The 2nd SASH cohort, would like to invite you to SASH Research Day.

This event has been postponed until 13 March 2017. More details to follow shortly.

Date: Monday 17 October 2016

Where: The Wild Fig Restaurant, Observatory

The South African Social Sciences and HIV program (SASH) cordially invites you to attend the inaugural SASH Research Day on Monday the 17^th of October 2016.

This Research Day has been organized by the SASH fellows (cohort 2) to present their research projects, brainstorm about unique opportunities for their work and build relationships with colleagues from the academic field.

The day will be filled with interactive conversations and workshops as well as a key-note speaker (to be announced).

The program will be finalized within the next few weeks, but please diarize this date, as we would appreciate your attendance and input during this annual Research Day.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.

Warm regards,

SASH fellows Research Day Planning Team

Namhla Sicwebu (scwnam001@myuct.ac.za) and Myrna van Pinxteren (myrna.vanpinxteren@gmail.com)

In March 2015, SASH co-sponsored a Critical Health Social Sciences workshop for 35 junior scholars from South Africa, other countries in the region, and the UK.  Funded by the British Council, the aim of this workshop was to foster critical engagement among junior social scientists with social science theory and development of a written product, such as a paper for publication, for critique by senior scholars.  Conducted in the style of a five-day retreat in a remote location, the venue provided a unique opportunity for extended engagement and interaction.  Five SASH Fellows participated in the retreat, as well as numerous SASH faculty from UCT and from Brown University, as well as other institutions.

Dr. Kathy Takayama, Director of Brown University’s Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, made a week-long visit to UCT in March, 2015 to work with MPH course convenors at UCT and other SASH-affiliated faculty in a series of detailed curriculum mapping exercises.  The goal of this work is to ensure coherence and integration of core courses for the new Social and Behavioural Sceiences track in the MPH curriculum, and for HIV social science teaching more broadly.  Dr. Takayama’s work with UCT faculty was initiated through a series of meetings with key personnel from UCT (Dr Chris Colvin) and Brown (Associate Dean for Public Health, Don Operario and Dr. Mark Lurie) in late 2014, and then carried forward through several virtual meetings with key players from both institutions.  During her visit, Dr. Takayama also conducted two training workshops for SASH Fellows and DSBS staff on Research Mentoring relationships and strategies, Peer Evaluation techniques, and Skills for Effective Presentation.

Two scientific writing workshops were conducted by SASH Faculty member Caroline Kuo from Brown, for SASH Fellows and Associates as well as the broader community of scholars at UCT.  The aim of the workshops was to provide concrete, hands-on skills-building in the area of scientific writing, including techniques for unpacking the idea of a paper into a series of discrete tasks, and addressing the question of ‘where do I begin?’, and ‘how do I write a paper for publication?’

Acquisition of technical skills related to the management and analysis of qualitative data is a primary objective for many SASH Fellows, and a well-defined need in the broader research community.  In October, 2014 Rochelle Rosen, a SASH-affiliated faculty member from Brown, traveled to Cape Town to conduct a week-long series of workshops and one-on-one consultations with the SASH community.  Twenty-five people attended a 2.5 day workshop that addressed ‘Advanced Analytical Skills with NVivo’, and an additional twenty people attended an initial meeting for a potential NVivo users group at UCT.

This workshop reviewed methods for reviewing and synthesizing both quantitative and qualitative health research.  Evidence-based practice and policy are of increasing importance in the response to the HIV epidemic, and in the health and social sciences more generally. We examined common evidence synthesis approaches theories and discussed how reviews of evidence should form an important part of each Fellow’s research project.  More details and photos to come.