Dear Humanities Colleagues

Please join me in congratulating:

 • Vusi Thebe on his appointment as Head of the Archaeology and Anthropology, and,

• Adelia Carstens (Unit for Academic Literacy) on being nominated to take over as editor of the prestigious South African Journal for Language Teaching where she will look to, among other priorities, include more content in and on all South African languages

As we gear up for the start of the second semester, I would like to recognise the work our Faculty have published this past week. 

 • UP Archives announced the winners of their special photo competition capturing our staff and students’ life under lockdown.

 • Speech Language Pathology and Audiology is a collaborating site for a UN grant led by Macquarie University. The partnership was announced in the article “Australian researchers to lead UN Global Hearing Co-operative to address hearing loss in low- and middle-income countries” that appeared on the Australian Hearing Hub

 • Alf Gunvald Nilsen (Sociology) and Karl von Holdt published the article “BRICS and COVID-19: Rising powers in a time of pandemic” in the Daily Maverick

 • Christopher Isike (Political Sciences) published an opinion piece on “Fostering global peace and social cohesion on International Day of Friendship” on IOL. He also appeared in an interview on Newzroom Afrika talking about this article 

 • Mzikazi Nduna’s (CSA&G) monograph A Magnifying Glass and a Fine-tooth Comb: Understanding Girls’ and Young Women’s Sexual Vulnerability and Antony Goedhals’s (English) book on The Neo-Buddhist Writings of Lafcadio Hearn: Light from the East were both profiled in the Tukkievaria

Colleagues have also published on academic platforms, including:

 • Eddie Michel (Historical & Heritage Studies) whose article "My children, you are permitted in time of great danger to walk with the Devil until you have crossed the bridge’: President Truman, Apartheid, and the Early Cold War" appeared in the South African Historical Journal

 • South African Journal of Science (July/August 2020, Volume 116/7-8) has a special commentary section with social science and humanities perspectives on COVID-19 titled “More eyes on the problem’: What the social sciences and humanities allow us to see and do in response to COVID-19” 

 • Christopher Isike (Political Sciences) and Dikeledi Madise published the paper “Ubuntu diplomacy: Broadening soft power in an African context” in the Journal of Public Affairs

Please remember that the following events are scheduled to take place in the next two weeks:

 • Flexible Futures 2020 Virtual Conference will be hosted online on 4 August 2020 and will feature Dr Tony Bates as a keynote speaker

 • Prof Tawana Kupe will host a webinar to discuss the role communities can play in breaking the cycle of sexual and gender-based violence. The event will take place on 7 August 2020 at 12:00 noon and will feature input from some of our colleagues – Priscilla Gutura (Social Work & Criminology) and Pierre Brouard (CSA & G). Please click here to register.

 • Javett UP will host an online event with Belgian-based researcher and art practitioner Gabi Ngcobo on Curation, Museum, and Art: Art of Monstrous Men on 14 August 2020 at 11:00

 • The #ChooseUP virtual event for prospective students will take place on 15 August 2020