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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Our colleague Dr Este Kotze is spending a term at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, working on her research project 'Church and Charity: The Dutch Reformed Church and changing conceptions of poverty in South Africa'.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Friday was Doctoral Day when our PhD students present the fruits of their research. Prize for best presentation Emmanuel Phiri on women brewing beer in Zambia, runner up Tapiwa Vincent Mutasa on legislation surrounding sex work in Zimbabwe, and most expert chair, Brian Maregedze.

Tapiwa, Emmanuel and Brian with their prize certificates.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Do voters in African democracies prioritise the economy over rights & freedoms? Our colleague Dr Sishuwa told Al Jazeera that while hunger is a major factor, it is not the bedrock of their concerns. In Zambia's election, the spectrum of voters' needs is much wider than food. youtu.be/c2DCVP53vYY?...

youtu.be

What's at stake in Zambia's elections? | Inside Story

YouTube video by Al Jazeera English

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Reposted by Stellenbosch History Department

Justin Pearce @justinpearce.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I spoke to Radio France International, and let them use my photos, for an article about the South African government's plans to repatriate the mortal remains of fallen ANC liberation fighters in Angola. www.rfi.fr/fr/connaissa...

rfi.fr

Afrique du Sud: l’histoire méconnue des camps d'entraînement de l’ANC en Angola

L'Afrique du Sud lance une vaste opération de rapatriement des corps de militants anti-apartheid décédés en exil. Les équipes de recherche sud-africaines ont identifié 89 sépultures et près de 400 sit...

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Do voters in African democracies prioritise the economy over rights and freedoms? Discussing yesterday's election in #Zambia, colleague Sishuwa Sishuwa told Al Jazeera that while hunger is a major factor, it is not the bedrock of voters' concerns. x.com/ssishuwa/sta...

x.com

Sishuwa Sishuwa (@ssishuwa) on X

Here is the recorded version of my appearance on @AJEnglish earlier this evening, alongside economist and ZANACO Board chairman @saasaoliver and @ChathamHouse ’s Senior Research Fellow Christoper Vand...

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Reposted by Stellenbosch History Department

Justin Pearce @justinpearce.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Only in Zimbabwe do you see trees this colour. In Harare with the rest of the delegation from Stellenbosch to #SAHS2026

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Part of the History Department delegation on the way to the Southern African Historical Society Conference #SAHS2026 in Harare.

Lecturer and graduate students at O.R. Tambo International Airport.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Seminar tomorrow! teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi...

Preserving Cultural Heritage and the Challenge of AI.
Seminar by Dr Harriet Deacon of University of Hull, UK

Tuesday 10 February 13.00-14.00
Krotoa Building, Stellenbosch and online

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTIyNTcxYTYtOWRiMS00YzAxLTgxMTYtYzAyMTgyZDRjZjRk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22a6fa3b03-0a3c-4258-8433-a120dffcd348%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%226095f337-83b2-44dd-b6ea-e2bc7310beb4%22%7d

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

New publication by lecturer Dr Justin Pearce.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Graduation day for History Honours class of 2025 and some MA students too. Congratulations to all!

Stellenbosch University History graduands on the sports field after graduation.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Prof. Marcia Schenk (Potsdam University) spoke on her book Remembering African Labor Migration to the Second World: Socialist Mobilities between Angola, Mozambique, and East Germany. Using archives & interviews. the talk showed the human face of a forgotten episode. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

At today's seminar Dr Athambile Masola from UCT spoke on South African writer & activist Pumla Ngozwana, in particular her thinking in the 1930s on women's emancipation & how this can challenge how we can historicise theoretical & activist work about women’s liberation in Africa.

Dr Athambile Masola speaks in the Stellenbosch History Department.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Honours Day - when our Honours students present to the department the research that they have done during the year, and hone their arguments before handing in their dissertations two weeks from now.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

At this week's seminar Dr Esther Marie Pauw traced the 33000km journey of a German harmonium (a kind of small organ) owned by her family since 1908, reflecting on the materialities of an instrument that has accompanied intimate & public lives amid multiple relocations between Zambia & South Africa.

