SU celebrates African University Day

Stellenbosch University’s Postgraduate and International Office will be hosting a seminar on African Academic Networks in Action on Monday (14 November) in celebration of the annual African University Day.

It will take place at the Wallenberg Research Centre at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advance Study.

The theme of the seminar is The promise of thematic networks to raise academic capacity, stem brain drain, enhance research collaboration and support harmonisation of curricula and quality in African higher education.

African University Day, an initiative of the Association of African Universities, has been celebrated on 12 November since 2000. On this day, universities in Africa hold seminars, workshops and panel discussions with policy-makers and major stakeholders to confirm their responsibility to develop the continent.

Professor Russel Botman, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor, is the current Vice-President of this body, of which SU is a member.

Speakers at the seminar include professors Johan Groenewald and Hennie Kotzé of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at SU. They will be talking about the operations of SU’s Partnership for Africa’s Next Generation of Academics (PANGeA).

Ms Patricia Zweig, Project Coordinator of the Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DiMP), and Dr Mahefasoa Randrianalijaona of the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar, will share information about the Periperi U (Partners Enhancing Resilience to People Exposed to Risks) Project.

This project is a platform for a universities’ partnership to reduce disaster risks in Africa. It aims at building sustainable multi-tasking capabilities in this regard in 10 selected institutions of higher learning in Africa.

Other speakers at the seminar are Dr Christoff Pauw of SU’s Postgraduate and International Office and Mr John van Breda of the Centre for Transdisciplinarity, Sustainability, Assessment, Modelling and Analysis (TsamaHub). They will provide insight into TRECCAfrica, a programme for Transdisciplinary Training for Resource Efficiency and Climate Change Adaptation in Africa.

Professors Simon Bekker of SU’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and Gabriel Tati of the University of the Western Cape will talk about a joint research project on capital cities on the continent, steered by twelve experts from Africa.

At SU African University Day is hosted annually by the Postgraduate and International Office.

• Click here for a programme of the seminar and information regarding registration and attendance.