Doreen Setume

On 14 December 2017, Senzokuhle Doreen Setume succesfully defended her dissertation Cohabitation in Botswana: Challenging Methodological Nuptialism in Anthropology at Leiden University.

Senzokuhle Doreen Setume is a PhD. candidate of social anthropology with the African Studies Centre in Leiden. She is a lecturer of Religious Studies at Molepolole College of Education (affiliated to the University of Botswana) in Botswana.

As a student at the University of Botswana Doreen has conducted a research study (1998) among the Bakalanga of North East entitled ''The Morality of Tribal Court''. This study sought to analyze the processes through which the tribal courts reached a 'right' judgment for the cases brought before them. She also carried out another research study on ''Ikalanga funeral rites: focus on role attribution" as a masters student at the same university 2001-2004. By disaggregating the two gender-based classes, this study illustrated that there are other variables like marital status, social position due to birth, motherhood etc, that can be used to analyze society. She is currently co-working on a research project, with intention to publish, on the "The implementation of government policies in Botswana Junior Secondary Schools: A case study of the implementation of corporal punishment in Kweneng schools.

Her PhD research project is entitled "Modernity: a gender based assessment of changed courtship patterns and cohabitation in Botswana: a case study of Bakwena of Molepole. This study has grown out of the observation that though new courtship patterns seems to offer individual choice of a sexual partner, as opposed to the traditional arranged marriages, is seems, though, that this free choice is not absolute for women. Therefore a study on analysis of these new courtship patterns and cohabitation will lead to a better understanding of the processes involved in this ''free choice'' of sexual partners. This project is financed by the African Studies Centre under the supervision of Dr Rijk van Dijk.