Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Internationalisation of engaged scholarship: Prof Peacock’s impact

19 March 2024 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo SUPPLIED

Prof Robert Peacock, of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Criminology Department, champions global engagement in scholarship, offering hope to victims worldwide while linking academia, policy, and practice.

Crime and victimisation have far-reaching consequences that profoundly impact on societal, economic, and ecological development. At the forefront of addressing these global challenges in Criminology, Victimology, Transitional and Criminal Justice, stands Prof Robert Peacock, an esteemed figure in the field from the University of the Free State's Department of Criminology.

His expertise adds significant depth to understanding and tackling the complex interplay between interpersonal conflict and broader societal, economic and ecological injustices. As serving and now Immediate Past President of the World Society of Victimology, Prof Peacock’s impact reached the highest levels, holding consultative status at both the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the Council of Europe. Together with the Justice Section of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), interventions on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice reform were also made on occasion of the 35th Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.

Advancing global discourse

Reflecting on his tenure, Prof Peacock emphasises: “The plight of victims of crime and abuse of power underscores the imperative to scrutinise global and local power dynamics, linking local experiences to global patterns of victimisation and transformation.” This sentiment resonated profoundly during the World Victimology Symposium held in Donostia/San Sebastian in Spain, shedding light on the Anthropocene epoch’s complexities.

His commitment to international collaboration is unwavering, evident in his new role on the Scientific and Advisory committee of the upcoming 2025 World Criminology conference to be hosted by O.P. Jindal Global University in India.

Global reach

Beyond academia, Prof Peacock’s influence extends worldwide, with invitations as a guest lecturer, course director, and keynote speaker at prestigious institutions and symposia. His guest editor roles in special editions of journals like Mediarres and Ethnicity in Criminal Justice highlight his dedication to advancing critical regional and international discourse.

To proceed with an emancipatory agenda for victims of crime and abuse of power in Africa or that of a Southern Victimology, Prof Peacock advocates for a paradigm shift in victimology, transcending narrow Western perspectives, and to remain mindful of the global economy and geopolitics that create new variations of privilege and status and asymmetries that cut across nations and regions. Recent translations of his work into Spanish aim to enhance accessibility across Latin America.

Strategic collaborations

In recognition of his expertise, Prof Peacock received a Global Minds grant, facilitating collaboration with KU Leuven (Katolieke Universiteit Leuven) in Belgium, a leading institution in law and criminology. This partnership, focusing on human rights, transitional justice, restorative justice and victimology, paves the way for impactful research on conflict, peace, and development.

Prof Peacock’s longstanding collaboration with colleagues in Belgium and the Netherlands underscores his commitment to international scholarship. Together, they’ve contributed significantly to victimological approaches to international crimes, even securing an audience with Pope Francis.

Advancing practical application

In advancing praxis and the internationalisation of engaged scholarship, Prof Peacock presented twice during the month of January 2024 on the topic of Trauma informed practice for frontline workers at the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the European Union. This was done in close cooperation with the Leuven Institute of Criminology, KU Leuven, and the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brussels, together with an interdisciplinary project consortium, that included partners from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Prof Peacock shared as speaker sessions with a Trauma Expert of the Victims and Witnesses Section of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

As Prof Peacock continues to champion engaged scholarship on an international scale, his contributions seek to ameliorate the plight of victims of crime and abuse of power worldwide, bridging gaps between academia, policy, and practice.

News Archive

UFS celebrates Africa Month

2017-05-24

Most of the international students at the UFS come from
the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
and other countries in Africa.
Photo: iStock

“Africa Month provides an opportunity
to every student and staff member to
commemorate African unity and celebrate
our rich cultural heritage, diversity,
energy and social dynamism.”

The University of the Free State (UFS) celebrates Africa Month to commemorate African unity and praise cultural heritage, as well as to take ownership of the future of the continent. According to Prof Heidi Hudson, Director of the Centre for Africa Studies, these are reasons to take part in the festivities.

Formation of Organisation of African Unity

Africa Day is the day on which Africa observes the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 25 May 1963. A total of 32 independent African states attended the formation.

The OAU’s aims were to promote unity and solidarity of the African states and act as a collective voice for the continent, in order to secure Africa’s long-term economic and political future and to rid it of remaining forms of colonialism. The OAU later gave birth to the African Union, which formally replaced the OAU in July 2002.

Prof Hudson says celebrating Africa Month forms part of her centre’s institutional mandate to promote an African focus in research, teaching, as well as public debate.

“Africa Month provides an opportunity to every student and staff member to commemorate African unity and celebrate our rich cultural heritage, diversity, energy and social dynamism. Secondly, by participating we all begin to take ownership of our future on this continent.”

She adds that Africa month provides a platform for reflecting on past experiences and achievements, as well as to critically assess the failures, challenges and the lessons learnt for the sake of a better future for the continent’s people.

Working relations across the continent

The UFS has working relations with universities, embassies and consulates in African countries such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and Tunisia.

Five cooperation agreements exist – they are with the Botho University (Botswana), Greater Zimbabwe University, Universidad Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique), Trinity Theological Seminary Ghana, and Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary.

According to Kanego Mokgosi, Senior Officer at Internationalisation, there are also working relations between the university and The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, Swedish International Development Agency and The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. All of these focus on research development in Africa.

Most of the international students at the UFS come from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the continent. It hosts 1393 students from SADC countries.

“The UFS employs SADC protocol guidelines which, among others, enjoin SADC universities to admit at least 5% of their student population from the SADC region,” says Mokgosi.

Memorial Lecture by Dr Zeleza

On 24 May 2017 the Centre for Africa Studies hosted an Africa Day Memorial Lecture by Dr Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, the Vice Chancellor (President) of the United States International University Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.

The UFS library, in collaboration with the Department of English and the Office of International Affairs, also celebrated Africa Day on 25 May 2017. They hosted a conversation on the Land Debate in South Africa, together with the launch of a book titled White Narratives: The depiction of Post-2000 Land Invasions in Zimbabwe by Prof Irikidzayi Manase. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of English.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept