Degrees Held
- BAVA Honours (University of Natal)
- HDE (University of Natal)
- PGDip in Adult Education (University of Natal)
- PhD (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
Research Interests
Visual communication, multimodal literacies, printmaking, visual arts curricula in higher education, qualitative research, mixed methodologies and interdisciplinary research, community development, and adult basic education.
Doctoral research title: A study of pictorial interpretation of health education illustrations by adults with low literacy levels.
My supervision experience includes visual arts topics, as well as studies on adult education, learning materials, reading and literacy.
Selected Research Outputs
- Arbuckle, K. (2011). “This looks like a hat. I don’t know what it is.” Investigating pictorial literacy in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In Drinkwater, M. (Ed). Beyond Textual Literacy: Visual literacy for creative and critical enquiry. Interdisciplinary Press: Oxford. 111-120.
- Arbuckle K. and Nqelenga P. (In press). Unsettling Space: Reinterpreting the Institution Using Site-Responsive Art. De Arte. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043389.2019.1623471
- Arbuckle, K. (2016). “I see a drawing. I think it is. . .” Investigating visual ‘literacy’ among adult learners in KwaZulu-Natal. Journal of Education, No. 64. 205-228.
- Kaschula S., and Arbuckle, K. (2007). Fighting AIDS with traditional foods and organic practices. LEISA Magazine on low external input and sustainable agriculture. Vol. 23(3), 9-11.
- Arbuckle, K. (2004). The language of pictures: Visual literacy and print materials for Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET). Language Matters. Vol. 35(2), 445-458.
- Katherine Arbuckle and Pumelela Nqelenga (2018), Unsettling space: Reinterpreting the institution using site-responsive art (SAVAH, 4-6 July, Stellenbosch)
- Katherine Arbuckle (2015), The ethical dilemmas of difference, (3rd SAERA Conference: Strengthening Educational Research for Sustainable Futures, South African Educational Research Association, Bloemfontein, 27-30 October)
- Arbuckle K. (2009) “This looks like a hat. I don’t know what it is.” Investigating pictorial literacy in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (3rd Global Conference: Visual Literacies,Net, Oxford, 14-16 July)
Community Involvement
From 1995 to 2013 I worked at the Centre for Adult Education, UKZN, primarily on the Learn with Echo weekly newspaper supplement to The Witness ‘Echo’. This community engagement project developed adult basic education learning materials in IsiZulu and English for adults in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. This work included illustration, writing, editing and layout, as well as conducting workshops with adult learners and literacy teachers.
Related to the above project, I worked on the development of Seed Books, the Asifunde! Basic Zulu literacy course, the Human Rights Democracy and Development (HRDD) Programme with Tembaletu Community Education Centre, The Women’s Handbook project, and on various other materials development projects. I have illustrated development materials for various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and assisted with media and publicity for particular activities.
I helped colleagues from the School of Education to organize Trade School activities at the CVA in 2016, as well as facilitating the use of CVA space for public seminars by community groups. I have led collaborations on projects between different colleges and disciplines in order to build interdisciplinary links within the UKZN community. In my personal capacity, I am currently involved with an initiative to use visual arts to express and promote the work of critical theorist John Holloway amongst community-based social justice activists working with the Church Land Programme (CLP) http://www.churchland.org.za/
Student Supervision
- Siyabonga Ngubane (2018) Similarities and differences in the life and work of two contemporary South African printmakers, Phillemon Hlungwani and Siyabonga Ngubane.
- Jacob Casper Jacobs (2018) Exploring time- based, process art with reference to the artwork ‘Tyd is Stof’
- Denise Ingrid Adams (2017) The teaching of sumi-e at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in relation to Japanese tradition and contemporary practices internationally
- Casparus Eloff Pretorius (2016) An Imprinted Landscape: The Development of Intaglio Printmaking in South Africa as seen in a selection of prints from the Tatham Art Gallery’s collection
- Anita Xoliswa Dlamini (2017) Sustainable Art Development: A reflection on the process of community participatory action research as an approach to sustainable livelihoods
- Prem Bachan (2013) The extent to which the content of Learn with Echo newspaper addresses the information needs of adult learners at Genesis Foundation.
- Charlene Kay-Clough (2013) An investigation into how the level of English in Learn with Echo compares with the English literacy abilities of a group of rural women in Inanda.
- Khetha G Chonco (2013) Factors influencing the success and failure of learners in the public administration course at Umfolozi TVET College in Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal.
- Sibusiso Patrick Ngubane (2013) Can Adult education enable Sappi employees with low levels of education to adapt to Forestry Mechanization?
- Casparus Eloff Pretorius (2018) Introducing Advances in Non-Toxic Intaglio Printmaking at the Centre For Visual Arts UKZN through Practice Based Research
- Prandevi van der Merwe (2018) English Skills and Academic Performance of National Certificate (Vocational) Programme Students
- Thembi Zwane (2017) An investigation into male participation in adult education classes at Endleleni Public Adult Learning Centre
- Dorah Mutula (2016) A case study of Endleleni adult education centre and how it relates to the community in Madadeni, KwaZulu-Natal
- Lelo Joseph Ngumba (2018) Undergraduate theology students’ use of electronic resources in their learning: A case study of St Joseph’s Theological Institute
- Sophie Mahloane-Tau (2017) Responses of tertiary institution learners towards information, education and communication materials used to prevent HIV in Lesotho