Welcome to AVReQ

The Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ) is established to fulfil the goals of the South African Research Chair in Violent Histories and Transgenerational Trauma. It aims to bring conceptual clarity to the concept of violence and its consequences in the lives of victim and survivor groups on the one hand, and perpetrators and their descendants on the other. As an interdisciplinary project, we will take an intersectional approach and engage with the physical and structural aspects of violence, as well as the more insidious and symbolic forms of its expression that manifest in dynamic ways.

Governing Board

Prof. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
Prof. Pumla Gobodo-MadikizelaDirector | SARChI Chair in Violent Histories and Transgenerational Trauma
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Dr. Anthea Lesch
Dr. Anthea Lesch(Chair of the Governing Board) Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch University in Psychology Department
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Prof. Juliana Claassens
Prof. Juliana Claassens(Deputy Chair) Old and New Testament Faculty Member, Stellenbosch University
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Prof. Anthony Leysens
Prof. Anthony LeysensGoverning Board Member | Dean, Arts and Social Sciences
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Highlights

Prof Gobodo-Madikizela and the AVReQ team honoured with the Vice-Chancellor’s and Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s Special Recognition Award for 2024.

The 2024 Templeton Prize has been awarded to Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, the SARChI Chair for Violent Histories and Historical Trauma.

AVReQ hosted a masterclass series led by Professor Homi Bhabha in which participants engaged with the work and legacy of Frantz Fanon.

Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela recently spoke at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute on “Reckoning with Echoes from the Past.” Listen to the full recording here:

Upcoming Events