The 2025 edition of the Violent Histories and Repair course, hosted at Stellenbosch University as part of the annual Summer School programme, was once again a great success. Coordinated by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and presented by AVReQ, the course drew a diverse and deeply engaged group of participants from around the world.

Among the students were PhD fellows from Europa University Flensburg, undergraduate and graduate students from Connecticut College, and several postgraduate students from Stellenbosch University. The international cohort created a dynamic and critical learning environment in which comparative insights and global perspectives were shared generously.

Over five days, students explored the enduring legacies of historical trauma through lectures, discussions, artistic engagement, and experiential learning. The course offered a robust curriculum centred on themes such as structural violence, intergenerational memory, ethical witnessing, and the possibilities of reparative justice. Faculty included Prof Pumla, Dr Anell Stacey Daries, Dr Wilhelm Verwoerd, and neurobiologist Professor Mays Imad, whose insights on trauma and healing were especially resonant.

Highlights of the week included excursions to the District Six Museum, the Slave Lodge, and the Iziko South African Museum, as well as participatory sessions on embodied memory and artistic representation. A performance-lecture by dancer and researcher Gratia Ilibagiza drew particular praise for demonstrating the potential of art to translate trauma into collective healing.

The course concluded with student presentations that reflected on the intellectual and emotional journey of the week. These moments of synthesis confirmed what many participants expressed informally: the course not only deepened their scholarly understanding but also challenged them to reconsider how knowledge, memory, and repair might be practised in their own contexts.

AVReQ is proud to have hosted this transformative learning experience and looks forward to continuing the Violent Histories series with an even broader community of scholars in future iterations.