Degrees Held
- PhD, UKZN, 2025
- Master of Arts (Religion Education), UKZN, 2003
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours), UDW, 2002
- Bachelor of Arts, UDW, 2000
Research Interests
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in higher education, particularly applied to Religious Studies.
- Decolonisation of education and curricula, with a focus on how this plays out in the South African context.
- Student agency and engagement – especially how students’ prior knowledge, lived experiences, and participation can shape and transform Religious Studies.
- Constructivist pedagogy – inquiry-based, thematic, and participatory approaches that foreground collaboration, critical thinking, and meaning-making.
- Critique of the World Religions Paradigm (WRP) and the development of alternative, thematic approaches that are contextually relevant and better reflect African and South African realities.
- Religious literacy – both as an educational outcome and as a tool for navigating pluralistic societies.
- Religion and socio-cultural contexts, including how religio-cultural beliefs and values influence environmental ethics and practices (e.g., in Hinduism, Christianity, and African contexts).
- Fallism and epistemic ruptures – especially how movements like #FeesMustFall reshaped discourses around knowledge, power, and student activism in higher education.
- Interreligious dialogue and comparative religion – particularly teaching approaches that engage multiple traditions in ways that are non-Eurocentric and responsive to local realities.
Teaching Interests
- Comparative Religion
- Gender
- Religion & Sexuality
Selected
Publications
Journal Articles
Chapters In Books
Journal Articles
- Vencatsamy, B. (2026). Decolonising Religious Studies through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: A South African Perspective. Scholarship of Teaching & Learning in the South, 10(1), 98-121.https://doi.org/10.36615/f1wv9x43
- Vencatsamy, B. (2024). The world religions paradigm: Why context matters in religious studies. Critical Research on Religion, 12(1), 12-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503032241226966
- Vencatsamy, B. (2024). Re-imagining Religion: Towards a Thematic Approach to Religious Studies at UKZN to Religious Studies at UKZN. (2024). Journal for the Study of Religion, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3027/2024/v37n1a4
- Smit, J. A. & Vencatsamy, B., 2013. Religion in the Humanities. Alternation, Volume Special Edition 10, pp. 270-318.
Chapters In Books
- Vencatsamy, B., 2023. Changes, Challenges, and Choices: Teaching Religion at the University of KwaZulu- Natal. In: J. Beyers, ed. What has Religion Studies in Africa been Up To? Relevant Themes and Topics. Oregon: Wipf & Stock, pp. 31-52.
Academic Participation
- EXCO Member – General Secretary: Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA) (2023 -)
- EXCO Member – Treasurer: Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA) (2013 – 2019)
- Assistant Editor & Finance Administrator: Alternation – Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of the Arts and Humanities in Southern Africa (2007 -2019)
- Finance Administrator: Journal for the Study of Religion (JSR) (2013 – 2018)
Teaching Expertise
- Introduction to Religion
- Women in Religion and Culture
- Morality, Ethics & Modernity in Africa
- Oral & Written Sacred Texts
- Culture, Poverty & Economics
- Method & Theory in Religion & Culture
- Introduction to Religion & Development
- Religion & the Environment
- Method & Theory in Religion & Theology
- Religion, Gender & Sexuality
Student Supervision
Honours
Masters
PhD
Honours
- Cayleen Chengan (2025) Sacred Earth: Religious Rituals and Environmental Stewardship in South Africa’s Hindu and Christian Communities.
- Inga Mbusi (2020) Religious Practices in the Workplace: A South African Perspective. Should South Africans be allowed to practice their religion in the workplace?
- Meriska Shriduth (2020) The Response of Church Organisations to Gender-Based Violence in South Africa
- Nicoshe Ramdhani (2016) A Critical Analysis of the Changing Roles within the Kavady Ritual: A Gendered Critique
- Georges Bidzogo (2017) The Influence of the Catholic Social Teaching (CST) as a Means of Controlling and Preventing Substance Abuse among the Youth
Masters
- Meriska Shriduth (2024) Silent no more: Religion Engaging with GBV in South Africa: A case study on the “We Will Speak Out S.A.” coalition.
- Georges Bidzogo (2023) The sociological impact of curses among the Parishioners of St Peter’s Parish, Durban: A Comparative Analysis of the Judeo-Christian and African Traditional Religious Perspectives
PhD
- Loice Mambiri (Current). Humanising the Pulpit: Representations of Women in the Pauline Corpus and Female Pastors’ Narratives of Social Justice in the Churches of Christ in Zimbabwe. (Co Supervisor).
- Benjamin Kobina Sarbah (Current). Christian Faith-Pedagogical Practices and Social-Emotional Competencies Among Children Participating in World Vision Ghana’s Agortime-Ziope Area Programme
- Tariro Zhou (Current). From Periphery to Priority: Women and Religio-Cultural Perspectives in Environmental Management of ‘Sacred Landscapes’ A Case for of the Shurugwi Mountain Range, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe.