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Humanities & Social Sciences

72nd Graduation: Doctoral Citations – CHUSS

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AMPAIRE Anne
AMPAIRE Anne

AMPAIRE Anne
Career Stereotypes and Aspiration as Predictors of Students’ Independence in Career Choice at Education Transitional Levels in Uganda

Ms. AMPAIRE Anne examined the extent to which career stereotypes and aspirations predict students’ career choice at education transitional levels in Uganda. This was motivated by the continued challenges that impact on students’ independence in career choice and the extent to which career decisions are based on the available facts. This has led to students taking up careers that are not in line with their interests, value system, and skills, thereby compromising the outcome expectations. Overall, the results revealed that reliance on personal independence and career choice facts, is decreased by the prevailing career stereotypes, across the education transitional levels. This has resulted into an increase in the number of students who pursue careers that are inconsistent with their career aspirations and interests, and there is need for measures aimed at addressing those prevailing career stereotypes. The study was co-funded by myself and Makerere University and was supervised by Dr. Mayanja Kajumba and Prof. Anthony M. Mugagga.


ANTWIWAA Stella
ANTWIWAA Stella

ANTWIWAA Stella
The Representation of Women in Selected Plays of Euripides and Selected Ghanaian Playwrights

Ms. ANTWIWAA Stella employed feminist and postcolonial theories to interrogate the representation of women in selected classical Euripidean plays and selected Ghanaian playwrights to examine the ‘universalist’ view that the Classics are models for others to learn from. The research questions the hegemonic elevation of the Classical/Western values to examine African experiences. The study reveals that in terms of gender representations, the Classical Greek, through Euripides’ writings, does not provide examples for the Akan (Ghanaian/African) societies. The study recommends that African scholars need to adopt Afrocentric epistemology to examine African experiences in order to shift and balance the centres of knowledge production and circulation. Africa’s classics in history, art, myths, folktales and indigenous knowledge need to be foregrounded in scholarship to address the pedestal placement of the Western Classics as a yardstick to evaluate African artefacts. Granted the Classics continue to be valuable, scholars need to interrogate them when applied to different cultural experiences. This critical and comparative study challenges the ideology of the superiority of Western Classics over other cultures. This study was funded by Gerda Henkel Stiftung Foundation, and supervised by Prof. Dominica Dipio and Dr Danson Kahyana.


ARINAITWE Perpetua
ARINAITWE Perpetua

ARINAITWE Perpetua
Kiswahili at Crossroads: Cultural Politics and Language Policy in Uganda.

Ms. ARINAITWE Perpetua studied historical narratives of different language policies and factors that impacted Kiswahili growth across the different historical periods; the pre-colonial period (1840-1894); the colonial period (1894-1962); and the post-colonial period (1962-2019). A blend of three approaches to language policy and planning (LPP); the Historical-structural model, the Neo-classical Model and Language Management Theory (LMT). A narrative technique enabled the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. Findings revealed that Kiswahili growth has been dependent on numerous language policies stretching from the pre, during and post-colonial epochs. Constant shift in cultural and political leadership meant that whoever held power determined the language policies that favoured their leadership ideology. The study was funded by the GERDA HENKEL STIFFTUNG and was supervised by Dr Saudah Namyalo and Dr Gumoshabe Gilbert.


ASIIMWE Stedia
ASIIMWE Stedia

ASIIMWE Stedia
Female survivors’ Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and access to justice in Uganda

Ms. ASIIMWE Stedia investigated female survivors’ experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) and access to justice in Uganda, with a focus on relationships involving male police officers. The study was carried out in Jinja police barracks in Eastern Uganda. Methodologically, qualitative approach was employed, using case study design. Findings indicate that female survivors of IPV experienced physical, sexual, economic and psychological violence. Factors that triggered IPV against women in police families included: shared accommodation, poorly managed transfers and daily deployments, alcoholism, low salaries, refusing women to work outside the barracks and work related stress. Access to justice by female survivors of IPV was constrained by alien referral pathways to justice, abusers’ possession of a weapon, long procedures, laxity by authority to punish fellow officers, sexual harassment, women’s lack of information about their rights and Government’s failure to decentralize some services. The study argues that the arm of the law is too short to reach civilian female survivors of IPV, because the abusers are at the same time the vehicles through which justice is supposed to be delivered. The study recommends that police management should construct more houses for officers, include a module on Gender based violence in police training syllabus and use mult-professional teams to handle IPV cases. The study was funded by Makerere-Sweden Bilateral Research Program, and was supervised by Dr. Victoria Flavia Namuggala and Dr. Ruth Nsibirano.


