About Me
ABOUT ME
I am a Zimbabwean-born academic currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, serving as an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship within the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). My academic praxis is deeply rooted in transformative pedagogies that are grounded in student-centred learning, critical reflexivity, and the pedagogy of care — all of which shape my approach to teaching, supervision, and curriculum development.
My professional trajectory spans over a decade and a half in higher education, characterised by a commitment to humanising pedagogies that prioritise student agency, dialogic engagement, and the co-construction of knowledge. I currently supervise five PhD candidates, one Master’s student, and four Honours students, while simultaneously teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. My supervision philosophy is embedded in a relational and developmental model, where mentorship is dialogical and scaffolded around mutual respect, intellectual autonomy, and scholarly identity formation.
Prior to joining UWC in 2024, I held the position of Head of Department: Retail Business Management in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). My academic leadership at CPUT was underpinned by principles of inclusive governance and capacity building, with a strong emphasis on supporting staff and students through responsive academic development. While serving in this leadership role, I continued to teach Applied Retail Research to
fourth-year undergraduate students and Advanced Research Methodology at the Master’s level, ensuring that my pedagogic engagement remained robust and current.
Over the course of my academic career, I have successfully supervised and graduated 10 Honours students, 20 Master and 5 PhD candidates. These graduations represent more than academic milestones; they reflect my enduring commitment to the epistemic empowerment of students and my belief in higher education as a tool for social mobility and transformation.
My research interests straddle the domains of Strategic Brand Management, Plac Marketing, Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Retail Business Management. More recently, I have developed a sustained scholarly interest in the affordances of
educational technology, with a particular focus on digital pedagogy, student engagement in virtual learning environments, and the integration of AI in teaching and learning. This emergent research focus aligns with my commitment to inclusive,
technology-enhanced learning that responds to the complex realities of 21st-century higher education.
I earned my doctoral degree from CPUT, where my thesis explored transformative nation branding as a strategic imperative for repositioning Zimbabwe on the global stage. This study employed a mixed-methods research design, drawing on quantitative data from 432 respondents and qualitative insights from 25 in-depth interviews conducted across multiple countries. I also hold a Master of Science in Marketing from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Zimbabwe, and a Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree in Marketing Management from Midlands State
University (MSU). In 2021, I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education Studies at the University of Cape Town, which critically deepened my understanding of curriculum theory, critical pedagogy, and the structural inequities embedded in higher education systems.
Currently, I am furthering my academic and professional development through a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree with the University of South Africa (UNISA), with future aspirations to pursue a Master’s in Higher Education Studies and a specialised Master in Data Science. These interdisciplinary pursuits reflect my enduring commitment to lifelong learning and the cultivation of a holistic academic identity.
I conceive of my work as an educator not as a profession but as a calling. My teaching philosophy is informed by the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), with particular attention to the affective dimensions of learning and the cultivation of learning ecologies where students are seen, heard, and valued. I view care, empathy, and relational accountability as foundational to fostering equitable and inclusive academic spaces.
Outside of academia, I enjoy reading, long-distance running, and global travel. Inspired by both personal and professional ambition, I aspire to one day obtain a Private Pilot Licence and travel to every country in the world — goals that embody my commitment to curiosity, exploration, and the pursuit of excellence in all spheres of life.
