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.

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.

#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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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".

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'.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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.

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