Rehana Odendaal

Rehana Thembeka Odendaal is a joint degree PhD student between the University of Pennsylvania’s Sociology department and the Education, Culture and Society program in the Graduate School of Education. She is a Fulbright International Fellow from Cape Town, South Africa where she completed her BSocSci and MA degrees at the University of Cape Town.

Originally trained as a historian, Rehana’s previous research includes topics like; the public roles and responsibilities of higher education institutions, public memorialization, and oral histories with a focus on 20th-century South Africa. She is particularly interested in how political and civic education contribute to social change, and the impact of transnational and global experiences on African development. This interest draws on her experiences as co-ordinator for Stellenbosch University's JustLead! co-curriculum, online leadership development course (2018-2019), and her ongoing work with Dr. Krystal Strong’s African Youth Leadership Study. 

Rehana's doctoral work is interested in understanding how youth's positioning in the global South/North shapes their understanding and organizing around climate change and environmental justice.