37: Community-Engaged Scholarship

The Academic Citizen

Are universities stuck in an ivory tower, cut off from day to day reality? In this episode, Prof Mehita Iqani discusses how research should and could be engaged with “communities”. The guest is University of Cape Town Associate Professor, Tanja Winkler, deputy dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. They speak about how universities, through scholarly work conducted in a mutually beneficial partnership between traditionally trained "experts" and members of a community, can work together for development and empowerment. Prof Winkler agues that both parties should collaborate on an equal footing to identify problems which the communities face and work together to find solutions based on equality, and social justice. Produced, scheduled, edited and researched by: Simbarashe Honde Photo Cred: Marianne de Klerk