Program: Ph.D. in Global Studies
Specialization: Cultural, Visual, and Literary Studies
Intake: Fall 2026
Gratia Aimée Ilibagiza Mutabazi is a Rwandan Ph.D. student in Global Studies (Fall 2026) at Global Studies University, specializing in Cultural, Visual, and Literary Studies. Her research examines how Rwandan impunzi, or refugees, use traditional song and dance as practices of healing and belonging. Drawing on her work as a dance practitioner, facilitator, cultural strategist, and social anthropologist, she explores embodied knowledge, memory, displacement, and social cohesion through decolonial feminist perspectives. Through her doctoral studies, Gratia seeks to develop theoretical and aesthetic vocabularies for exile, return, and belonging, connecting scholarship with artistic practice and community-based knowledge creation.
Academic Background
- M.A., Social Anthropology, cum laude, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 2025
- B.A. (Hons.), Social Anthropology, cum laude, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2018
- B.A., Social Anthropology and Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2017
Professional Experience
- Founder, Imagine Bariya, 2025
- Partnerships Coordinator, Africa Brain Health Network, South Africa, 2025
- Creative Director and Producer, Itorero Gihozo’s 21st Anniversary Cultural Showcase, Joburg Theatre, South Africa, 2025
- Program Coordinator, Lesaka La Basadi and Women Development Bank, African Women in Dialogue Conference and Post-Workshop, South Africa, 2025
- Project Coordinator, “Dialogues Across Violent Histories: Indigenous Arts and Social Cohesion,” AVReQ, Stellenbosch University, and the Australian High Commission to South Africa, 2023
- Contributing Workshop Developer and Facilitator, AVReQ and the Visual Communication and Design Department, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 2022–2024
- Writer and Contributing Curriculum Developer, Zanele Mbeki Development Trust, South Africa, 2022
- Junior Lecturer, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, 2021–2022
- Researcher and Contributing Project Developer, Social Law Project, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, 2019–2020
- Researcher and Contributing Writer, Foundation for Human Rights, South Africa, 2017–2020
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