ATWAGALA Donnah
ATWAGALA Donnah

ATWAGALA Donnah
A Comparative Analysis of Land ownership and Land conflicts in post-conflict areas of Luwero and Amuru Districts, Uganda: A Gender Perspective

Ms. ATWAGALA Donnah analysed the effects of landownership and land conflicts on gender perspectives in post-conflict areas of Luwero and Amuru Districts in Uganda. The findings show that the nature and causes of land conflicts have evolved, transforming from being local to becoming international. Actors and conflicts have become more sophisticated and complex to identify and analyse, respectively. The study recommends adopting the right-based, gender and conflict-sensitive land acquisition, ownership and management framework that will ensure equitable land acquisition, access and use by all stakeholders. This study was supervised by Dr. Paddy Musana and Assoc. Prof. Consolata Kabonesa.


BALIKOOWA Richard
BALIKOOWA Richard

BALIKOOWA Richard
A Sociocultural Exploration of Children’s Experiences and Perspectives on Gender-based Violence in Primary Schools in Busoga Sub-region, Uganda

Mr. BALIKOOWA Richard explored the experiences and perspectives of primary school children regarding gender-based violence in and around schools and its impact on their schooling; in Uganda’s Busoga sub-region. Using a sociocultural approach, Balikoowa adopted a multimethod design through which he involved 450 male and female school children from 10 to 14 years in participatory visual activities; including draw-and-talk, child-friendly focus group conversations, in-depth interviews; as well as the eclectic administration of a survey tool. Children acknowledged experiencing and/or witnessing gender-based violence in and around their schools. They also disclosed that gender-biased factors associated with school setup and gender-based violence immensely negatively affected their motivation to engage in school activities. However, children’s greatest nervousness and related impact on their schooling was attributed to the unresponsiveness and unempathetic attitude by those around them. The study recommended that stakeholders in children’s schooling should allow them reveal their challenges and also pay concerted attention to them as key participants in their development and schooling. The study was funded by the Andrew W. Mellon and was supervised by Assoc. Prof. Julius Fred Kikooma and Dr. David Onen.


FEDEO Ignas
FEDEO Ignas

FEDEO Ignas
Myth and Mythmaking in the Narratives about Mwalimu Julius Nyerere among the Banyakyusa

Mr. FEDEO Ignas studied the recreation of Nyerere’s personal life and political career in Banyakyusa myths. The study offers an alternative understanding of Nyerere’s life and history as perceived by local people. Using oral history interviews and content analysis, Banyakyusa myths which carry their culture, voices, beliefs, and perceptions of Nyerere were recorded. The myths were interpreted based on Banyakyusa traditional beliefs and their life experiences. The findings revealed that Banyakyusa believe that Nyerere was endowed with immerse supernatural and mystical powers which helped him to implement his presidential duties successfully and protect himself and the Tanzanian people. The study established the Banyakyusa belief that Nyerere’s mystical powers greatly account for the prominence of his ideas and the reverence accorded to him in Tanzania, Africa and the world at large. The study will promote preservation of Banyakyusa and other Africans oral materials especially myths which carry beliefs and perceptions of local people. This study was funded by Gerda-Henkel Stiftung Foundation and supervised by Prof Abasi Kiyimba and Dr. Benge Okot.


KATURAMU Alex
Land, social Change and the lives of nomadic pastoralists in Western Uganda since 1950

Mr. KATURAMU Alex examined the historical proliferation of nomadic pastoralists focusing on the issues of land and social change since 1950. In the results, seasonal movements culminated into land conflicts among pastoralists and farmers. The land conflicts were exacerbated by intensity of population in the cattle corridor. The study shows that pastoralists remain one of the secors that significantly contribute to Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product, hence deserving resource investiments to improve the livelihoods of herders. This study was supervised by Dr. Simon Peter Rutabajuuka and Dr. Charlottee Karungu Mafumbo.


KIGEMBE Elmerek
KIGEMBE Elmerek

KIGEMBE Elmerek
Challenges of Strategic Plan Implementation in the North Western Diocese: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania

Rev. KIGEMBE Elmereck investigated the challenges that limited strategic plan implementation in the North Western Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran church in Tanzania. The study identified Improper resource allocation, limited knowledge of implementers, un-conducive working conditions, lack of clear targets and changes in Government policies as negative actors in strategic plan implementation. For the church to effectively implement its strategic plan objectives so as to deliver God’s Mission, the study recommended strategic mobilization, monitoring and allocation of resources; integration of training in the strategic plan implementation processes; enhancement of working conditions; integration of clear targets in action plans and regular review of strategic plan instruments to accommodate changes in the government policy. The study was funded by the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) and supervised by Dr. Patrick Mangeni and Dr. Veneranda Mbabazi.


