Making a baby is a chapter-based ethnography of infertility treatments and the people who make use of them in Gauteng. There are four chapters, starting with 'Behind the Curtain'. In the first chapter, the context, both historical and theoretical, of this work is given. Difficulties experienced in accessing people who are undergoing fertility treatments, difficulties in classifying the couples struggling to conceive discussed here as middle class (and why I choose to classify them as such) as well as outlining the history and development of infertility treatments in South Africa follows. Thereafter follows, a brief discussion of how other researchers have approached studying medical technologies, with special consideration for the work of Rayna Rapp. Following this is a discussion of who my informants are, and how my methodology was established and negotiated to effectively obtain the data enclosed here. The second chapter, 'Testosterone', deals with the 'external' world of infertility treatments. I argue that the most significant factor in accessing fertility treatments is money. The second factor is the doctors, where they studied and specialised, how they become specialists, where they practice, and the networks within which they function. Between money and doctors we find the medicines that are prescribed and genderised into the social categories (male or female, in this case) that they fit into. The third chapter, 'Oestrogen', deals with the internal world of fertility treatments. Internal in this context means both internal to a woman, and internal to the clinic rooms. The extreme levels of monitoring of the female body, the hospital that mimics the womb and finally, how these women attempt to become mothers, not just pregnant will be addressed in the chapter. Finally, this work concludes with 'Making a Baby'. Here I show how the context, as expressed in the first chapter, informs both kinds of definitions of infertility that of both the biomedical doctor, and that of the person undergoing such treatments. I show how the division between a body and a personality presupposes a unified body, especially when that division is expressed in an idiom of infertility treatments. I argue that social categories, technologies and technical knowledge related to infertility treatments are intimately related. Finally, I argue that in this process of making a baby, the nexus of this interrelationship is the category 'natural'. / Dissertation (M(SocSci))--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Anthropology and Archaeology / M(SocSci) / Unrestricted

Foreign diplomatic representation is a feature of national and other capital cities as centres of political and other forms power, the significance of which in cultural terms has previously been granted minor attention. Using the cases of the U.S., Dutch and Brazilian missions in the City of Tshwane (Pretoria), it is evident their meaning takes two forms: firstly, in the built environment and secondly, in cultural and public diplomacy activities that engage cityzens in new ways of thinking and being. The form of primary diplomatic sites, chanceries, embodies the national community around which their representation is constructed. Armed with a legitimate claim on the space they occupy they are a part of the city imaginary in their various shapes, sizes and styles where they communicate intent through their architecture, symbolism and activities. The identity, structure and intended meaning of chanceries would however be an incomplete project were it not for cityzenry s casual observers and active participants, as well as diplomatic and other chancery staff, who are instrumental in constituting the site and its purpose. Exploring beyond the chancery, places in the city also become diplomatic sites when utilized by missions for their cultural and public diplomacy. These activities again reify the nation state promising a platform for the affirmation of community in a city of loosely associated cityzens. Additionally, in the present context of multiplied choices for personal identity formation, missions attract audiences through language schools, art exhibitions, theatre, music and film festivals, workshops, seminars and panel discussions. This facilitation of voluntary association is the post-political, post-economic significance of diplomatic representation in the City of Tshwane. Primary data is sourced from select interviews with diplomats and cityzens, as well as the web pages of ministries of foreign affairs and embassies. Secondary data is taken from urban studies and diplomatic studies literature. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Modern European Languages / MA / Unrestricted

Engaging young children to partake in creative arts activities is often viewed as inferior to most academic subjects by some teachers and parents. In the school environment, most attention is given to academic subjects as there are misconceptions that creativity is not as important as the academics. However, research has proved that creativity is basic to improving the world in many ways. The current study involved primary school learners from two different cultural backgrounds in producing, performing and discussing their original creative arts production and explored how autonomously creative they were through the production process, performance and discussion of the production. The study also explored what benefits the learners gained through partaking in the creative arts production. Results were collected by means of observational notes during the build-up of the production and performance, learners focus group discussion and analyses of the learners production and creativity by independent specialists. Through this study, the learners were engaged in creative thinking which fostered problem solving skills, promoted higher order thinking, cooperation, flexibility, as well as emotional and social skills. The learners performance also displayed the learners innate autonomous creativity. / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Music / MMus / Unrestricted

