Biography
Nombulelo Tholithemba Shange is a Sociology Lecturer at the University of the Free State, holding a PhD in Anthropology from UFS and a Master's in Sociology from Rhodes University. Her doctoral research explored Indigenous Knowledge Systems, focusing on ritual and healing practices, while her earlier work examined the Shembe Church. Shange has developed decolonised curricula, introducing courses on Social Movements and Sociology of Health and Illness that foreground African scholarship and indigenous understandings. She has published widely on feminism, decoloniality, race, ecological justice, and Indigenous Knowledge in both academic and public forums.
Before academia, Shange worked in the NGO sector, where she created a media training programme and digital storytelling platform amplifying the voices of communities facing ecological injustice. With over 15 years of teaching experience in South Africa and South Korea, her career highlights include contributing to the African Peer Review Mechanism's 2021 African Governance Report, where she advanced gender equity, mental wellbeing, ecological justice, and indigenous knowledge in line with Africa's Agenda 2063.
