Lectures

Lecture

‘A hitchhikers guide to the galaxy of brain/body dialogues’

The title of Prof Millar’s lecture was ‘A hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy of brain/body dialogues’. He spoke about peptide hormones that regulate all aspects of body functions, including growth, energy metabolism and appetite, water and salt balance, stress and reproduction. These hormones are the target for a vast array of drugs that have found application in treating a wide range of...

Lecture

'Energy efficiency and demand side management: Do they still come to the rescue?'

The lecture gives an overview of the research activities of CNES which is a Centre of Excellence focused on energy efficiency research, service and development. It hosts the National Hub for the Postgraduate Programme in Energy Efficiency and Demand-side Management of which Prof Xia is the director, as well as the Exxaro Chair in Energy Efficiency. Prof Xia discusses energy efficiency and...

Lecture

‘Great expectations and the mourning after: A literary anatomy of post-independence politics in Africa’

In 1980 there were around 5 000 analogue mobile subscribers. With the GSM digital mobile coming into play around 1988, it is predicted that by the end of 2013 there will be approximately 7 billion connections in the world. With such spectacular growth in the wireless communications industry, the next challenge is the provision of greater throughput via broadband connections that are both...

Lecture

'Human rights in a time of homophobia: An argument for equal legal protection of "sexual minorities" in Africa'

Over the last decade or so, international acceptance of 'sexual minorities' has increased significantly, reflected in the consensus that a person's sexual orientation or gender identity should not be a basis for denying him or her the equal protection of the law. In most of the African continent, a conflicting trend of formally stigmatising homosexuality has manifested itself, leading to the...

Lecture

Stem cells: Current reality and future promise

The rapidly evolving field of stem cell research continues to raise great hope among patients. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells capable of self-renewal that can differentiate into all the specialised cell types of the body when exposed to appropriate environmental cues. Adult stem cells are found in almost all tissues of the body, perhaps the best known being bone marrow, while embryonic...

Lecture

(Practical) Theology: A story of doubt and imagination

Theology as a story of doubt and imagination is to be understood in contrast to the traditional paradigm of theology as a system of propositional certainty. The construct of doubt and imagination is part and parcel of Narrative Theology and can be linked to Post-Foundational Theology. The relevance of this theological paradigm will be discussed, as a theology which
• is in touch with its own...