The ability to select and apply type sensitively is an art form that requires an astute knowledge of the communicative complexity of letterforms. However, as a designer and design educator, I have observed that many designers frequently select and apply typefaces inappropriately or arbitrarily because they are simply unaware of the complex meanings underlying letterforms, as well as the power of the communicative choices they make. Many designers with even a basic understanding of type still tend to prefer to use illustration, illustrative graphics, icons or photography as their primary media of communication. In the event that type is indeed used, designers tend to choose clean typefaces because they appear to detract less from the communicative aspects of other rhetorical texts already at play in their design. In other instances, letterforms may be chosen to achieve an array of elaborately intricate design layouts that are often superficially strewn across decorative, trite and eye-candied designs. From these observations, I have therefore dedicated my study to delineating and discussing two default modes or methods used for selecting and applying type type as experiential form and type as iconic form in order to illustrate the powerful, yet intricate communicative facets of the letterform. The first mode relates to how designers select type based on a typeface s experiential form. By this, I refer to the connotations that we derive from our physical and sensual perceptions of letterform shapes. I refer to George Laukoff s experiential metaphor theory, as well as sound-image symbolism theory (synesthesia) in order to identify reminiscent and intuitive letterform perception. The second describes several ways in which designers invoke symbolic connotation by selecting iconic typefaces. Here, I investigate historical and cultural narratives woven into iconic typefaces and how these narratives may be signified, resignified and repurposed. As a means of understanding the interconnected nature of meaning embodied by the letterform, my final objective is to highlight letterform communication from a visual rhetorical perspective. By conducting an in-depth case study of the Fraktur typeface (as communicating at once experientially and symbolically), I stress several tensions that exist as a result of overlapping meaning and the interconnected nature of the two default modes of type selection. I thereby argue that designers need be aware of the communicative implications of their default modes or strategies to typeface selection. My point of departure is that a more holistic approach to selecting and applying typefaces could be followed and that rhetorical theory may provide an analytical framework for such an inclusive perspective. I maintain that if the communicative complexity of letterforms is viewed from a visual rhetorical perspective, where rhetorical intricacies of meaning embodied in the letterform are thoughtfully and holistically considered (where designers may question their default modes of type selection), designers can be more strategic in directing meaning through type. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Visual Arts / MA / Unrestricted

The challenges of providing appropriate Masters training in therapeutic psychology, to ultimately serve the needs of South Africa s diverse population, have been the focus of much attention in psychological practice and training within the postapartheid climate. Attention has been given to areas such as practical attainment of skills and exposure to diverse curriculum content and experience. The central focus of the study involved an analysis of 27 individual interviews from a cohort of Masters trainers and trainees who were part of therapeutic training at a Historically White University (HWU). In particular, the study focussed on a discursive analysis of constructions of multiculturalism in the therapeutic training that the participants were involved in, and attempted to explicitly uncover and analyse dominant discourses reflected in these constructions. The study aimed to describe the larger social discourses informing these constructions and to highlight the effects these discourses have on the discursive context of a HWU. Furthermore, the uniqueness of the study is seen in that it aimed to explicitly uncover elements of power and positioning and the manner in which power is not only reflected in the social context of the interview situation, but also how power and positioning function within the current ideological context. The study makes use of poststructuralism and social constructionism as theoretical points of departure. The data collected via individual interviews was analyzed using discursive psychology, Foucauldian discourse analysis as well as by applying deconstruction and externalization. Deconstruction and externalisation as research practices were applied within this discursive context to trouble the dominant discourses and subject positions made available. The findings revealed discourses of exclusion, the bigger picture of a country in transition discourse, discourses of multiculturalism, and discourses of race and identity. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Psychology / PhD / Unrestricted

In the 21st century, global energy challenges have led most countries to pursue energy security, specifically access to oil, as a strategic foreign policy goal. The diplomacy involved in realising this goal is complex and highly competitive in light of geo-political dynamics marked by a tight market, instability in oil supplying countries and the politicisation of the oil trade. South Africa faces huge socio-economic challenges, rooted in its history of apartheid, and as a net importer of crude oil, energy security is critical to the country s development. In the past 21 years, since the inception of its democratic order, South Africa has advanced strategic diplomatic partnerships with selected oil-producing countries in order to secure access to this key resource. These initiatives have yielded mixed results due to a variety of factors. Given this context, this study examines South Africa s energy diplomacy within the global energy discourse. The extent to which South Africa s post-apartheid diplomacy has been positioned to secure the country s supply of oil is investigated, with particular focus on how South Africa has used structured bilateral mechanisms to access oil in Africa and the Middle East the two regions from which it imports the largest quantity of its crude oil. The study also assesses the risks associated with exploring access to oil in these regions. It argues that although South Africa s energy diplomacy has contributed to the supply of oil in the past 21 years, long term security of supply cannot be guaranteed without a robust diplomatic strategy that mitigates both internal and external risk factors and locates diversification of supply sources as its central pillar. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Political Sciences / MA / Unrestricted

