According to professor Nuraan Davids, she was encouraged to apply for the fellowship at Stanford University by her colleagues. Most notably, professor Jonathan Jansen and professor Yusef Waghid at Stellenbosch University encouraged her the most, she said. PHOTO: Facebook/ Stellenbosch University: Faculty of Education.
A Stellenbosch University (SU) professor is set to become the first SU representative to partake in a fellowship from the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University, according to the CASBS Twitter account.
She is set to start her fellowship on Tuesday.
Nuraan Davids, professor of philosophy of education at SU, was awarded the fellowship in 2019. However, due to personal matters, she deferred the fellowship to 1 September this year, said Davids.
“Admittedly, when I looked at the calibre of fellows who had preceded me, I applied with tentative hope,” said Davids.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, Davids will begin her fellowship online but hopes to take up residency in the United States by January 2021.
“We are all excited and confident that with the advancements in technology, the virtual experience will be as enriching,” she said.
DAY 7 of introducing the 2020-21 CASBS fellows class
Nuraan Davids is a pioneer – the first CASBS fellow representing @StellenboschUni. Hopefully many more will follow her path in years to come! pic.twitter.com/qBe74aIxFX
— CASBS (@CASBSStanford) August 16, 2020
Prof Nuraan Davids has also said that she expects to have her own ideas challenged during her time at Stanford University, which will have a positive effect on how her own students think. TWITTER POST: @CASBSStanford
Davids said that, during her time at Stanford University, she will write a book on how Muslim women in particular are represented in liberal democracies.
This research, in particular, is closely aligned to the work of the Department of Education Policy Studies at SU, according to professor Mbulungeni Madiba, dean of SU’s Faculty of Education.
“The fellowship at Stanford provides her with the opportunity to engage and share her research with other leading scholars in the field,” said Madiba.
CASBS fellowships
“We are delighted that professor Davids will be a fellow with us,” said Sally Schroeder, associative director at the CASBS at Stanford University.
For the 2020/2021 academic year, 31 fellowships were granted at the CASBS, according to Michael Gaetani, communications director at the CASBS.
The Centre for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) was established in 1952, according to their website. Since then it has offered a number of fellowships to researchers across the globe. This video explains what a fellowship at the CASBS entails. VIDEO: YouTube/CASBS.
According to the CASBS’s website, the researchers aim to study contemporary societal problems and potential evidence-based solutions.
“This is one of the most prestigious residential fellowships for social and behavioural scientists, and cognate disciplines, in the world and has had that reputation for decades. It’s an extremely competitive selection process,” said Gaetani.