Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Award – TEACHER EXCELLENCE
Faculty of Humanities – Department of History
Why is it that when some history students are ploughing through the details and dates of past wars and skirmishes, the history students at UJ are engaged, excited, and writing their own histories? The answer to this question is that they have the privilege of sitting in Professor Thembisa Waetjen’s classroom. Prof Waetjen, one of the most exciting, well-loved, and innovative teachers at UJ, offers her students a vision of History that encourages students to develop the ability to understand the past and, very importantly, to imagine future generations and possibilities. Her students learn to recognise the importance of their voices and capabilities and to see themselves as active history makers in the present who can contribute to a better world and make a significant difference in the lives and experiences of future generations. Beyond being taught about processes of change, the centrality of context and the nature of evidence, students learn to interrogate and, crucially, question and be open to unexpected answers and possibilities. Importantly, they are also given ample opportunity to transform their experience and create new knowledge uniquely and practically. There is no better example of this than an extraordinary class project for which students constructed an extensive digital archive. Using a range of software and drawing on their experiences of COVID-19, they collected photographs, videos, memes, and short texts designed to provide evidence for future historians about lived experiences during the pandemic. The result was extraordinary, with 12,000 items clustered around twelve themes and displayed in four curated exhibitions, now available online and accessible to all.
This evening, we are here to applaud you and your work, Prof Waetjen – you are an astonishing teacher who is making a major impact on the lives of your students. Congratulations, and we look forward to reading more of your students’ “history in the making” in the years to come.