KIRIGGWAJJO Anatole
KIRIGGWAJJO Anatole

KIRIGGWAJJO Anatole
The Tonology of Lunyala Nouns, Noun Phrases and Verbs

Mr. KIRIGGWAJJO Anatole investigated the tonology of Lunyala one of Uganda’s minority languages mainly spoken in the district of Kayunga. He argues that although the tone system of Bantu languages has attracted a lot of attention in the last decade, minority languages have been neglected making such languages endangered. His study found out that Lunyala has a privative tone system with the High tone marked underlying while both the underlying and surface tones are borne by moras in a one-to-one correspondence. Further the tone distribution over the moras is determined by tonal processes for example; High and Low tone spreading, Obligatory contour Principle and Tonal polarity among others. He underscores the usefulness of the study in compiling Lunyala online-talking dictionaries and developing teaching and learning materials in Lunyala. This study was funded by Volkswagen Foundation and was supervised by Dr. Saudah Namyalo.


IMOKOLA John Baptist
IMOKOLA John Baptist

IMOKOLA John Baptist
Television Programming Regulation: Examining the Policy Implementation of Local Content Quotas in Uganda

Mr. IMOKOLA John Baptist examined the implementation of television local content quotas policy in Uganda. Five years after television local content quotas were implemented in 2014, no known comprehensive assessment had been done on uptake by television stations, and how the is understood by the different stakeholders. The study analyzed the perspectives of different stakeholders, opportunities from the local content quotas and the challenges affecting implementation. Using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis, the study found that Uganda Communications Commission, the television stations, the local content producers and the audience had reacted differently towards the policy. Implementation has seen increased production, acquisition, adaptation and airing of Ugandan content for television. Although there are opportunities created by the policy, achievement of these are bedeviled structural, conceptual, economic and political challenges affecting effective implementation. The study proposed a new definition of local content, and recommends a consultative process in the formulation and implementation of broadcast policies. This study was funded by Andrew Mellon CHUSS Fellowship and supervised by Prof. Goretti Linda Nassanga and Dr. Brian Semujju.


KYOMUHENDO Marjorie Niyitegeka
KYOMUHENDO Marjorie Niyitegeka

KYOMUHENDO Marjorie Niyitegeka
Family Planning Communication in Uganda: An Interrogation of Media Reporting, Communication Campaigns and Audience Perspectives

Ms. KYOMUHENDO Marjorie Niyitegeka’s study was motivated by the constant high awareness and low use of contraceptives by most women and men of reproductive age in Uganda. She thus examined the framing of family planning information in selected media stories and health communication campaigns. She also explored how audience members targeted by the campaigns interpreted family planning information. Her study found deficiencies in family planning communication occasioned by shallow media reporting and information transmission approaches that disregarded the audience’s information needs and contextual factors. She recommends that the Ministry of Health and partners implement a harmonised communication strategy that is audience-centred and responsive to the emerging information needs and socio-ecological contexts of particular audience segments. She further urges Uganda’s media to practise more enterprise and interpretive journalism in reporting family planning to amplify its significance to the public. The study was co-funded by CARTA and Makerere University, and was supervised by Prof.Goretti L. Nassanga and Prof. Anne R. Katahoire.


LUGWIRI Okombo Patrick
LUGWIRI Okombo Patrick

LUGWIRI Okombo Patrick
A citizen Sociolinguistics Appraisal of Kiswahili as a Tool for Social Integration in the East African Community

Mr. LUGWIRI Okombo Patrick employed the Citizen Sociolinguistics model to explore language-based decisions about Kiswahili among ordinary citizens in the East African Community, specifically, in Busia and Namanga border towns. Lugwiri’s study was motivated by Article 137(2) of the EAC Treaty (1999) which provides for the promotion of Kiswahili as a lingua franca of the Community. Using ethnographic methods, the study examined the patterns and extent of the use of Kiswahili, the nature of Kiswahili used, and citizens perceptions and attitudes to Kiswahili. The study found that Kiswahili is construed, constructed and appropriated differently by different citizens in different domains and spaces, and therefore, a highly varied language. While Kiswahili has the potential of a common language of communication and a tool for social integration in the EAC, issues of varieties and labels, contact and conflict between varieties, status and prestige, perceptions and attitudes, national and social identity, and linguistic power struggles impact negatively on this potential. The study recommended a shift in approach to Kiswahili in the EAC from the ‘top-down’ policies to ‘bottom-up’ or practice-based policies that take into account participation of ordinary citizens as makers and shapers of language policies. The study was funded by Gerda Henkel Fellowship and supervised by Dr Merit Kabugo and Dr Florence Bayiga.


