SARAH BAARTMAN 2022 SENIOR FELLOW
SARAH BAARTMAN 2022 SENIOR FELLOW
SAN & KHOI CENTRE
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
CLOSING DATE: 05 APRIL 2022
The San and Khoi Centre seeks to appoint a research fellow to honour the life and legacy of Sarah Baartman (c.1789 – 1815) as symbolic of feminist restorative justice and transformation in higher education in South Africa. The establishment of the fellowship by the university’s research office is a direct response to meet the agreement made with communities in the endorsement of the naming of Sarah Baartman Hall in 2018.
1) Background:
The University of Cape Town is situated on land below Huri ÇOaxa (the Mountain rising out the Sea) which was once home to the Khoi and San. The story of Khoe woman Sarah Baartman, and the fate she suffered at the hands of 19th century colonial violence, is well known globally. However, indigenous decolonial scholarship on the San and Khoe is emergent. The launch of the San and Khoi Centre by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town in September 2020 is therefore of national significance for research and knowledge production on indigenous feminist epistemologies in honour of the life of Sarah Baartman and what it represents for decolonization. UCT’s Sarah Baartman Hall (graduation hall), formerly the Jameson Hall, was renamed two years ago to acknowledge this history. This process was led by the A/XARRA Restorative Justice Forum, a community knowledge partnership with the university.
It is the vision of the San and Khoi Centre to become the foremost research centre of its kind in southern Africa, producing research of international standing and developing bespoke feminist African philosophies and epistemologies through socially engaged research partnerships in San and Khoi studies. It is also in the process of developing a San and Khoi digital archive based on South African indigenous minoritized languages, and related deep (particularly feminist) landscape knowledges that still reside with communities.
The establishment of the new centre is also in step with UCT’s new institutional strategy, Vision 2030, with transformation and enhancing human capacity at its core. This new centre will become a permanent feature at UCT with a regular celebratory public arts and culture programme, including the hosting of exhibitions, ritual programmes, webinars, conferences, seminars, and a host of other diverse cultural events.
Criteria:
A senior internationally renowned scholar
A PhD in a related field of study
A veritable track record of socially engaged indigenous feminist research
Value of the Fellowship:
R200 000 for a period of three months which includes the stipend, accommodation, and travel costs.
Conditions of the Award:
The successful candidate has to –
be based for the duration of the fellowship at the San and Khoi Centre
comply with UCT-approved policies, procedures and practices
produce peer reviewed research of international standing in journals r a dedicated book
hold a research seminar / deliver a public talk within the faculty
contribute to profiling the research outputs of the centre and faculty on the composite interdisciplinary research themes of Sarah Baartman respective to their scholarship expertise
mentor a younger cohort of high achieving female scholars or a dedicated peer reviewed book publication.
To Apply:
Applicants should submit in a single combined pdf:
(1) a motivation letter;
(2) a two-page research concept note;
(3) CV with complete list of publications; and
(4) two testimonials
Please submit per email to Shamila.Abrahams@uct.ac.za
Closing Date:
05 April 2022