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Amanda du Preez

Amanda du Preez is Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Pretoria, where she teaches Visual Culture Studies. She obtained a DPhil in English from the University of South Africa on the topic of cyberfeminism and embodiment in 2003. She has co-edited South African visual culture (2005); edited Taking a hard look: gender and visual culture (2009) and authored Gendered bodies and new technologies: rethinking embodiment in a cyber-era (2009). She served as assistant editor of two accredited journals, Image & Text and De Arte. Currently she serves on the editorial board of Gender Questions, advisory board Persona Studies, the VIAD (UJ) advisory board, and most notably the International Association for Visual Culture. She has a C2 rating from the NRF and received the award as researcher of the year (Arts Cluster) in 2013 and Lecturer of the Year (Humanities) in 2015.

Research focus areas: critical visual culture, feminist theory, gender, embodiment, cyber culture, the sublime, self-portraiture, social media, selfies, place and sense of belonging, digital humanities

The deadly selfie game – the thrill to end all thrills

May 17, 2016 15:13 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

According to the popular press it was more likely in 2015 for a person to die while taking a selfie than to be killed by a shark this is globally. This means that, officially, the deadly monster shark from the Jaws movie...

Economy

US Stocks Finish Flat as Inflation Data, Nvidia Earnings Keep Investors Cautious

U.S. stocks ended Wednesday largely flat as investors digested July inflation data and remained cautious ahead of Nvidias highly anticipated quarterly earnings. The SP 500 closed unchanged at 7,677.00, while the Nasdaq...

Japan Firms Ramp Up Yen Hedging as Currency Weakness Persists

Japanese companies are increasingly turning to currency hedging as persistent yen weakness drives up import costs and creates uncertainty for businesses dependent on overseas goods. Taku Ueno, CEO of Takara MC, which...

Oil Prices Fall as Middle East Ceasefire Hopes Rise

Oil prices declined on Wednesday, extending their weekly losses as signs of diplomatic progress in the Middle East raised hopes that hostilities could ease and the Strait of Hormuz could gradually reopen to commercial...

Gold Prices Fall as Stronger Dollar, Fed Rate Outlook Weigh

Gold prices declined Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened following mixed inflation and economic data, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates unchanged in September. Spot gold fell...

US Dollar Rises as Inflation Backs Fed Pause, Canadian Dollar Slides

The U.S. dollar strengthened on Wednesday as mixed July inflation data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates unchanged in September. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar weakened again as...

Politics

Carney’s Trump Tariff Pushback Wins Canadian Support, but Economic Risks Mount

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is enjoying strong public support after suspending trade negotiations with the United States and retaliating against President Donald Trumps tariffs. However, economists warn that...

European Allies Seek to Reassure Pentagon as US Reviews Troop Presence

Senior European diplomats are expected to reassure U.S. officials on Thursday that NATO allies are increasing defence commitments as uncertainty grows over Washingtons review of American troop deployments across Europe....

Prince Harry and Meghan Return to Britain With Children After Six Years in U.S.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have returned to Britain with their children, six years after stepping away from royal duties and relocating to the United States, according to the BBC. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex...

Trump Administration Plans New Drug Pricing Deals With Biotech Firms

The Trump administration is preparing to announce a new round of drug-pricing agreements with midsize biotechnology companies on Monday, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The...

US Raises Concerns Over Chinese Artist Gao Zhen’s Prison Sentence

The U.S. State Department has expressed significant concerns over Chinas sentencing of Chinese artist Gao Zhen to three years in prison, citing questions about freedom of expression and the application of a law enacted...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

OpenAI AI Agent Swarm Behind Hugging Face Hack

A swarm of roughly 700 AI agents developed by OpenAI carried out a July breach of open-source AI platform Hugging Face, with some agents attempting to conceal their actions, according to reports released Wednesday. The...

Meta Agrees to $18 Billion Settlement, Tightens Teen Social Media Rules

Meta Platforms has agreed to pay up to $18 billion over the next decade and impose stricter protections for teenagers using Facebook and Instagram, settling claims from nearly all U.S. states that its platforms were...

Nvidia Revenue Soars 106% as AI Demand Hits ‘Inflection Point’

Nvidia reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings on Wednesday as booming demand for artificial intelligence hardware pushed revenue up 106% from a year earlier, prompting CEO Jensen Huang to declare that AI has...

Salesforce Shares Surge as AI Demand Powers Q2 Earnings Beat

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) delivered stronger-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2027 results, fueled by rapid growth in artificial intelligence products, improved profitability and rising customer demand. Salesforce...

HP Stock Drops 9% Despite Q3 Earnings Beat and Raised 2026 Outlook

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) delivered stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results, supported by robust Personal Systems sales and tariff refunds. However, HP stock fell more than 9% in after-hours trading Wednesday as...