Dear Humanities Colleagues

Congratulations!  Please join me in congratulating our colleagues on their distinguishing achievements:

 • Michael Barrett-Berg (School of the Arts) was selected as one of the University’s Exceptional Young Researchers' for 2020 

• Christopher Isike (Political Science) was elected to serve a two-year term as President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS)  

• Sithembile Mbete (Political Science) was appointed to the Home Affairs Minister's Advisory Committee on the Electoral System. The committee will advise the Minister and the Portfolio Committee for Home Affairs on implementing last year's New Nation Judgement. Please watch her interview with Newzroom Afrika about the New Nation Judgement and its implications.  

Appearances on Media Platforms

 • Siona O’Connell (School of the Arts) presented at a symposium hosted by IZIKO Museums on “Uncovering: Woman’s Invisible Labour in the Cape” which forms part of a larger project, Under Cover of Darkness  

• Roland Henwood (Political Science) was interviewed on: • Agence France-Presse on the latest South African legislation on party financing • RSG about the visit to Iraq by Pope Francis and about the growing tensions between the United States and China • PretoriaFM discussing Duduzane Zuma’s plans to become the next ANC and South African president, and his likelihood of succeeding • Kyknet on the RET Committee attempting to fight back against President Cyril Ramaphosa 

• Jonathan Okeke Chimakonam (Philosophy) presented a lecture on “The Logic of Decoloniality” for Epistemic Decolonisation: An Online Seminar Series  

• Thaddeus Metz (Philosophy) delivered a:  • Keynote address titled, “The Aims of Higher Education beyond Domestic Justice: Global Justice, Domestic Relationships” at the Conference on the Role of Universities in Addressing Societal Challenges and Fostering Democracy, University of Akureyri, Iceland • Critical commentary on “Decolonisation as Democratisation” edited by Siseko Kumalo, as part of the book’s launch 

• Juan Bornman (Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication) wrote the opinion piece, “Speaking without a voice: communication is a basic human right” for News24 and was interviewed on communication as a human right on SAfm 

• Christopher Isike (Political Science) was a co-convener of the Rethinking Politics in Africa Conference organized by the African Association of Political Science (AAPS) where he also presented the paper, “Politics and the internet in Africa: teaching and researching politics in the digital era” 

• Tim Forssman (Archaeology) wrote the article, “A forgotten settlement in the Cradle of Humankind adds a note to southern African history” that appeared in The Conversation and discussed the forgotten settlement in the Cradle of Humankind on SAfm 

• Salome le Roux (School of the Arts) presented the findings of her dissertation, “A technical survey of Lucky Madlo Sibiya’s (1942 – 1999) materials and techniques employed in his carved and painted wood panel artworks” at the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage monthly lunch seminar. 

• Antony Goadhals (English) acted as a discussant for Tibet TV’s Live seminar with Dr Ian Khama, former President of Botswana, and Dr Michael van Walt van Praag, author of Tibet Brief 20/20.  

• Alf Gunvald Nilsen (Sociology) published the article “Spectacle and Social Murder in Pandemic India” in the Boston Review and gave the lecture “India’s Pandemic: Social Murder and Authoritarian Politics in a Lockdown Nation” at the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Oslo to mark 1 year of pandemic politics in India.  

• Elmien Claassens (Social Work & Criminology) participated in a recording for the global “Speak Your Mind” Campaign – a nationally driven global initiative that advocates for an end to the silence around mental health. She also discussed what UP students are doing to promote mental health in Laudium and surrounding communities.  

• Stephan Geyer (Social Work & Criminology) was interviewed on Pretoria FM discussing “Gerontologie en die psigososiale versorging van ouer persone tydens Covid-19” and presented the paper "Hey, it is rough out here": A resilience lens on the biopsychosocial circumstances of homeless older persons in the City of Tshwane at the Pathways out of Homelessness colloquium hosted by the Unit on Street Homelessness. Publications on academic platforms

 • Christopher Changwe Nshimbi (Political Science) published an article on “Rational Actors, Passive and Helpless Victims, Neither, Both: EU Borders and the Drive to Migrate in the Horn of Africa” in Social Inclusion 

• Thaddeus Metz published:  • “Supernaturalist Analytic Existentialism” in the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion  • “Afro-communitarianism and the Role of Traditional African Healers in the Covid-19 Pandemic” with Luis Rodrigues which appeared in Public Health Ethics • The Persian translation of his book on “God, Soul and the Meaning of Life” was published online  

• Stephan Geyer (Social Work & Criminology) contributed to two chapters in the fifth edition of Research at grass roots: For the social sciences and human service professions published by Van Schaik 
 

Scheduled Events
 • Virtual Launch of the UP Journals Platform, a joint venture between the Faculty of Humanities and the Department of Library Services, is scheduled for 20 April 2021 between 14:30-16:00. To RSVP please click here and for more information please contact Johann van Wyk. 

• Tangible Heritage Conservation programme (School of the Arts) will host the Global Consortium for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage’s annual meeting between 28-29 October 2021.