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30 May 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Africa Memorial lecture
From left; Dr Stephanie Cawood, Director of CGAS; Prof Francis Nyamnjoh; Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities, and Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic
Ubuntu is a word we all know and, to some extent, relate to. Prof Francis Nyamnjoh aimed to delve and explore this African philosophy when he presented the 2019 Africa Day Memorial Lecture with the topic Ubuntuism and Africa: Actualised, Misappropriated, Endangered and Reappraised. 

The memorial lecture is hosted annually by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS) to coincide with Africa Month celebrations. Prof Nyamnjoh holds a PhD from the University of Leicester in the UK. He is currently a professor of social anthropology at the University of Cape Town and has been a scholar in sociology, anthropology and communication science at universities in Cameroon and Botswana. The lecture took place on 22 May 2019 in the Equitas Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

“When I saw the topic I thought this was very contemporary. We at the university decided to include the Ubuntu principle in our learning and teaching strategy,” said Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic. 

Ubuntu as a binding factor for interconnectedness 

We live a world in which we cannot stand alone as the principle of Ubuntu tells us that we are who we are because of our interconnectedness with other people. “It is important to recognise that you stand on others to be tall,” said Prof Nyamnjoh. 

“We are the product of ongoing conversations on interconnectedness."

“I have argued that, in the spirit of Ubuntu, Africans, their identities and mobilities are part and parcel of the experience of being human in a world on the move. And their contributions are needed in today’s world more than ever. 

“I have broached the context of globalisation and histories of unequal encounters that have shaped relations in Africa and beyond under global capitalism."

“Even as it is increasingly seriously tested by opportunism, Ubuntuism, sometimes a reality and sometimes an ideal, brings hope and redemption, and offers a feasible framework for participatory and inclusive emancipatory social change,” said Prof Nyamnjoh. 


News Archive

Trauma, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation Studies attracts global attention
2016-06-27

Description: Lerato Machetela Tags: Lerato Machetela

Lerato Machetela is on her way to
Ghent University in Belgium where
she will spend 10 months working
alongside experts in the field of
historical trauma.
Photo: Eugene Seegers

Research excellence is one of the major driving forces at the core of the University of the Free State (UFS). This striving for academic distinction has found embodiment within Trauma, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation (TFR) Studies. Headed by Research Fellow and Senior Research Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, the research unit is raking in achievements consistently.

Cornell University Distinguished African Scholar Award
Leading by example, Prof Gobodo-Madikizela received the prestigious 2016 Distinguished African Scholar Award from Cornell University recently. Being honoured with this award affirms an unusual depth of knowledge and experience in a field related to the recipient’s own work. Through this award, Prof Gobodo-Madikizela is now also affiliated with the Institute for African Development and the Psychology Department at Cornell University.

Ghent University fellowship in historical trauma
Another member of TFR has caught international attention. Lerato Machetela – a PhD student at the research unit – received an invitation from scholars at Ghent University in Belgium. Machetela will leave in September, where she will spend ten months in Ghent with experts in the field of historical trauma. She will be affiliated to their university’s Cultural Memory Studies Initiative and the Psychology Department. When Machetela submitted her PhD proposal on transgenerational transmisison of trauma among the youth in Jagersfontein to the UFS Psychology Department panel, “it was hailed as a unique project, and a first for the department,” Prof Gobodo-Madikizela says.

Description: Naleli Morojele Tags: Naleli Morojele

Naleli Morojele conducting the research
in Rwanda that has formed the basis of
her new book, Women Political Leaders
in Rwanda and South Africa: Narratives
of Triumph and Loss.

Book explores triumph and loss of female political leaders
TFR cultivates thriving authors actively, the latest being Naleli Morojele, who is pursuing a PhD in the field of Political Studies. Soon, Morojele will be launching her book, Women Political Leaders in Rwanda and South Africa: Narratives of Triumph and Loss. Through the stories of significant female Rwandan and South African leaders, the reader gains insight into these women’s early-life experiences, struggles, and successes. Perhaps even more pertinently, Morojele’s book also exposes the ways in which gender inequality still works to smother their roles as citizens and politicians.

 

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