Message from the Executive Dean

Prof. Z Nkosi
Executive Dean: College of Human Sciences

It is my great honour and pleasure to welcome you to the Advancing African Digital Humanities Ideation Hub (AADHiH), an initiative of the College of Human Sciences at the University of South Africa (UNISA). As Africa undergoes a profound digital transformation, AADHiH stands as a strategic space for reimagining how we teach, research, and produce knowledge in ways that are contextually grounded, inclusive, and globally resonant.

 Across the continent, digital technologies continue to transform the way knowledge is created, shared, and preserved. This transformation presents both immense opportunities and pressing responsibilities to ensure that Africa not only participates in the global digital revolution but also actively shapes its direction. For us, Digital Humanities is not simply about technology; it is about people, cultures, memory, identity, and the ways we tell and transmit our stories.

Africa holds a rich and diverse intellectual heritage. Digital tools offer powerful new possibilities to safeguard this heritage, amplify African voices, and introduce innovative forms of scholarship that reflect our lived realities. In this spirit, AADHiH catalyses the development of methodologies and frameworks that decolonise knowledge production, strengthen digital scholarship, and position African epistemologies at the centre of global conversations.

Supported by a seed fund from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP), the Hub is established to function as an ideation and innovation space, bringing together scholars, practitioners, technologists, and students from across disciplines to explore critical themes such as:

• Teaching in the African Digital Humanities: Transforming curricula through African-centred content, digital literacy, and pedagogies that reflect the complexity and creativity of the continent.
  
  
• Researching in the Digital Age: Advancing ethical, sustainable, and locally anchored digital research practices, including AI, digital archiving, and knowledge preservation.
  
  
• Knowledge Production and Innovation: Leveraging African epistemologies, digital storytelling, gaming, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, simulation and emerging technologies to create bold new forms of scholarship and creative output.

As a global leader in Open and Distance e-Learning (ODeL), UNISA is uniquely positioned to champion this shift. Through AADHiH, we are committed to ensuring that Digital Humanities becomes not only a field of academic inquiry but a practical pathway for addressing fundamental challenges and opportunities on the continent. Meaningful collaborations between academia and industry strengthen our work. We acknowledge the many partners whose support advances our shared mission to cultivate impactful, future-oriented digital scholarship in Africa.

To all scholars, creators, innovators, and students engaging with AADHiH, your contributions are vital. We invite you to explore, collaborate, challenge prevailing narratives, and actively participate in shaping Africa’s digital knowledge futures.

Together, let us seize this moment to reimagine, innovate, and advance the African Digital Humanities landscape, ensuring that African voices, stories, and knowledge systems thrive in an increasingly digital world. Welcome to AADHiH, where Africa’s digital knowledge future is imagined, built, and transformed.

[Adapted from 2025 ADH Summit Launch]