MUDONDO Constance
MUDONDO Constance

MUDONDO Constance
Land Conflicts and Livelihoods of People Utilising Namatala Wetland in Eastern Uganda

Ms. MUDONDO Constance examined how land conflicts shape livelihoods of people. Using Namatala Wetland in Eastern Uganda as a case, she examined the conflict dimensions and drivers, land use, and conflict management mechanisms. She found that increasing demand for moist farm land shape conflict dimensions leading to cleavage formation based on class, ethnicity, and location. The emergent quests for territorial control and inequality result in violence, which hinders optimal use of land and diminishes wetland users’ capitals. Although formal conflict management strategies have been tried, they were largely protectionist and divisive, reinforcing feelings of relative deprivation and latent hostilities. Consequently, the wetland users have resorted to informal coping mechanisms like social-networks that act as collective labour, financial safety valves and buffers against attacks. She argues that alleviating the effects of land conflicts requires shifting from structural models to locally bred conflict management systems. The study was funded by SIDA and supervised by Dr. Robert Kabumbuli and Dr. Dauda Waiswa Batega.


MUGENYI Jonathan
MUGENYI Jonathan

MUGENYI Jonathan
Singing Politics: Popular Music, Popular Politics and Contingencies of Protest in NRM’s Uganda

Mr. MUGENYI Jonathan examined the deployment of musical expression in the practice of state politics under Uganda’s National Resistance Movement. On the one hand, he investigated the direct and implied ways by which the NRM deploys musical expression as a tool of political mobilisation and legitimization while on the other hand, he examined ways by which the Ugandan society uses musical expression to create alternatives ways of engaging with NRM politics. Expanding the Foucauldian theory of power, Mugenyi argues that musical expression is a conduit of state power that percolates into society and it is the same conduit that returns to the state to challenge its power as contingencies of protest. This study was funded under Makerere Institute of Social Research’s Interdisciplinary MPhil/PhD and was supervised by Prof. Mahmood Mamdani.


MWANIKA Kassim
MWANIKA Kassim

MWANIKA Kassim
Commercial Sugarcane Farming and Rural Youth Livelihoods in Eastern Uganda

Mr. MWANIKA Kassim examined the implications of commercial farming on a vulnerable population. Focusing on sugarcane farming and youth livelihoods in Eastern Uganda, he found that sugarcane farming has a suboptimal impact on youth livelihoods in Busoga sub-region. Due to limited requisite resources, the youth constitute the bulk of sugarcane labour force and their benefits from the industry are limited to wage earnings. He argues that commercial sugarcane farming is an enclave for wealthy groups, and that youth are incorporated into circuits of capital accumulation where they are exploited by employers. The process is exacerbated by lack of labour regulations and sugarcane price volatility, which undermine the trickle-down effect of sugarcane farming on youth livelihoods. Enhancing outcomes from sugarcane farming requires addressing structural traps embedded in capitalist large-scale farming. The study was funded by SIDA and supervised by Assoc. Prof. Andrew Ellias State, Prof. Atekyereza Peter and Assoc. Prof. Torun Österberg.


NAKABO Seruga Robinah
NAKABO Seruga Robinah

NAKABO Seruga Robinah
Followership and Women’s Empowerment for Sustainable Development: A Case of the Women in the National Association of Women’s Organisations in Uganda

Ms. NAKABO Seruga Robinah investigated followership and women’s empowerment for sustainable development, taking the case of the women in NAWOU. After in-depth interviews, findings showed that followership was generally a taken for granted concept. Respondents perceived followership as a cooperative venture, retrospection on past experiences, as a detour, seeking to stabilise or destabilise the status quo, identifying preferred values, and mentorship. Most voices reiterated that generally, many women exhibited perpetual and unconscious followership tendencies even when other alternatives were available; with fear as the main causal condition. However, women’s followership of NAWOU was found to be pragmatic and conscious with the implication of possible empowerment; intervened by education, family ties, and financial situations. The conclusion was, depending on personal characteristics, perception of empowerment and the typology of followership adopted, women could gain empowerment for sustainable development. The recommendation is that NAWOU, the government, academic institutions, and similar organizations reconsider the concept of followership and its implications on empowerment. The study was supervised by Assoc Prof. Godfrey Assimwe, and Dr. Robert S. Esiruku


NAKALYOWA Deborah
NAKALYOWA Deborah

NAKALYOWA Deborah
Intimate Partner Violence and Masculinities: Experiences of Baganda male “survivors” in Masaka District, Uganda