Reading Bhantu Steven Biko s I write what I like (1978) for the first time as an undergraduate student was challenging. I write what I like, a selection of Biko s writings published between the years 1969 and 1973, contains, amongst others, the articles Black Souls in White Skins? (1970a), We Blacks (1970b), Fragmentation of the Black Resistance (1971a), The Definition of Black Consciousness (1971b) and Black Consciousness and the Quest for True Humanity (1973). Such articles express the core of Biko s call for black consciousness. Biko wrote on Blackness post-1960, in the period marked by the banning of black political parties and the imprisonment of their leaders on Robben Island. This was a time, according to Biko (1971a:63), when no one could speak for black opinion in South Africa. Biko saw the imprisoned political leaders as having managed to assemble the black population of South Africa as a unit. His call was a call to those discriminated against and oppressed by the apartheid system to maintain this assemblage (Biko 1970a, 1970b, 1971a, 1971b, 1973) and resist all attempts at fragmenting their resistance, namely: fighting separately for certain freedoms and gains (Biko 1971a:42). What was certain to me in my first reading of Biko, as it still is in a re-reading of his work, is that South Africa is a geographical space Biko and I share, but that the dynamics of the times at which we inhabit(ed) it seem different. Biko speaks to a world of unions: African Student Association (ASA); African Students Union of South Africa (ASUSA); African National congress (ANC); Pan African Congress (PAC); University Christian Movement (UCM); National Union of South African Students (NUSAS); University of Natal Black (UNB); South African Student Organisation (SASO) and University Bantu Council (UBO) . The impact of some of these unions have spanned decades; others have disintegrated. as a social phenomenon. · To determine caregivers views on contributing factors of malnutrition among children who are benefiting from the Child Support Grant. · To explore the challenges experienced by caregivers who receive the Child Support Grant. · To make recommendations for combating malnutrition among children under the age of five who are beneficiaries of the Child Support Grant. Ten caregivers whose children were diagnosed with malnutrition while benefiting from the Child Support Grant and were given treatment at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic hospital in 2015, were purposively selected to form the sample of the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from the participants. The main conclusions drawn from the research findings were that caregivers experienced economic challenges mainly due to unemployment and lack of reliable sources of income. These identified challenges were the main contributing factors of malnutrition among children who are under the age of five benefiting from the Child Support Grant. The study was also concluded with some useful and relevant recommendations from the caregivers responses on how to mitigate malnutrition among children who are under the age of five benefiting from the Child Support Grant. One of the crucial recommendations drawn from the findings of this research study was that more information sessions to caregivers regarding malnutrition should be conducted regularly at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic hospital. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Modern European Languages / MA / Unrestricted

It is widely accepted that the current occupational context is a stressful one, especially considering rapid changes in the economic and political environment. Individuals are exposed to higher levels of stress over a longer period of time, which can have serious negative implications. If the stress cannot be tolerated, an individual is at risk of developing an exhaustion-related illness such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Burnout Syndrome. Both Chronic Fatigue and Burnout Syndrome are exhaustion-related phenomena which result from persistent stress. Where Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is characterised primarily as a physical illness, Burnout Syndrome is typically considered psychological. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Burnout Syndrome, as well as the influence of other variables which include job satisfaction, social support, age and gender. Additionally, the study sought to determine the potential prevalence of chronic fatigue and burnout among the sample which was drawn. Quantitative data collection strategies were used, whereby participants completed an online survey consisting of a battery of instruments. A final sample size of 69 participants was achieved. The results show that the population is potentially at risk for both chronic fatigue and burnout, having scored relatively high on the respective scales. In regard to the relationship between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Burnout Syndrome, the study was not able to conclusively demonstrate a significant relationship between the two syndromes. However, there is evidence to suggest various similarities across the syndromes, particularly in regard to the physical components of exhaustion and the number of physical symptoms experienced by individuals. Future research could further explore this finding to determine the extent of that relationship, and whether it could contribute to a re-conceptualisation of exhaustion-related illnesses. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

Due to a number of complex interactions between economic, social and cultural factors some households consume a portfolio of energy sources such as coal, biomass fuel, paraffin, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and solar power at different points. This phenomenon has been shown to characterise these households irrespective of their electrification status. Women are regarded as household energy managers because they perform most of the household duties which require the use of energy, yet research on women s fuel choices has not received much attention in the literature. The aim of this paper is to present the participants stories on how they utilise multiple fuels within the household and on the stories they tell about allocating these fuels to various household activities. Nine women were purposefully selected from the Soshanguve area in the City of Tshwane. Data was collected through individual in-depth interviews and narrative analysis was used to generate findings in the form of themes which emerged from the stories. Five themes about women s decision making with regard to using multiple fuels in their households were identified: the availability of a choice of fuels in the vicinity, various challenges with using electricity (including free basic electricity), strategies for managing the use of household fuel, the safety of using various fuels, and having access of the free basic electricity. The participants stories portray how household fuel choices can contribute towards changing residential behaviour related to energy production and consumption. In addition, they show how local knowledge can be employed in the design of new energy solutions. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

