The Vice-Chancellor’s Annual Africa Day Lecture
The Stellenbosch University Annual Africa Day Lecture series has been hosted every May since 2018 by the Vice-Chancellor, and coordinated jointly by the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest and the Centre for Collaboration in Africa. The aim of the lecture series is to bring distinguished scholars, scientists, writers, artists, public intellectuals, and practitioners from a range of disciplines across the globe to Stellenbosch University to lead public conversations that will expand understanding of the role of the university in these changing and troubled times. Through the series, speakers open up dialogue on topics that can contribute to knowledge production within the academy, while also having some impact on public debate and influencing audiences at the broader level of civil society.
Past Lectures
Prof Gabeba Baderoon delivers the Fifth Stellenbosch University Annual Africa Day Lecture
“We need to claim the space of the university because it is a collective treasure to us all. The university itself becomes enriched when it recognises all who belong. It diminishes and impoverishes itself [...]
Dr. Chidi Achebe delivers the Fourth Stellenbosch University Annual Africa Day Lecture
Dr Chidi Chike Achebe delivered the 4th Stellenbosch University Annual Africa Day Lecture on the 31st of May 2022. It was hosted by the Vice Chancellor as a hybrid event held at Stellenbosch University Museum. [...]
Third Annual Africa Day Lecture: A Conversation with Tsitsi Dangarembga, and Professors Tamar Garb and Siona O’Connell
This event held on 27 May 2021 moved the Annual Africa Day Lecture to the virtual space, necessitated by the outbreak of Covid-19. Tsitsi Dangarembga as the keynote speaker spoke on the topic. “Remaining Human: [...]
Second Annual Africa Day Lecture by Judge Thina Siwendu
In this lecture on 30 May 2019, Thina Siwendu reflects on the problem of youth suicide in post-apartheid South Africa from the perspective a mother’s loss of her child through death by suicide. She shares [...]
Inaugural Annual Africa Day Lecture by Professor Jonathan Jansen
In this lecture on 25 May 2018, Jonathan Jansen examines the record of schools established after the dawn of South African democracy in 1994 and explores whether schools can build an inclusive African identity.