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Top architecture award

UCT alumni Matthew Barac and Simone le Fevre are part of a trio that have won the third International Bauhaus Award, sponsored by the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, for their project on transit spaces. The third member of the triumvirate is David Southwood, who is linked to UCT's Centre for African Studies' (CAS) programme in public culture.

"This prestigious prize was won against stiff and genuinely international competition, representing over 200 entries from some 30 countries," Barac commented.

Titled From Township to Town: Urban Change in Victoria Mxenge, the project focused on a settlement in Khayelitsha. Barac is more than pleased with the result.

"This prize was won in open competition by postgraduate students, mainly because an international two-stage jury chose to put the transformational South African city at the top of the global urban agenda," said Barac.

Volunteers needed for mental health study

Some fourth-year occupational therapy (OT) students are conducting a study on students' experiences of UCT as part of their honours thesis. They are looking specifically for students who have been diagnosed with a mental illness (eg depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, substance abuse or eating disorders), and who are willing to talk about their experiences at UCT. The group hopes to advocate recommendations of services and support offered by UCT to students with mental illness, based on their findings. Students who participate in this project are guaranteed full anonymity and confidentiality, and may withdraw from the study at any time. Volunteers need not disclose their mental health status to the university in order to participate. They will be required to do at least two individual interviews (between an hour and 90 minutes each) with two researchers. For more information, contact Kerry at 082 719 6459, Kristy at 084 431 7667, Julie at julieg@global.co.za, or Clair at chrcla003@mail.uct.ac.za.

US and SA study

The first Safundi gathering to be held outside the United States took place in the African Studies Library recently. Safundi is an online e-journal (www.safundi.com) for the comparative study of the US and South Africa. The word Safundi is derived in part from the Xhosa word umfundsi meaning learned one or teacher. The gathering was held because the founder and publisher of Safundi, Andrew Offenburger, was attending UCT's Summer School, in which he took a course in Xhosa.