Getting off on the right foot: SJQ doctoral scholars start 2024 with a writing retreat

On 8 January 2024, the Social Justice and Quality in Higher Education (SJQ) doctoral group headed into the Stellenbosch mountains to Mont Fleur conference venue for a writing retreat. Attended by 12 doctoral candidates and four supervisors, the group started 2024 with an intensive four days of writing and revising as they head into their final year of doctoral studies.

The SJQ project falls within the broader Higher Education Studies Doctoral Programme housed within CHERTL. It is an international collaboration between Rhodes University (RSA), University of Venda (RSA) and Lancaster University (UK) and funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)’s University Capacity Development Programme. Scholars in the project are undertaking individual studies addressing various social justice issues within higher education using an array of theoretical lenses. Studies include, for example, the conceptualisation and implementation of student development programmes, gendered experiences of higher education, admission processes in universities of technology, and the role of the humanities degrees in society.

Intense writing and supervisor feedback sessions were broken up with swims in the beautiful pool with a backdrop of mountains, walks in the vineyards, and catching up on the lawns. Writing retreats are a fantastic way to recommit to audacious writing goals for the year, receive timely and detailed feedback from supervisors, and, most importantly, to build community and fellowship among the cohort.