape Cultural Affairs Award for Best Researcher Contributing to Archival Heritage, 2023 HERS-SA Young Women Leader in Higher Education winner, 2022 SADILAR Open Education Resource Champion, 2015 Vodacom Journalist of the Year - Western Cape Radio Features

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