French Films on UP Campus
 

Dear Humanities Colleagues

Faculty Achievements!

• Amanda du Preez (School of the Arts) was appointed Chair to the Arts Commission by the South African Academy for Arts and Science
• Brooks Marmon (Historical & Heritage Studies)  was awarded the 2021 Annual Research Award by the International History Review
• Dominique Wnuczek-Lobaczewski (Historical & Heritage Studies) was awarded a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship and will be a visiting doctoral student at the University of Basel’s Centre for African Studies from September 2021 

Appearances on Media Platforms

• Prof Tawana Kupe (Vice-Chancellor & Principal) published the opinion piece World Press Freedom Day: Reimagining the Media

• Media coverage of the Faculty’s graduation ceremonies:
  • Sowetan Live published the article University of Pretoria caps jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim; Honorary doctorate for Generations creator Mfundi Vundla
  • TimesLIVE published Honorary doctorate for ‘Generations’ creator
  • Die Burger ran two stories UP vereer De Vries vir Werk and Vundla en Ibrahim nou doktore
  • The Good Things site featured an article on the Jazz Legend Abdullah Ibrahim and Generations Creator Mfundi Vundla Receive Honorary Doctorates!
  • UP website profiled: 
    • Michele Schoeman (Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology) in the story My hearing loss does not define me
    • Barbara Adair, Angel Dionne and Florence Ndiyah (English) in the article UP’s revived Unit of Creative Writing celebrates graduation of three PhD students
    • Aviwe Mado’s (Sociology) achievement in ‘Don’t let your disability prevent you from achieving your goals’ – Blind Social Science graduate hopes to inspire others
    • UP confers honorary doctorates on jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim and ‘Generations’ creator Mfundi Vundla
    • UP Faculty of Humanities confers honorary doctorates in Literature on Athol Fugard, Aziz Pahad and Abraham de Vries
• Sandy Africa (Deanery & Political Sciences) took part in a panel discussion of Vice-Deans at the University of Johannesburg’s Peak Performances Conference. Panellists discussed Pivoting to Online Teaching and Learning: Reflections on Managing Radical Change During the Pandemic.

• Roland Henwood (Political Science) has given several interviews on:
  • RSG about the case against ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule, the appearance and testimony of President Ramaphosa before the State Capture Commission  
  • SAFM he discussed the latest developments around Russian opposition Leader Alexei Navalny
  • He also contributed to the article Ramaphosa to face Zondo today in The Citizen
• Alf Nilsen (Sociology) published the opinion article India’s COVID-19 disaster is a politically engineered tragedy in the Daily Maverick and appeared on:
  • Smile 904 where he discussed the spin which has contributed to the collapse of India’s health system
  • eNCA where he continued to discuss India’s rising COVID statistics here and here
• Francois Gilles de Pelichy (Political Sciences) published the opinion article World Press Freedom Day: Fighting for the Facts on the Faculty’s website
• Mabafokeng Hoeane (School of the Arts) presented the findings of her research The conservation and curation of sacred/spiritual African artefacts in museum collections at the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage monthly lunch seminar
• Isabelle McGinn and Davison Chiwara (School of the Arts) presented a guest lecture on Preventive Conservation: The key for sustaining the future of collections and artistic works in museums in Africa to conservation students at the University of Delaware
• Isabelle McGinn (School of the Arts) was also interviewed for this article on Cape fires: Volunteers come together to save valuable materials at UCT that was published on News24
• Chris Isike (Political Sciences) as the IPSA Vice President and Special Representative for Ethics of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS) was a keynote speaker at the IAPSS Virtual World Congress 2021
• Abdi Samatar (Political Sciences) published the article Ethiopia at a democracy crossroads ahead of elections in June in the Daily Maverick
• Jonathan C Okeke (Philosophy) was a discussant at the Twelfth Meeting of Violence Prevention Forum – Researcher Workshop organised by the Institute for Security Studies, South African Medical Research Council and Sexual Violence Research Initiative
• Antoinette Lombard, Elmien Claassens and Gerna Wessels (Social Work & Criminology) published the article Why a human-centred shift matters for those studying Social Work in the Junior TukkieMagazine
• Kyle Rath (School of the Arts) and Makone Maja (Deanery) published an article highlighting UP as The #1 Design Education Institution in Africa in the Junior Tukkie Magazine

Publications on academic platforms

• Jonathan Chimakonam Okeke (Philosophy) guest-edited a Special Issue on "Racism" in the journal Dialogue and Universalism
• Stephan Geyer (Social Work & Criminology) published the article “Hey, it is Rough Out Here”: A Resilience Lens on the Biopsychosocial Circumstances of Homeless Older Persons in the City of Tshwane in the South African Review of Sociology
• Sandy Africa (Deanery & Political Sciences) published a chapter in the book Southern African Security Review 2020. Readers can access the e-book here and can view a recording of the book launch here
• Christopher Nshimbi and Dickson Ajisafe (Political Sciences) together with Samuel Oloruntoba published the chapter Turning the Tide in Curriculum Development in Teaching European Studies in Africa  in the book Teaching the EU: Fostering Knowledge and Understanding in the Brexit Age

Scheduled Events

• The French Films on UP Campus film festival will run from 17 – 28 May 2021

Themed Transnational Encounters the launch will take place on 17 May 2021 at 16h00 and will include presentations by:

• Ambassador of France Mr Aurélien Lechevallier
• French Director & Actress Ms Zabou Breitman
• Lize Kriel, Chris Broodryk, Rory du Plessis (School of the Arts) 
• Nisa Paleker (Historical & Heritage Studies)
• Anna-Marie de Beer (Ancient & Modern Languages & Cultures)

Click here to join the launch! 

Online Festival Programme:

• 17 May 2021 at 17h00 – Screening of Zabou Breitman’s film Swallows of Kabul 
• 18 May 2021 at 18h00 – live Q&A session with French Actress & Director Zabou Breitman on the film Swallows of Kabul
• 19 May 2021 at 11h00 – live Q&A session with UP graduate and filmmaker Burger Foster (Historical & Heritage Studies) on his film Kalkfontein GaMasha

Festival Films for Free hosted by Festival Scope:

18 – 28 May 2021 – these films will be available for UP Staff and Students to view free of charge via the Festival Scope platform (https://www.festivalscope.com/page/french-films-on-up-campus/)

• Swallows of Kabul
  o   Les Miserables
  o   Africa Mia
  o   Arab Blues
  o   Only the Animals
  o   School Life
  o   The Bare Necessity
  o   Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  o   Kalkfontein GaMasha from one of our own graduates Burger Foster (Historical & Heritage Studies)

Click here to view the festival’s brochure

• Department of Social Work & Criminology will host the first-ever Virtual Pledge Ceremony for their 2^nd and 3^rd year students on 21 May 2021. The pledge, as prescribed by the South African Council for Social Services Professions (SACSSP), commits student to providing ethical and professional conduct and is a key milestone for our students.
• Virtual book launch of The Fabric of Dissent: Public Intellectuals in South Africa is scheduled for 27 May 2021 from 12:00-13:30. To RSVP click here
• Nhlanhla Mnisi (African Languages) will present a seminar on 27 May 2021 on the topic Translating Citizen Science Tools: Potential, Challenges and Future Directions. Click here to RSVP and contact Penelope Mdluli.
• 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.

My congratulations to all our colleagues!