Intellectual creative workers shine at prestigious Humanities and Social Sciences awards
- Wits University
Scholars in the School of Arts and the School of Education distinguished themselves at the 2024 National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences Awards.
The annual National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences Awards (NIHSS) Awards recognise exceptional, innovative, and socially responsive scholarship, and creative and digital contributions that enhance and advance fields in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
The 2024 NIHSS Awards took place on 14 March in Pretoria. Awards are made in categories broadly including books (non-fiction and fiction), as well as creative and digital contributions.
The Wits School of Arts performed well, winning three awards:
Vuma Levin, a Lecturer in Wits Music, was joint winner in the Best Musical Composition/Arrangement category for The Past is Unpredictable, Only the Future is Certain.
The Best Public Performance award went to visual artist and dancer Reshma Chhiba, who is the Exhibitions Coordinator in Fine Arts, and Anusha Pillay and Panna Dullabh for Bhumi/Earth.
Zen Marie (Fine Arts), Oluwarotimi Randle (Digital Arts), Tegan Bristow (Digital Arts) and Tamara Tesoriera (Digital Arts), with Catalina Meija Moreno and Huda Tayob, won in the Best Digital Humanities Visualization/Infographic category for Ellipses Issue 4: Architectures of the South: Bruising, Healing, Remembering and Returning.
René Smith, Head of the Wits School of Arts, says, “We are delighted and so proud of WSOA colleagues and all others who were also shortlisted. The awards are significant in our sector/fields and the accolades bestowed upon our colleagues are all well-deserved.”
The School of Education was in a class of its own with Dr Zaheera Jina Asvat’s Tears of the Weaver named a finalist in the fiercely contested Fiction Short Story category. Asvat is a Lecturer in Mathematics Education.
Professor Juliet Perumal, Head of the Wits School of Education, congratulated Asvat, writing, “Your achievement in having Tears of the Weaver long listed among the top 10 titles from a plethora of submissions, and further distinguished as a Finalist, standing shoulder to shoulder with only one other exceptional work, is a testament to your extraordinary talent and dedication to the craft of storytelling.” Asvat says that she is deeply grateful for the support from the Wits School of Education community.