Ms. NAKALYOWA Deborah examined, through a qualitative methodology, the lived experiences of men who were subjected to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) by their female intimate partners in heterosexual relationships, including forms/types in which the IPV manifested, and how it affected the masculine identities of the male victims. Findings revealed that they were subjected to psychological/emotional violence, in addition to physical aggression and sexual abuse in the contexts of Intimate Terrorism, Situational Couple Violence and Mutual Violent Control. While the importance of maintaining an appropriate sense of masculinity underpinned their narratives, the male victims described feeling shame and embarrassment for not having met the dominant cultural expectations surrounding masculinity, consequently affecting their emotional and physical well-being. However, the majority of men were hesitant to seek help after victimization, for fear of ridicule, emasculation and being cast as the perpetrators. Therefore, there is need for more research and advocacy to enhance recognition and public awareness about the plight of male victims, review of laws/policies aimed at combating IPV in intimate relationships to be more gender-inclusive, as well as establish victim service support sources for all IPV victims, regardless of gender. The study was funded by SIDA and supervised by Dr. Evelyn Lutwama-Rukundo and Assoc. Prof. Consolata Kabonesa


NANSAMBA Joyce
NANSAMBA Joyce

NANSAMBA Joyce
Why They Stay: A socio-cultural Reconstruction of Academics’ Retention in Uganda’s Public Universities.

Ms. NANSAMBA Joyce explains why Academics stay working in Uganda’s Public Universities despite unappealing working conditions. Recognizing that staff retention is not exclusively about institutional frameworks and individually situated explanations, the study underscores the role of historical, social and cultural contexts in explaining retention. A narrative analysis of the academics’ stories revealed that the meaning academics attach to their professional identity, the social relations from engaged scholarship and the otherness from external prestige explain their retention. The study was a departure from conventional thinking that attractive pay and benefits, satisfactory terms of service, good working conditions among others explain retention. It was a novel step to studying retention as a social construction from the perspective of Academics’ own experiences. The study was funded by Makerere University and supervised by Assoc Prof. Julius Kikooma and Assoc Prof. Umar Kakumba.


NIRINGIYIMANA Julius
NIRINGIYIMANA Julius

NIRINGIYIMANA Julius
Oil Politics and Land Conflicts in the Albertine Region, Uganda

Mr. NIRINGIYIMANA Julius investigated how oil politics was influencing the changing nature of land conflicts in the Albertine region of Uganda. The study discovered that though the Ugandan government had been engaging in protracted negotiations with multinational oil corporations in an effort to protect the national interests, the process instead got plagued by land conflicts and dispossession of citizens from their land. It established that the interests of the actors conflicted and led to the politicization of oil governance. Consequently, the government was made to adjust its position to accommodate the interests of multinational oil corporations while other opportunistic interests, such as land speculators also took advantage. These actions made the affected persons to lose their land rights which invoked and intensified land conflicts in form of Polanyi’s ‘countermovement’ and adversely affected people’s livelihoods. The study concluded that where neoliberal capitalism interfaces with an oil-producing developing country, citizens face dispossession of land and other rights, and where there are pre-existing land conflicts, the politicisation of oil intensifies them and produces new ones. The study recommends that the Ugandan state should re-assert its interests and obligations to protect people’s land rights and make multinational oil corporations to adhere to internationally established benchmarks such as fair compensation. This study was funded by SIDA and supervised by Prof Muhumuza William and Prof Murindwa Rutanga.


TUNANUKYE Nicholas
TUNANUKYE Nicholas

TUNANUKYE Nicholas
A History of Migrancy, Nativism, and Citizenship in Uganda, 1894-1995: A case of South and Western Uganda

Mr. TUNANUKYE Nicholas examined the relationship between migrations, identity formations and citizenship in Uganda, 1894-1995 using migration experiences of Bakiga and Banyankole into Buganda, and Bakiga into Bunyoro. Using historical research methods which included analysis of documents, oral narratives and archival sources, the study established that, whereas migration had taken place in the region of pre-Uganda, colonial rule encouraged unprecedented internal migration in Uganda. The new socio-economic order brought about by the colonial state opened the way for free movement in the protectorate across ethnic boundaries. There were two main reasons for this accelerated migration: migrant labour and search for land. The migration of Banyankole and Bakiga from southwestern region of Uganda to Buganda in the 1930s, 1940s into 1960s was largely in response to the former, while the migration of the Bakiga into Bunyoro and Toro regions during the 1950s and 1960s was in response to latter. The study also established that there were complex interactions between the migrating and receiving communities. One major complexity lay in the attitude of nativism, expressed in subtle ways. Nativism gave rise to two kinds of citizenship consciousness: the Local Citizenship bestowed by membership to an ancestral community inhabiting a particular region and National Citizenship bestowed by the statutes of the Ugandan state. The study was funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and was supervised by Dr. Simon Peter Rutabajuuka and Dr. Deo Nzarwa Katono.


