Colloquium: Contemporary Modes of Othering – Its Perpetuation and Resistance (20 - 22 May 2015)
The interdisciplinary project of the Centre for Africa Studies on “Representations of Otherness and Resistance” culminated in a multimedia colloquium in the build up to Africa Day.
Various artistic and alternative creative representations of otherness, power and resistance through text, dance, protest music and the visual and performative arts were explored by a team of researchers and students from relevant departments in the Faculty of Humanities. All staff and students were invited to attend a wide range of events including an art exhibition, seminars, critical dialogues and a play.
Programme
‘Doing’ Africa Week
From 25 to 28 August 2014, the Centre for Africa Studies hosted a Colloquium consisting of a series of seminars and talks to highlight some of its research projects and teaching programmes. Topics included, among others, African Identities and the Politics of Space; Teaching Africa Studies in Africa; Representations of Otherness and Resistance; The Political Construction and Evolution of South Africa’s Middle Class; as well as Sacred Spaces and Contested Identities. For more information, see the full programme below.
The four-day seminar culminated in the launching of four books:
- Stahn, C. and Melber, H. (eds). 2014. Peace Diplomacy, Global Justice and International Agency. Rethinking Human Security and Ethics in the Spirit of Dag Hammarskjöld. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Melber, H. 2014. Understanding Namibia. The Trials of Independence. London: Hurst and Auckland Park: Jacana.
- Post, P., Nel, P. & Van Beek, W. (eds). 2014. Sacred Spaces and Contested Identities. Space and Ritual Dynamics in Europe and Africa. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press.
- Sienaert, E. 2014. Au commencement était le Mimisme: Essai de lecture globale des cours de Marcel Jousse (Trans: In the beginning was mimism: A holistic reading of Marcel Jousse’s lectures). Paris: Marcel Jousse Association.
SAAPAM (The South African Association of Public Administration and Management)
The South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM), in conjunction with the Centre for Africa Studies, hosted its 12th annual conference at the University of the Free State from 7 to 9 March 2012. The theme of the conference was ‘State of Governance in Africa at the Turn of the Centenary of the ANC: Reflective Perspectives from Scholarship and Practice’.
Various scholars and practitioners around the country attended this important dialogue which sought to inform the theory and practice of governance and administration. With the ANC as the subject of the conference, it was only appropriate that the discourse on the state of governance in South Africa and the entire African continent at the turn of the ANC’s centenary took place in Mangaung in the Free State, where the ANC was born.
IFJP Conference
From left to right: Dr Choice Makhetha (Vice-rector: External Relations), Prof Heidi Hudson (co-editor), Ms Nadine Lake (Programme Director: Gender Studies), Profs Laura Sjoberg (co-editor, University of Florida), Lucius Botes (Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities), and Cynthia Weber (co-editor, University of Sussex).
The Centre hosted the first annual conference of the International Feminist Journal of Politics (IFJP) from 2 to 4 August 2012, with Prof Heidi Hudson from CAS as organiser and co-editor of the journal. The theme of the conference was ‘Leaving the Camp – Gender Analysis across Real and Perceived Divides’. The conference brought together international thought leaders in this field. The conference took place over three full days with among others a keynote address by Prof Inderpal Grewal from Yale University.
41 international delegates attended the conference. A unique African experience was offered, including a Free State culinary experience, contemporary art tour and an unforgettable evening at an observatory where the delegates could observe the rings surrounding the planet Saturn. The event was very well received and launched the IFJP as an annual conference that will be hosted all over the world. If you would like to read the keynote speaker's address, order a copy of the journal here:
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfjp20/current
The next conference is scheduled to take place at Sussex University from 17 to 19 May.