On 2 and 3 August 2011, the Department Jurisprudence hosted a conference on the theme of Ubuntu. This conference was organised by the Ubuntu Project under the leadership of Prof Drucilla Cornell (Rutgers University and extra-ordinary professor in the Department Jurisprudence).

The Ubuntu Project is a research and community initiative that focuses on the status and importance of indigenous African values and ideals in all walks of South African life. Similar conferences took place in 2004 (UP), 2005 (Constitutional Hill) and 2010 (UP).

This year, the conference hosted numerous academics from national and international universities, as well as activists and NGO representatives. The programme included a roundtable in honour of Emeritus Justice Albie Sachs and numerous sessions on critical theory, ethnography and postcolonial studies, post-apartheid social movements and constitutional jurisprudence.

The last day of the conference also included the launch for Drucilla Cornell and Kenneth Michael Panfillo’s new book Symbolic Forms for a New Humanity. The UP Faculty of Law and particularly the Department of Jurisprudence are committed to the project and will continue its engagement with the Ubuntu Project in the coming years.