This research project has explored selected ethical issues raised by scam advertising in the South African advertising industry, as well as in relation to a wider discourse on advertising awards. In Chapter One the aims of the study were introduced, and some background information on the practice was provided. A literature review was also performed on previous research that has been conducted on this subject. It was discovered that very little of this sort of research has been done, and none of it has been done in a South African context. Chapter Two focused on the phenomenon of scam advertising in order to gain a better understanding of the practice thereof. Advertising agencies rely on creative rankings in order to get onto long and shortlists to pitch to new clients and thus gain new clients and new business. This fulfils the first research objective: to understand how advertising creatives attract new business and clients, and how this has changed over the years. The second research objective is to examine how this shift in attracting clients has caused scam advertising to come about. One finds that the only way to better one's creative ranking is to win more awards at both local and international awards shows. However, once agencies are appointed by a new client, the client rarely allows them to work at a creative level sufficient to win more awards, thus agencies and creatives turn to scam advertising in order to fulfil this need. At this point it can easily start to appear that advertising awards shows only exist to fuel this need for creative rankings, and may therefore even unintentionally encourage scam advertising. Awards shows fulfil important roles in the industry: they serve as inspiration for creatives, and allow for an official ranking by an independent authority. There are many critiques against advertising awards shows as well, however, and Raszl (2009) points out a few areas that he believes needs to be reformed: not taking the effectiveness of a campaign into consideration when judging, not being strict enough against scam advertising, the high cost of entry into awards shows, and that awards shows should not only exist to reward creatives. Adding onto this, Goodwin (2015) also proposes that awards shows should include new categories, such as "Biggest Failure", "Performance Marketing", "Experience Design", and "Best Business Solution". In order to combat the trend of scam advertising, advertising awards shows have implemented increasingly stringent rules. There is no consensus in the industry or among creatives as to what constitutes scam advertising, however, which leaves one unable to form a clear definition of scam advertising. But by combining the different rules from advertising awards shows, one is able to list different characteristics that may deem advertising as scam advertising by some: 1. advertising that was created and/or entered without the client s consent, 2. advertising that was created for a fake client, 3. and advertising that was never aired, flighted, published or launched. 4. advertising that was only flighted once or executed in accordance with minimum airing or publishing requirements, 5. advertising that was created for the sole purpose of entering it into awards, 6. advertising created without a genuine brief from a client, and/or 7. advertising paid for by the advertising agency itself. As has been mentioned, not all of these rules hold for all of the awards shows, however: what is considered acceptable by one awards show, may be regarded as scam advertising by another. Therefore eligibility for entry into an awards show is separate from an advertisement's perceived status as scam advertising by some. This fulfils the third research objective: to explore the role of advertising awards shows and their rules, and to formulate a description of scam advertising to be used in this dissertation. Scam advertising also holds many benefits and disadvantages for both creatives and advertising agencies. This is explored by looking at an example of scam advertising that was exposed at the 2013 Loerie Awards MetropolitanRepublic' Project Uganda which was executed for MTN Uganda. Through examining this example it was discovered that agencies that get caught out for scam advertising can face the following consequences: 1. The agency's reputation can be harmed. 2. The agency can be reprimanded by official bodies, such as the Loerie Awards or the ACA. 3. The agency can lose the client that they created scam advertising on behalf of. 4. The agency can lose other clients that do not want to be affiliated with an agency that creates scam advertising. 5. Damage can be incurred to the brand of the client for whom the scam advertising was created. When looking at possible benefits for an agency that enters scam advertising and does not get caught, the following can occur: 1. The agency can win creativity awards which would mean: a. receiving a higher creative ranking and b. reassurance for existing clients that they're in safe hands. 2. The agency can win new clients. 3. The agency can draw in creatives that want to work there. 4. The agency can receive exposure due to their work. 5. The agency can gauge the quality of their work against their peers'. 6. Clients may be encouraged to take more risks and trust the creative process. By looking at all of the different benefits and disadvantages that creatives face from creating scam advertising, one finds the following: 1. Creatives can gain recognition, respect and acknowledgement from their peers. 2. Creatives can be promoted. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Visual Arts / MA / Unrestricted