Dr Pauw with History Department students and staff

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

First departmental seminar of the semester: Prof. Grant Parker from Stanford University spoke about 'The bigness of monuments', comparing ideas about monumentality and commemoration from ancient times to the present - including both the Colossus of Rhodes and Cecil John Rhodes.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

#ecas2025 in Prague on Friday: @justinpearce.bsky.social co-organised a panel on the contested memory of liberation wars, & spoke with Daria Zelenova on Angolan & Soviet officers' narratives. MA student Natsai Masango spoke on missions & leprosy treatment in colonial #Zimbabwe.

Panel organisers Ana Santos and Justin Pearce with other participants

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Stellenbosch historians at European Conference on African Studies in Prague: Dr Chet Fransch on histories of sexual violence, MA student Jesse le Roux on LGBT Maties, Dr Thembi Dube on peacebuilding after Gukurahundi in #Zimbabwe, recent PhD Dr Jabulani Shaba on gendered political ecology of mining.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Two-part workshop at Warwick University today as part of our departmental collaboration. On the Cold War theme, lecturer @justinpearce.bsky.social . Online & on the environmental history theme, Prof. Sandra Swart @wildpasts.bsky.social & PhD students Eddington Maseya & Blessing Dhliwayo.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Applications for the Lisa Maskell PhD programme in History are now open for applicants from African countries. It is a prestigious 3-year, fully funded scholarship at Stellenbosch University, one of the continent's top universities. Deadline: 31 July arts.sun.ac.za/2025/05/28/l...

arts.sun.ac.za

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

As part of our collaboration with Warwick University in the UK, Prof. Daniel Branch spoke to students about research experience in Kenya: the need for humility, accepting no archive is perfect, recognising you'll never escape how your identity is seen, & finding personal amid political histories.

Prof. Daniel Branch speaking in the History Department.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

PhD students' seminar today: Nikiwe Veshe spoke on "Unequal hierarchies and the positioning of the bushmen & basters in South Africa's Gordonia district, 1900-1930"; Rumbidzai Chitaukire on "Experiences of Women in the Informal Economy during the Covid-19 pandemic & its aftermath in Zimbabwe".

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Congratulations to PhD student Emmanuel Phiri who was judged one of the top 3 speakers at the Faculty PhD colloquium. Phiri, photographed with the vice-deans, spoke on the topic of 'Brewing Defiance: Colonial State Policies and the Marginalization of Women on Zambia’s Urban Copperbelt, 1927-1939'.

Emmanuel Phiri (centre) with vice deans Taryn Bernard (left) and Stella Viljoen (right).

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

The Honours class enjoyed the annual weekend away in the mountains at Slanghoek - a chance to present and talk about the first drafts of their research proposals, to get to know one another and to enjoy the outdoors between the discussions.

The History Honours class and lecturers.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Today's event on 'Resistance & Restoration' was the first in a collaboration with Warwick University. From maties: PhD student Adson Samwel, Prof. Sandra Swart @wildpasts.bsky.social & Dr Samantha Masters. From Warwick: Prof. David Anderson, PhD student Ian Caistor-Parker & Prof. Daniel Branch.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Open Day this weekend - colleagues and graduate students were at the History Department table in the Arts and Social Sciences building to talk to prospective future students about why it's a great idea to study history.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Busy day: Prof. Patricia Hayes of @uwconline.bsky.social spoke to grad students on using photos as historical sources. Dr Ruhan Fourie @ruhanfourie.bsky.social spoke on “'Oorlog om die Volksiel!': Organised anticommunism & the mainstreaming of the rooi gevaar” with Dr Anell Daries as discussant.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

A packed room for the first seminar of the year: Dr Sishuwa presents a paper co-authored with @mininghistory '"I will get your shop shut": An Italian butcher, the vice-president's wife, and the fusion of the party and the state in early independent #Zambia.'

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Our 2025 Honours cohort today enjoyed an introduction to the Cape Archives, with a tour of the stacks and a demonstration of conservation techniques - before doing battle with 19th century handwriting in the reading room.

Students in the conservation section of the Cape Archives.

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Stellenbosch History Department @stellhistory.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Another academic year begins: orientation session for new Honours students followed by a catch-up for all our graduate students.

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