WAMAMELA Nixon
WAMAMELA Nixon

WAMAMELA Nixon
A critique of Constitutional making and amendment in Uganda with Reference to the 1967 &1995 Constitution

Mr. WAMAMELA Nixon conducted an ethical critique of constitutional making and amendment in Uganda with specific reference to the 1967 and 1995 constitutions. The study established that the constitutional processes were seemingly legitimate, yet, self-interest tendencies overrode common interest, hence, the resultant controversies such as lack of consensus among members of parliament, questionable declaration of state of emergency, controversial consultations, resultant scuffles and violent scenes in parliament. It was also established that ideals of constitutional democracy and legislative ethics were lacking. To mitigate the above challenges, an ethical framework for constitutional making and amendment processes should be put into account. Such a framework should include referenda, benchmarking and a national consensus on ethical principles, declaration of conflict of interest by the incumbents and other possible beneficiaries. These are possible through creation of ethics review committee within parliament. The study was funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and supervised by Prof. Archangel Rukooko Byaruhanga and Dr. Paul Matthias Shimiyu.


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Mark Wamai

Humanities & Social Sciences

Call For Abstracts: 2025 CHUSS Graduate Symposium

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Students walk into the Arts Quadrangle, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.

With funding from Lisa Maskell, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Makerere University has held several symposia targeting PhD students and early career scholars of Historical Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences from Makerere University. The CHUSS 2025 Graduate Symposium is now open to PhD students from Ugandan, regional and PANGeA affiliated universities.

This change in direction is cognisant of the achievements of the Graduate Schools in training the next generation of African scholars in Historical Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences. The interventions have checked the existential threats that these disciplines faced because of the denigration of higher education, especially the Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines, under the aegis of the International Momentary Fund/World Bank Structural Adjustment Policies of the 1990s. Indeed, the Lisa Maskell grants to the universities of Stellenbosch, Makerere, and Ghana have reversed the crisis within these disciplines and ensured their sustainability on the continent. Nonetheless, an organic networked and viable community of continental Historical Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences scholars and practitioners graduating from these universities has not been established. Therefore, CHUSS wishes to contribute towards building this community through this inaugural Graduate Symposium.

In this regard, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Makerere University, invites PhD fellows from Makerere University including those from Ugandan, regional and PANGeA affiliated universities of Yaoundé, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Malawi, Stellenbosch, Ghana at Legon and Botswana to the 2025 CHUSS Graduate Symposium. The 2025 Symposium will congregate PhD fellows into an interactive and networking collaboration besides presenting their work in progress and acquiring requisite scholarly/professional skills for 21st century Humanities and Social Sciences academics.

Participation and Submission of Abstracts

The CHUSS Graduate Symposium 2025 hereby calls for 250-word abstracts drawn from the fellows’ work in progress such as research proposals, draft theses or research articles for presentation at Makerere University, Kampala from 19 to 21 June 2025. The Symposium will be preceded by a writing workshop that will be curated by Prof. Grace A. Musila (University of Witwatersrand), Dr Peter Wafula Wekesa (Kenyatta University), Dr Amon Ashaba Mwine (Makerere University) and Dr Isaac Tibasiima (Makerere University). The Symposium will start with a keynote address by Prof. Grace A. Musila on “Life after the PhD: Building and Nourishing Supportive Scholarly Communities and Networks”. It will also include a panel discussion on the challenges of graduate studies and mental health.

Funding

The Symposium is fully supported by a Lisa Maskell grant at Makerere University; therefore, participants from Ugandan, regional and PANGeA affiliated universities will not pay conference fees. However, the participants will have to meet their travel and accommodation costs in Kampala.

The Symposium will be held in-person at Makerere University and fellows who plan to attend should submit their abstracts clearly stating their name, affiliation and contact details to: chusssymposium@mak.ac.ug by Friday May 23, 2025. Contributors will be notified of the decisions on their submissions by Friday June 6, 2025.

For further information and inquiry, please write to:

  1. Dr Edgar Nabutanyi: Symposium Convenor Email: edgar.nabutanyi@mak.ac.ug
  2. Dr Levis Mugumya: Symposium Convenor Email: levis.mugumya@mak.ac.ug
  3. Ms. Esther Namitala: Symposium Administrator Email: namitalaesther@gmail.com

Keynote Speaker

Prof. Grace A. Musila University of the Witwatersrand
Grace A. Musila is an Associate Professor of African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. She has taught African Literature at the University of Johannesburg, Stellenbosch University and University of the Witwatersrand. Her research focuses on Anglophone African literature and popular culture, primarily in East and Southern Africa. Her work interrogates how settler colonial history of East and Southern Africa and its twin legacies of epistemic injustice and selective apportionment of humanity continue to shape these regions’ formal institutions and socio-political practices.

