Dear Humanities Colleagues

Academic Promotions in the Faculty

I am delighted to announce the promotion of the following staff members. Academic promotions are not simply the allocation of titles but the university’s recognition of excellence in the professional development of our staff and in the life of an academic. 

Please join me in congratulating the following colleagues on their well-deserved promotions. The last column indicates the rank to which promotion was approved. The promotions are effective 01 January 2022.

Additional Faculty Achievements

• Henning Melber (Political Sciences) won The Conversation Africa’s award for the highest number of articles published on their platform which was detailed in latest Tukkievaria
• Karen L Harris and CR Botha (Historical & Heritage Studies) have been nominated as ATLAS Africa board members
• The UP Archive announced the winners of the Recollecting COVID-19 project: Pandemic Archives
• Frieda Moasa recently joined the Student Administration Office and will be responsible for all undergraduate and postgraduate applications. Welcome!

Appearances on Media Platforms

• Reema Nunlall (Social Work & Criminology) was interviewed about the 16 Days of Activism - GBV on the online radio station impressions.durban

• Roland Henwood (Political Sciences) was interviewed on:
  • SAFM to discuss developments on the Poland/Belarus border, violent protests against COVID measures in Europe, and a follow up discussion on the border/migrant crisis in Belarus
  • Pretoria FM to explain why political parties should declare their funding sources, unfolding developments regarding mayoral candidates and council sittings, the latest political developments in the eThekwini Metro, the Gauteng High Court’s ruling regarding former President Zuma’s tax returns and the Supreme Court of Appeal’s ruling on secret ballot procedures for the vote of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa
  • RSG to comment on the coalition negotiations between political parties, reactions to the COVID/Omicron variant, the likelihood of China seizing the Ugandan Airport to cover Uganda’s $200 million loan and the US’s influence on the African continent

• Christopher Isike (Political Sciences) appeared on:
  • BBC documentary on the Second Scramble For Africa By World Powers
  • SABC Channel 404 to discuss President Ramaphosa’s 4 nation tour to West Africa
  • Channels TV Nigeria to review President Ramaphosa’s visit to Nigeria
• Rachelle Chadwick (Sociology) published the opinion article We must keep the scourge of obstetric violence in the spotlight – but it’s the state’s duty to tackle it in the Daily Maverick

• Hein Willemse (Afrikaans) appeared on:
  • Netwerk24 with the opinion article Is entprogram korrupsievry?
  • RSG to discuss the significance of poet Patrick J Petersen 70^th birthday which was commemorated at the Afrikaans Language Museum in Paarl
• Yanga Malotana (Political Sciences) published the article Fewer authoritarian regimes on the continent but the fight is not over on News24

Conference presentations

• Ziyanda Majombozi (Anthropology & Archaeology) presented the paper Decolonising the Tongue: Thinking About Language, Identity and Belonging in Mothering at the 2021 ASnA EASON International Conference
• ESI Press launched its latest book titled Tanzania’s Magufuli: Implementing the Promise to the Nation by Katabaro Miti (Political Sciences) and Sixta Kilambo (Faculty of Economic Management Sciences)
• Victoria Graham and Roland Henwood (Political Sciences) presented a paper on Assessing the quality of civil society participation in South Africa’s democracy at the RISC-RISE conference on Social Partnerships and Regional Integration
• Christopher Isike (Political Sciences):
  • Presented the paper What African States Should Look Out For To Prevent Secessionist Tendencies In The Continent at a webinar organised by the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) titled Ethiopian at the crossroad: wither peace and stability on the horn of Africa
  • Discussed the origin of feminism, its non-western variants and its impact on eradicating gender-based violence in the webinar In Conversation: 16 Days of Activism 
• Jonathan Okeke Chimakonam (Philosophy) presented the lecture “The Logic Problem of Evil and the African War Ethics” at a colloquium he co-organised with Luis Cordeiro-Rodrigues on African Metaphysics and the Problem of Evil held at Hunan University, China
• Miles Warrington (School of the Arts) collaborated with poet Douglas Skinner to develop a new work called bloodstone that he presented and which premiered at the 2021 Bowed Electrons Festival Symposium of Electronic Music
• Karen L Harris (Historical & Heritage Studies) organised the International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas (ISSCO) Regional Workshop on the Effects of COVID on the Chinese Diaspora in Europe and Africa and presented a paper on "Vilifying Virus: the acute case of the Chinese in South Africa"
• Ian MacQueen (Historical & Heritage Studies) presented the paper “Towards a new approach to SA historiography” at the HASA mini-Sundowner conference organised by Sol Plaatje University
• Sias Conradie (Historical & Heritage Studies) presented the paper “A well-intentioned Impotence: the case of the Qing Dynasty Consuls in the Transvaal Colony, 1902-1911” also at the HASA mini-Sundowner conference organised by Sol Plaatje University

Publications on academic platforms

• Jonathan Okeke Chimakonam (Philosophy) published the article What is this thing called Conversational Thinking: A Reply to Critics in Arụmarụka: Journal of Conversational Thinking
• Tinashe Nyamunda (Historical & Heritage Studies) published the chapter Gold, currency and stamps: The rejected plans for a state and public bank in early colonial Zimbabwe in the book Monetary Transitions: Currencies, Colonialism and African Societies edited by K. Pallaver 
• Alf Nilsen (Sociology) published the essay Hindu Nationalism: A Movement, Not a Mandate on the Public Books platform

My congratulations to all our colleagues! 

This is our final NewsClips for 2021 and it will return to your inbox on 11 February 2022. You are of course welcome to continue forwarding details of your publications, appearances, and events to Heather Thuynsma at [email protected].

Please enjoy a well-deserved break and take good care.

Happy Holidays!

Vasu