 From left: Anita Theron, Melanda Blom & Jane Carruthers
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Southern African Historical Society's 22nd Biennial Conference to be held at Unisa
Over the past few months, Jane Carruthers, Nicholas Southey and Tilman Dedering of the Department of History have been extremely busy organising the academic programme of the 22nd Biennial Conference of the Southern African Historical Society, of which Jane is currently President.
The logistics and practical aspects of the conference have been the responsibility of Anita Theron, the Department’s Administrative Officer, and Melanda Blom, a lecturer in the Department.
The theme of the conference is "Breaking boundaries, blurring borders: the changing shape and scope of southern African historical studies", and the aim of the gathering is to emphasise the links that history has with other disciplines that share and study the southern African past.
The response from the region’s history scholars has been extremely gratifying and more than 100 people will be attending and presenting papers on a very wide variety of topics. There is a special focus on student participation and the programme includes a panel discussion by eminent editors of academic journals, a writing workshop and an important session on South Africa’s archives. The keynote address will be delivered by Prof William Beinart, a South African historian who currently holds the prestigious chair of Rhodes Professor of Race Relations at the University of Oxford. The conference will be opened officially by Prof Mandla Makhanya, Unisa’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
Also visiting the conference is Prof Thomas Karis, world renowned for his publications on South Africa, who is to receive an honorary doctorate from Unisa. Since the 1970s, together with co-authors Gail Gerhart and Gwendolyn Carter, Karis’s publications --- that include the monumental From protest to challenge: a documentary history of African politics in South Africa --- have, in the words of Nelson Mandela, been an invaluable "documentary history of the liberation struggle ... and a priceless collection of new primary historical sources." |
