Ms Nancy Laura Morkel
Ms Morkel

POSITION
Lecturer: English
QUALIFICATIONS
PhD Africa Studies – SA Literature & Identity (UFS) [current]
MA English (NMMU) cum laude [2008]
BA Hons English (UPE) cum laude [2003]
BA Media, Communication and Culture (UPE) [2001]
Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education and Training (UFH) [2012]
Editing Methodology (SU) [2015]
Editing Practice (SU) [2016]
TEFL (TTA) [current-2026]
SHORT CV
I, Nancy Laura Morkel, am currently employed as Lecturer: English for Language and Social Studies Education at the Central University of Technology (Welkom campus). This post comes after having taught in the position of Lecturer: English Studies (Literature) at Nelson Mandela University for 12 years, and Junior Lecturer promoted to Lecturer: English Language and Comparative Literature at the University of Fort Hare for four years prior. I am also currently working towards the completion of my PhD thesis, titled “‘Far from being ready-made’: Re-imagining ‘social identity’ and belonging in Zoë Wicomb’s fiction.” My study is guided by the question “How does Wicomb’s fiction open pathways for re-imagining nation, narration, social identity and belonging for the South African subject?” Responding to this question, the study offers a postcolonial reading of Wicomb’s fiction as an extensive and sustained critique of the relationship between narrative and power, and its significance for identity construction and belonging for the South African subject.
My research interests include: African literature; home, identity and belonging; race and representation; social justice in education; as well as popular culture and narrative. I have successfully supervised research at the Honours (treatise) [25+] and MA [6] (full dissertation) levels during my time as an academic.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
African Literature; South African Writing and Reception; Post-colonial and de-colonial studies; Orality, Poetry and Black Identities; English Literary Studies (comparative and otherwise) and English Studies (general).
BOOK(S) OR CHAPTER(S) IN BOOK(S)
Book Chapter
2021. Adelina Mbinjama-Gamatham, Thabo Ramphobole, and Nancy Laura Morkel. “‘The R. in R&B’: Rape, Race, and Representation in Surviving R. Kelly.” Ed. Maria B. Marron. Misogyny across Global Media. Lanham, Lexington Books.
Encyclopaedia entry
2011. “Zoё Wicomb”. Dictionary of African Biography. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Emmanuel Akyeampong. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
PRESENTED CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS
Conference/Seminar Presentations
2021, 02-04 November. NIHSS Virtual Annual National Doctoral Conference: Building and Dynamising the Humanities and Social Sciences.
            Paper: “‘[T]o bring down my fist on that wholeness’: Re/constructions of patterns of belonging in You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town.”
2019, 28-31 October. NIHSS 5th Annual National Doctoral Conference: Building and Dynamising the Humanities and Social Sciences.
            Paper: “‘[T]o be relieved of the burden of home’: Memory and intertexts of ‘belonging’ in Zoё Wicomb’s October.”
2019, 15-20 August. ACUS Winter School. Advancing Critical University Studies: Emancipatory Imaginations.
            Panel: “‘Gender, Race…’ and the limits of university transformation/critical university studies.”
2015, 24-26 June. The 18th International Conference of the African Language Association of South Africa (ALASA). At the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Hotel School in Granger Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.
Paper: “Language and Literature as ‘unhomely’ in Zoё Wicomb’s October”.
2009, 6-8 May. The Inaugural Conference of the Postcolonial Studies Association. At The Waterford Institute of Technology in Waterford, Republic of Ireland.
Paper: “The So-called Truth of Representation: Identity and so-called colouredness in Zoë Wicomb’s David’s Story.”
Conferences (attendee / no presentation)
2015, 7-12 December. The Association of Cultural Studies Institute 2015. At the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein.
2015, 5-8 July. HERS-SA mini-Academy: Engaging Power for Empowerment and Influence. At the DoubleTree by Hilton, Upper Eastside Hotel in Woodstock, Cape Town. NMMU delegate.
Guest Lectures/Seminar Presentations
2017, 12 July. Presented to a group of International students (from different countries: USA, West Indies, Germany, Japan), for the Mid-year International Short Programme coordinated by Divinia Pillay of the International Office of the Nelson Mandela University.
Topic/Theme: “‘Memory’ and writing South Africa.”
2017, 08 June. Presented to a group of International students, from Lynchburg College in Virginia, USA, in an exchange programme coordinated by Divinia Pillay of the International Office of the Nelson Mandela University.
Topic/Theme: “Black South African women’s poetry and gender-based violence – The works of Gabeba Baderoon and Makhosazana Xaba.”
2015, 01 October. Presented to a group of undergraduate Art and Design students at the African Voice(s) in the Visual Arts: Practitioner narratives and conversations hosted by the School of Music Art and Design (NMMU) and the Institution for Reconciliation and Social Justice (UFS).
Topic/Theme: “Thoughts on Race and Cultural Appropriation.”
2015, 21 August. Presented a summary of papers (doubled as closing address) at the Envisioning Dance, Art and Diversity at NMMU colloquium, hosted by the Faculty of Arts and the Department of Arts and Culture.
Topic/Theme: “Summary and Closing.”
2015, 03 June. Presented to a group of International students, from Lynchburg University in USA, in an exchange programme coordinated by Claire Dullisear of the International Office.
Topic/Theme: “South African Literature – Zoë Wicomb’s The One that Got Away.”
2014, 3 August. [Presented together with Sisonke Papu]. Nelson Mandela University, Faculty of Arts, Humanising Pedagogy Talks.
Topic/Theme: “Lost in translation: Revisiting the traditional poetry syllabus through a student-centred approach to teaching and learning.”
2013, 21 June. Guest Speaker at the Praat Poetry Festival, at the Port Elizabeth Opera House.
Topic/Theme: “On the relationship between hip-hop, spoken word and poetry.”
2013, 12 June. Presented to a group of International students, from Lynchburg University in USA, in an exchange programme coordinated by Nuala Jansen/Claire Dullisear of the International Office.
Topic/Theme: “South African Literature and Race –  Colouredness in Zoë Wicomb’s ‘Another Story’”
2012, 13 February. Presented the introduction to the Keynote Speaker: Zoë Wicomb. Public Lecture: “Natural Narrative and Tall Tales – Remembering District Six.” Hosted by the Faculty of Arts (NMMU) and the College of St. Benedict’s and St. John’s University.
EXTERNAL PROFILES
LinkedIn

Contact Us
  • Ms Morkel
  • Tel:
  • nmorkel@cut.ac.za