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20 March 2019 | Story Zama Feni | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Prof Henning Melber
Prof Henning Melber, taking over the editorial-ship of the Acta Academica Journal.

The newly appointed editor of the University of the Free State(UFS) journal for humanities Prof Henning Melber had vowed to give the publication a deeper insight on critical issues ranging from decolonisation of knowledge to knowledge production.

In his first editorial opinion as the new Editor of the Acta Academica journal, Prof Melber said the publication has the declared intention to apply a critical social theory perspective.

“Dedicated to scholarship in the humanities, Acta Academica will henceforth be published annually with a minimum of two issues, plus an optional additional issues per year,” he said. 

Former Editor Professor Lis Lange, previously Vice-Rector: Academic at the University of the Free State (UFS), has moved to the University of Cape Town as Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning.

The journal publishes scholarly articles that examine society, culture and politics from a critical social theory perspective and it is also interested on scholarly work that examines how the humanities in the 21st century are responding to the double imperative of theorising the world and changing it.

Analysis on Africa encouraged for Acta Academica

As a journal promoting humanist values and ethics, Prof Melber stated that he would like to see Acta Academica publishing scholarly analysis and think pieces that engage with such challenges in a critical (and gendered) theoretical perspective. 

“We welcome in particular contributions that link to current themes and processes on the African continent and especially to Southern Africa, without abandoning the global context and the shared perspectives of committed
scholarship elsewhere,” he said.

Decolonisation of knowledge

“We will promote an emphasis on contributions in the fields of post-colonial, development, cultural, gender, international and African Studies aiming to support current efforts towards a decolonisation of knowledge and knowledge production. 
He said the journal will combine an international post-colonial discourse inspired by critical theory and other relevant schools of thought applied to and/or generated in a local and regional (African) context. 

“We also welcome efforts to contribute to the decolonisation of knowledge, which still to a large extent is anchored in the global asymmetries. We cannot pretend these asymmetric power relations and inherited structures do not exist.  “Nor will we be able to avoid their reproduction completely. But we can promote ownership of authors over their intellectual product and will disseminate the work as widely as possible,” he said.

New Editor calls for diversification of knowledge

In another efforts to decolonise, Prof Melber said they would also make special efforts to empower aspiring African scholars. As part of this endeavour, the UFS’s Centre for Gender and Africa Studies has for several years, been the partner institution of Africa Spectrum for the annual Young African Scholars Award. 

“We will try to create similar opportunities, encouraging early career scholars to submit articles. In addition, we would like to expand the character of contributions, by further diversification of forms of knowledge transmission through debate articles, reports, comments, review essays and other thought-provoking interventions. We hope to receive your support, as potential authors or as readers who contribute to or benefit from Acta Academica’s efforts to further a stimulating debate,” he said

News Archive

South Africa praised for dealing with its history
2012-07-12

“I listened to an incredible conversation on how South Africans can talk about the past. We failed to do that in the US. We cannot move on because we failed to name the ghosts in our past. I am honouring what South Africa is doing.”

These are the words of a staff delegate from a university in the USA in a case study at the Global Leadership Summit led by Prof. André Keet, Director of the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Students and academics from universities in the USA, Belgium, the Netherlands and Japan are attending a Global Leadership Summit with the theme “Transcending Boundaries in Global Change Leadership” at the UFS.

In the case study, symbols on the Bloemfontein Campus such as the MT Steyn Statue, Justitia symbol of justice at the building of the Faculty of Law, the artwork Van hier tot daar, and the Women’s Memorial were presented to the audience and the question was asked if they had to be removed or if they had to remain.

Students overwhelmingly felt that symbols of the past had to remain. Here are some of the comments:

  • “Without our past we would not be here today. Without the past, we would not know why we are here or where we are going.”
  • “It is important for students that it remains on campus, as a reminder that history must not repeat itself.”
  • “There is room for new symbols. We must look back but must also look at the future.”
  • “We must resolve the problems of the past and move on.”
  • “We must remember that we cannot go back there again. We must not take away part of other people’s history.”
  • “Symbols must be contextualised.”
  •  “Don’t look in the rear mirror, but through the windscreen where you are going. The windscreen is far bigger.”

One student said the statute of MT Steyn filled him with anger.

Prof. Keet said the act of running away from the ghosts of the past was a way to keep those ghosts alive. The past cannot be dealt with, only visited. The ghosts connect people with the past and allow the past to be present in the now.
 

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