Mary Nel

Dr. Mary Nel is a senior lecturer in Public Law at Stellenbosch University, Western Cape, South Africa, where she lectures Criminal Law to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. She holds (inter alia) a Doctorate in Law from Stellenbosch University and a Masters degree in Criminology from Cambridge University. She is the co-founder and director of the Ubuntu Learning Community (with Prison-to-College-SA). As part of the ULC initiative, in 2019 Dr.Nel started the Ubuntu Learning short course, whereby students from Stellenbosch University and incarcerated students from Brandvlei Correctional Institute study an accredited interdisciplinary short course together in prison. ULC also champions the cause of education not incarceration more widely, supporting ULC participants who have been released from prison and educating the wider community to challenge societal stigma against those who have criminal records. Leading ULC brings together her twin passions, namely transformative pedagogy/education DV creating a more socially just and equal society.