Puleng Segalo

Prof Puleng Segalo, PhD
Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair
University of South Africa

Puleng Segalo is a full professor of Psychology and the current incumbent of the Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair at the University of South Africa. Segalo's research focus includes Community Psychology and feminism in Psychology. Her research focuses on historical trauma, visual methodologies, and gendered suffering. The novelty of Segalo’s work is in her methodological approach. By introducing embroidery as method, Segalo marries the visual arts with psychological inquiry. Prof Segalo’s research adds to the corpus of new knowledge in a number of ways: theoretically, as it seeks to deepen our understanding of the subjective experience of suffering; methodologically, as it reveals a narrative approach and analysis that searches for hidden transcripts of resistance and the unsayable marks left on the body/psyche from trauma; and lastly, psychologically, as a means of offering tools of re-stitching/re-telling/re-storying lives of social trauma. Segalo uses embroidery as a practical and therapeutic tool that facilitates healing from various forms of trauma. Practically, the making of embroidery assists in externalising embodied pain that so many people continue to carry with them as verbal expression is insufficient. Her research artworks have formed part of the sought after Venice Art Biennale in 2019 and in 2020/2021 the artworks were exhibited at the Canadian museum of Human Rights. The impact of Segalo’s work can be seen in her visibility both locally and internationally, for example, she has been invited to speak on BBC and has been an invitee of the British parliament to speak on issues related to the rethinking of the Global North-Africa research collaborations.

With a National Research Foundation C2 rating, Segalo is the author of over 60 peer-reviewed publications, including papers in leading international journals such as Social and Personality Psychology Compass and Review of General Psychology. She is a frequent keynote speaker for international audiences and has received several national and international scientific awards. Nationally, Segalo has been awarded the 2022 UNISA Chancellor Award for excellence in Research. Internationally, she was also awarded the 2021 World Academy of Sciences award for her significant contributions to popularising science and for developing new strategies that serve the popularization of science and technology in the developing world. Additionally, Segalo has been chosen as the 2023 Alumni of the decade by the City University of New York. Prof Segalo has successfully mentored 3 postdoctoral fellows, supervised 8 PhD, and 6 master's students, and currently supervises 6 PhD and 5 master's students. Prof Segalo is a recent alumnus of the South African Young Academy of Sciences and a member of the Forum for African Psychology. She is the 2023 Research associate of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana and the 2023-2025 African Affiliate of the Kansas African Studies Center at the University of Kansas in the USA. She serves on the editorial board of established journals like Feminism and Psychology and is an associate editor for the Journal of Social and Political Psychology. Furthermore, she