Introduction

Abstract

Higher education is currently situated within a context marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The COVID-19 pandemic has both revealed and deepened persistent structural inequalities within teaching and learning systems. While this book focuses on the South African context, many of the challenges it addresses, such as socio-economic disparities, uneven access to technology, and the legacies of historical injustice, are echoed across higher education systems worldwide. South African universities, like their counterparts globally, have been compelled to respond to these challenges within diverse but often comparable environments. In this context, resilience should be conceptualised not merely as a reaction to crisis, but as a critical perspective and intentional strategy through which institutions, educators, and students can engage with disruption as an opportunity to foster more just, responsive, and humane forms of higher education.