Jane Anyango

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Humanities & Social Sciences

Special University Entry Examinations for the Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

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Students from the Department of Performing Arts and Film entertain guests at the APRC launch. Official launch of Agricultural Policy Research Centre (APRC), College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) by Uganda’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF), represented by Mr. Steven Byantwale, the Commissioner for Crop Protection, 24th February 2025, Makerere University School of Public Health Auditorium, Kampala Uganda, East Africa.

The Academic Registrar Makerere University invites applications for the Special University Entry Examinations for admission to the Diploma in Performing Arts.

The examination will take place on Saturday 17th May, 2025.

Application process is online for those intending to sit the examination. Kindly note that there is payment of a non-refundable application fee of Shs. 110,000/- excluding bank charges in any (Stanbic Bank Branch, Dfcu Post Bank, UBA and Centenary Bank). The application fee includes 2 Past Papers availed to you on completion of the online process.

TO BE ELIGIBLE TO SIT THE EXAMINATIONS, THE CANDIDATE MUST POSSESS AN O’LEVEL CERTIFICATE (UCE) WITH AT LEAST 5 PASSES.

The deadline for receiving the online applications is Tuesday 13th May 2025.

How to Apply

  • Application is online for ALL applicants.
  • Other relevant information can be obtained from Undergraduate Mature Age Office, Level 5, Room 505, Senate Building, Makerere University or can be acceessed from https://see.mak.ac.ug
  • A non refundable application fee of Shs. 110,000= for Ugandans, East Africans Applicants (Including S. Sudan & DRC) OR US $ 75 or equivalent for international applicants plus bank charges should be paid in any of the banks used by Uganda Revenue Authority.
  • Apply through the application portal https://see.mak.ac.ug

Please see download below for the application portal user guide.

Further inquiries may be sent to email: see@mak.ac.ug

Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza
ACADEMIC REGISTRAR

Mak Editor

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Humanities & Social Sciences

Call for Abstracts: International Social Work and Social Development Conference

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An aerial view of Left to Right: Mitchell Hall, Senate, CoCIS Blocks B and A, Lincoln Flats, Frank Kalimuzo Central Teaching Facility and School of Social Sciences (white) Buildings, Makerere University, with Kampala City in the background, October 2018. Uganda.

International Social Work and Social Development Conference

Call for Abstracts

Extended Deadline for abstract submission | Conference registration now open!!

Theme:  Building Resilient Communities to Promote Equity and Social Inclusion for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 

16th to 18th June 2025, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda

Makerere University’s Department of Social Work, in partnership with the East African Social Work Regional Resource Centre (EASWRRC) and the Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa (ASSWA) will host an International Conference on social work and social development from 16th – 18th June 2025 at Makerere University, Kampala. The Conference seeks to galvanise academic knowledge, debate and critical inquiry and engagements on the topical issues of equity, social justice and inclusion within the framework of attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while foregrounding practice knowledge as experienced by development actors across the globe.  This conference is organised under the auspices of the NORAD-supported RESILIENT Project, implemented since January 2021 by a consortium comprising  Makerere University, the University of Rwanda,  the Institute of Social Work, Tanzania and the University of Agder Norway. The project seeks to enhance the participation of the vulnerable and marginalized members of society in the south in the development process itself. For more details on the conference and the ongoing project please visit the following website: https://resilient.uia.no/about-resilient/.

The Conference further seeks to enhance local content and scholarship through the applicability of generated knowledge to addressing local and regional development problems, within the confluence of the greater agenda for social work and social development and its emphasis on social change. This no doubt has ramifications for the application of good practices in social development interventions in other contexts within Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas and contributes to the evolution of global social work/social development practice which promotes contextual specificity and relevance without removing the need for international networking and collaborative engagement. 

We are now pleased to invite you to submit abstracts to be presented at the International Social Work and Social Development Conference.  We are particularly interested in presentations and contributions that reflect perspectives on social justice, equity, and inclusion within the framework of attaining the SDGs within developing countries.

Conference Justification 

The proposed conference is conceptualised within the indigenisation and decolonisation model of social work which seeks to promote social development through culturally and contextually relevant interventions from the grassroots. The major thrust of the indigenisation and decolonisation perspective is based on the notion that the process of social development can only be meaningful and effective if it provides context-specific and tangible responses to the given social problems in a particular local or regional context (whether it be Africa, Asia, Latin America or any other setting). These responses must be related to the socio-cultural realities in that region (Twikirize and Spitzer, 2019[1]).  The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (United Nations, 2007[2]) unequivocally recognises that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment.

