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Being Human
Relevance is key to UCT’s research-led culture. Whether information proves of practical
use to society at large depends on its frame – which is why all UCT research is framed
within a contemporary South African context that seeks to successfully contribute to
development and transformation in the country. Its strategy remains the identification
of those vital attributes necessary for sustaining a research practice that continues to
be globally competitive.
R
ecent investment by the university has focused
on a broader-based development of research
capacity with an emphasis on the humanities and
social sciences. This invigoration is particularly
relevant in light of the 2011 Academy of Science of
South Africa report
The Consensus Study on the State
of Humanities in South Africa,
and the
Charter for
Humanities and Social Sciences,
which pointed to a
worrying decline in the humanities and social sciences
across the country, a trend that UCT is bucking.
The emphasis on humanities and social sciences at UCT
has seen measurable growth in the area of research and
publications, despite relative stagnation in these areas
nationally.
This trend looks likely to continue, particularly as all
three DST/NRF South African Research Chairs awarded
in 2007 in the humanities were renewed in 2012. A
fourth Chair, held by Professor Carolyn Hamilton in
Archive and Public Culture Research Initiative, has
also performed strongly in its first five years and looks
set to be renewed in 2013. This Chair works closely
with other humanities-based research initiatives at the
university: the Centre for Curating the Archive, the
recently established Institute for Humanities in Africa
(HUMA) and the Gordon Institute for the Performing
and Creative Arts (GIPCA).
These units provide direct and valuable intellectual
support to a vibrant, thriving university research culture,
whether individually, in collaboration, or through
external partnerships. One such partnership extends
northward into Africa – the Tombo
UCT
ou Manuscripts
Project – led by Associate Professor Shamil Jeppie
of HUMA. Its initial focus was on the research and
translation of the Timbuktu Manuscripts in Mali, but it
has broadened to include writing cultures from other
parts of Africa.
UCT’s contribution to the humanities endeavours to move
beyond what is conventional. Just as the Michaelis School
of Fine Art, the School of Drama and the College of Music
create a rich and vibrant tapestry of work, so too the
global revival of religion that impacts all forms and levels
of individual and social life cannot be denied or ignored.
A study of religious discourse is crucial for understanding
modern religions, their sources of inspiration and their
underlying structures.
The Department of Religious Studies, headed by the DST/
NRF South African Research Chair in Islam, African Publics
and Religious Values, Professor Abdulkader Tayob, offers
an open and dynamic approach to the study of religion that
recognises the importance of creative and critical thinking
in a changing and culturally diverse South Africa.
Some credit can be claimed by the university for the
national revival of linguistics research with a programme
spearheaded by Professor Rajend Mesthrie of the DST/
NRF South African Research Chair in Migration, Language
and Social Change.
UCT’s active linguistics unit collaborates closely with
colleagues in the School of Education and the Centre
for Higher Education Development, along with the
linguistics department at the University of the Western
Cape. Sociolinguistics – described as one of the fastest-
growing strands of linguistics – focuses on language and
communication in society and social interaction. It carefully
analyses everyday encounters in order to understand larger
structures and processes like globalisation, inequality,
social creativity, and the formation and contestation of
identities. Its aim is to bring together empirical analysis
and social and linguistic theory, as well as socio-political
engagement.
The university recognises the importance of the humanities
to both intellectual endeavour and the shaping of society,
and remains committed to this sometimes undervalued
area of academics.
The emphasis on humanities
and social sciences has already
seen UCT demonstrating
measurable growth in the area of
research and publication despite
relative stagnation in these areas
nationally.