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30 July 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Columbia University
Prof Jack Halberstam
Prof Jack Halberstam is a trailblazer in Queer Studies around the globe.

The Centre for Gender and Africa Studies has invited Prof Jack Halberstam to deliver the Biennial Humanities and Gendered Worlds Lecture on 7 August 2019 at 18:00 in the Equitas Auditorium on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS).

The title of the lecture is Exit Routes: After Feminism, After Gender. The lecture promises to reflect the critical complexity surrounding gender, feminism and sexuality. It is a wonderful opportunity for the UFS community engaged in issues of transformation and social justice to be exposed to such a globally recognised and influential scholar in Gender and Queer Studies. 

“Prof Halberstam’s visit was made possible through the initiative of Dr Nadine Lake, Gender Studies Programme Director in the CGAS, who is an expert on gender and sexuality and is fully aware what a great achievement it is to bring someone of Prof Halberstam’s stature to the UFS,” says Dr Stephanie Cawood, CGAS Director.

She adds: “The purpose of the lecture is to firmly shine a light on critical debates regarding gender and its impact, not only on humanity as a whole, but in the way that scholars study the human condition and its gender dynamics.”

Prof Halberstam is a visiting professor of Gender Studies and English and the Director of the Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality at Columbia University in New York. He is a renowned Gender and Queer Studies scholar who has written numerous books including titles such as Female Masculinity, In a Queer Time and Place, and the acclaimed Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender and the End of Normal.

Some of his previous lecture topics include queer failure, sex and media, subcultures, visual culture, and gender variance among others.

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Manuel Castillo Book Prize goes to Prof Melanie Walker
2014-05-15



Prof Melanie Walker

Prof Melanie Walker from our Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development (CRHED) and Alejandra Boni from the Technical University of Valencia in Spain makes for a potent writing combination. Their book, Human Development and Capabilities: Re-imagining the University of the twenty-first Century, has won the 2014 Spanish Manuel Castillo Book Prize. This in the category of a Published University Research Monograph.

The aim of this prize is to stimulate academic, scientific and journalist research in the fields of cooperation, peace and human development. And this is precisely what underpins their book.

The content encourages the reader to re-imagine the role of the university and its potential for transformative ends. It urges the creation of better societies while acknowledging contemporary social and economic challenges. It shows how universities might advance human equalities and how these institutions can contribute to sustainable and democratic societies.

In her acceptance speech, Professor Walker noted that “the book is pioneering in its linking universities to human development in an age where globally human capital and economic growth approaches dominate higher education policy.” She noted that the human capital argument is by no means settled – an increased focus on economic growth only contributes to growing inequalities. “We hope the book will challenge and add to debating the purposes of universities,” Prof Walker said.

Not only was this trans-continental collaboration an intellectual and personal joy for Prof Walker, but it has served as a springboard to further research and more writing together with Alejandra Boni.


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