Liz Gunner, born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1941. Ph.D. from University of London. Honorary Associate Research Professor at WISER at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Fellow (1 March 2008 – 30 June 2008)
GENDER, THE GENERATIONS, POPULAR CULTURE AND THE SEARCH FOR A NEW MASCULINITY IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1994 TO THE PRESENT
I came to NIAS as a fellow from March to June 2008 to work with colleagues on the NIAS theme group project: “Coming to terms with a Shattered World: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Mediations of Violence in Africa”. Besides our regular meetings I used the time for intense and wide reading and for focused research in the tranquil and highly supportive research environment NIAS offered. I was able to produce a near final draft of my chapter for the book tentatively entitled: “Coming to terms with a shattered world: mediations of violence in Africa” which we intend to submit to a publisher in 2009. My chapter is: “Fathers, Sons and Citizens: Violence, Conflicting Masculinities and the Isicathamiya Performances of the New South African Era (Uhlel’ Olusha)”. I also worked on two articles: one on formatting a manuscript of a book on radio drama and the other a review. The excellent research conditions and the congenial working environment at NIAS made all the above possible. My contacts with other fellows have been stimulating and my understanding of international research in the Humanities and Social Sciences has gained enormously from my research period at NIAS.