The Declaration of the United Nations World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 and the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, and their successor SDGs in 2015[3] all call out the need for role players such as social work and social development practitioners to review their strategies in addressing social injustices, poverty, social exclusion and inequalities. Within this context, social work is well positioned to explore more innovative ways to reach out to the poor and vulnerable and in doing so contribute more efficiently to addressing social exclusion and social inequality and to directly contribute to the realization of several SDGs (3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17).  Moreover, SDG progress monitoring reports seem to suggest that much work needs to be done to attain these targets by 2030 (Halkos and Gkampura, 2021[4]).

Conference objectives

The conference aims to:

  1. Bring together social work and social development practitioners, researchers, students, educators and policy makers in order to interact, learn and share each other’ experiences on pertinent social development issues.
  2. Generate topical resolutions that can be utilised by local and central governments and institutions in the global South and North to further advance the debate/efforts regarding the attainments of SDGs.

Conference Themes

We welcome submissions on any of the following themes, broadly conceived:

  1. Child Wellbeing and Child Protection
  2. Youth Participation and Inclusion
  3. Older Persons, Social Protection and Socio-economic Participation 
  4. North-South and South-South Partnership and Collaborations in Social Development
  5. Green Social Work and Environment 
  6. University and Community Engagement/ Role of Universities in Community Transformation
  7. Migration, Refugees and Development
  8. Civil Society, NGOs, Social Work and Development Practice
  9. The role of Social Work in Emergencies, Pandemic Crises and Conflict
  10. Climate change
  11. Rights Equity and Social Justice
  12. Technology and social development
  13. Mental Health
  14. Creative features, languages literature and social transformation

Conference level

This is an International Conference targeting academics, development practitioners, policy makers, students, researchers and the general public from all continents across the global North and South. We however strongly encourage participants from the global South and the Africa region to submit abstracts and papers for the conference.

Specific instructions to authors: 

  • The abstract submitted should not be more than 250 words
  • Nature of presentation:Poster presentations, oral presentations, panels and workshop formats
  • All abstracts should be submitted in Microsoft word format
  • The font type should be Times New Roman 12pt, 1.5 spacing
  • The presenting author should be presented first and underlined
  • Indicate the institutional affiliation and the country
  • Indicate the email address of the presenting/corresponding author
  • All abstracts should be submitted in English
  • Themes of the submission should also be indicated.  
  • Abstracts can be sent via Email to: resilientconference2025@mak.ac.ug copied to ainembabazi.dorynn@gmail.com or submitted online at https://resilientconference.mak.ac.ug/submit-abstracts

Potential benefits and impacts of the conference

  • International networking and benchmarking on social development issues generally
  • Opportunity to influence social agendas within the global development landscape and social programming through impacting the regional and international social work associations and the United Nations agencies .

Conference Keynote Speakers

  1. Prof. Antoinette Lombard, IASSW President and Professor of Social Work at University of Pretoria.
  2. Prof. Jeannette Bayisenge, former Minister of Gender and Family Protection in Rwanda and Professor of Gender Studies, University of |Rwanda.
  3. Prof. Ann Christin E. Nilsen, PI of the RESILIENT project and Professor of Sociology at the University of Agder, Norway.
  4. Dr. Zena Mnasi Mabeyo, Head of the Department of Psychology at the Institute of Social Work, Tanzania.

Registration

Online: https://resilientconference.mak.ac.ug/conference-registration

Or in person: With $100 registration fees for non-Africa-based participants; Students $10 or UGX 30,000; National applicants $30 or UGX 100,000.

For Registration

Extended Deadline for abstract submission: 30th April 2025

Date for confirmation of acceptance of abstracts: Given on a rolling basis effective 15th of March 2025. This will continue up to the 15th of May 2025.

Chair Local Organizing Committee
Prof. Eric Awich Ochen
Tel: +256 772 352 887
Email: eric.ochen@mak.ac.ug

Conference Secretariat
Ms Doreen Ainembabazi
Tel: +256 774 468 902
Email: ainembabazi.dorynn@gmail.com and

Ms Prisciline Aciro
Tel: +256 778 549 669
Email: resilientconference2025@mak.ac.ug


[1] Twikirize, Janestic and Spitzer, Helmut (2019) Social work practice in Africa: indigenous and innovative approaches. Kampala: Fountain Publishers

[2] https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf

[3] See https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

[4] Halkos, George & Gkampoura, Eleni-Christina, 2021. “Where do we stand on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? An overview on progress,” Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier,  70(C), pages 94-122.

Mak Editor

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