Department of Communication Science
College of Human Sciences |
School of Arts |
Department: Communication Science |
Senior Lecturer
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Tel: |
012 429 6460
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E-mail: |
rensse@unisa.ac.za
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Qualifications
- PhD Media Studies (Wits)
- MA - Media Studies (Cum laude) – Wits University
- BA Honours - Media Studies (Cum Laude) – Wits University
- BA (Media studies & Psychology) – Wits University
Fields of academic interests
- Cultural studies
- Consumer studies
- Critical Audience studies
- Visual culture
- Popular culture
- Psychoanalytic feminist theory and methodology
- Popular music and representation
- Race, gender, class, and representation in popular culture
- Popular psychology and identity in the media (self-help, advisory, and ‘motivational’ media discourses)
- Mediated philanthropy and humanitarianism
- Critical visual methodology
- Critical discourse and multimodal analysis
Field of Specialisation
- Media studies
- Media and Cultural Studies
- Gender Studies
- Feminist Media Studies
- Audience Studies
- Intersectional Consumer Culture
- Digital Humanities
Books
Book chapters:
- Rens, S.E. (2024). [Forthcoming] ‘Communication and Culture’, in Angelopulo, G & Lubinga, E (eds). An introduction to Communication studies, 3rd ed. Johannesburg: Juta.
- Rens, S.E, & Cilliers, C.P. (2020). ‘The Role of Culture in Intercultural Communication’, in Rivera, M & du Plessis, R (eds). Pathways Across Cultures: Intercultural Communication in South Africa, 161-183. Johannesburg: Juta
Journal articles
- Rens, S.E. (2023). ‘It’s about finding and knowing myself’: Why Johannesburg-based South African Millennials Consume Self-help Media. Communicare: Journal of Communication Studies in Africa.
- Rens, S.E. (2023). She’s ‘Sexssertive’ and She Knows It! A Post-feminist Reading of African Femininities in Afrobeats Music Videos". Feminist Media Studies.
- Rens, S.E. (2023). [Forthcoming]. She’s ‘Sexssertive’ and She Knows It! A Post-feminist Reading of African Femininities in Afrobeats Music Videos". Feminist Media Studies.
- Rens, S.E. (2021). Women’s empowerment, agency and self-determination in Afrobeats music videos: a multimodal critical discourse analysis. Frontiers Sociology. 6: 646899. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.
- Rens, S.E. (2020). ‘Public self-disclosure and self-improvement in South African media: exploring audience perceptions’, Communicatio, 46(3), pp.43-67.
- Rens, S.E. (2019). 'Who am I, really?'-Self-help consumption and self-identity in the age of technology. HTS Theological Studies, 75(1), pp.1-9.
- Rens, S. (2019). ‘The Rise of Africa's Middle Class: myths, realities and critical engagements ed. by Henning Melber’. Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa, 98(1), pp.85-87
Professional positions, fellowships & awards
- Reviews Editor – Communicatio: South African Journal of Communication Theory and Research
- Wits University Golden Key Honour Society member
- PhD Merit Award recipient – Wits University (2018-2020)
- Master’s Merit Award recipient – Wits University (2015)
- Honours Merit Award recipient – Wits university (2013)