On Monday, 22 July University of Pretoria students returned to campus, marking the commencement of the second semester of the year. Amid this reinvigoration of campus, Edwin Smith of the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies hosted international fellows from Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s Graduate School of Education’s South Africa Initiative (SAI). The group, led by Dr. Darren Clarke, Senior Director: Strategic Alliances and Online Programs and co-facilitated by Dr. Joan Collier, Rutgers University Global Fellow and Assistant Vice President for Equity & Inclusion were visiting South Africa as part of a multicity, multi-institution immersion experience for the postgraduate students in the Graduate School of Education. The SAI is Rutgers-New Brunswick’s Graduate School of Education’s international exchange programme focused on South Africa that Clark established in 2002.

Smith, himself a Rutgers University alum (CCAS 1995), provided the delegation with an introductory lecture on the history of education in South Africa to help locate the delegation’s various interests in South African education.

The delegation consisted of Quintin Alexander, whose interest are in diplomacy, global policy and international relations; PhD candidate, Moriah Anthony, with interests in the opioid epidemic, particularly for marginalised communities; PhD candidate, Serafina Smith, with interests in leadership, mentorship, first generation experiences, diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education; Maeraawuor Ochieng-Onyango with interests in public histories, art, and access to higher education for lower income families and communities of colour; Laura Camelo with interest in elementary (primary) school teachers and education; Azima Cabrera who is interested in political science, multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and global policy concerns; Mary Labrada, instructional designer with interests in teaching and learning technologies; Sheila Feliciano, a PhD candidate in language education interested in language erasure, equity and justice, cultural language and translanguaging concerns; and Ria Monga who is interested in exploring the resilience and recovery of South Africa following apartheid and how heritage has influenced and been influenced by the broader South African context.