Her passion and dedication for her work have earned Dr Nike Romano, Lecturer in the Department of Applied Design, a C2 rating from the National Research Foundation.
“I have always been interested in the relationship between arts-based pedagogies, social justice, and the decolonisation of curricula within the South African higher education landscape. Linked to this a ‘reconfiguring’ of traditional, often Eurocentric, approaches that disrupt established canons and create more inclusive and socially just learning environments.
I am inspired by affective, embodied, co-creative making, and collaborative approaches to learning that encourage "more-than-linguistic" modes of knowledge production and values diverse forms of knowledge that empower students as active participants in their learning,” she says.
Romano is fascinated by how art and design give expression to and can teach us about culture.
“As an undergraduate I studied graphic design at Michaelis Art School. I then went on to do a BA in art history and economic history. At the time I remember feeling very frustrated by how isolated the respective disciplines were because I could see the overlaps between them. For me, not only were these rich multi-layered spaces more interesting, but they were incubators of new knowledges. My postgraduate journey in Fine Art led me to explore knowledge making within these liminal spaces. These learnings in turn spawned my PhD that focused on the affordances of art-based pedagogies in reconfiguring curricula.”
She shared the following about her recent projects and research goals:
“Recently, I have been researching hydrofeminism and oceanic studies with Vivienne Bozalek and Tamara Shefer which has been very exciting. I also participate in the Transcontinental lab on affects, diversity and education that is hosted by Dorthe Staunæs at Aarhus University in Denmark. This is an exciting network where scholars share their research, it is always interesting to learn with others.
“My goal is to develop a research project that looks at how post-qualitative inquiry can inform different ways of doing design education in South Africa. Postqualitative inquiry challenges traditional research methods by foregrounding how knowing is much more than a cognitive activity and that material encounters are vital parts of the inquiry process.
Romano hails from Cape Town and attended seven different schools.
“I think this might be why I am so interested in different learning styles and approaches because each school surfaced different challenges for me. My first love has always been making, be it art or craft, these practices continue to be my happy space. My other love is ocean swimming which I try and do as often as I can.”
Written by Ilse Fredericks
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