The Faculty of Humanities 2016 Ad Hominem group Front row (L-R):  Dr. Ruth de Oliveira; Professor Francis Petersen (UCT Deputy Vice Chancellor), Professor Sakhela Buhlungu (Dean, Faculty of Humanities); Dr. Max Price (UCT Vice Chancellor) and Dr Salma Ismail. Back Row (L-R):  Patrick Tikolo; Professor Rebekka Sandmeier; Professor Imraan Coovadia; Kurt Campbell; Carine Zaayman; Professor Ana Deumert and Dr. Pasquale Macaluso.

15 academics from the Faculty of Humanities have received Ad Hominem promotions in 2016. Their achievements were celebrated at a cocktail event held at the University of Cape Town on 19 April. UCT Vice Chancellor Dr. Max Price hosted the cocktail event.

Ad Hominem promotions apply to academic members of staff at the University of Cape Town. They were first hosted at UCT in 2006. Some of the criteria used to assess applicants include: teaching, learning, leadership, management, administration, social responsiveness and research output. In the Faculty of Humanities, the following members of academic staff were promoted to the rank of full Professor: Imraan Coovadia; Ana Deumert; Rebekka Sandmeier; Mastin Prinsloo and Xolela Mangcu. New Associate Professors are:  Hermon Chitonge; Salma Ismail and Lauren Wild. The following academics werepromoted to the rank of senior lecturer: Kurt Campbell; Dr. Ruth De Oliveira; Dr. Pasquale Macaluso; Patrick Tikolo; Carine Zaayman; Dr. Siona O’Connell and Amanda Tiffin.

Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, says that he is particularly pleased with the number of new full professors in 2016 as well as the overall diversity of the humanities cohort. “This year we delivered a much larger number of full professors than in the previous cycle. This is gratifying because it means that as we lose seniority through retirement, we are steadily growing a new generation of senior academics from the ground up. I am also pleased to see a very diverse Humanities cohort this year, which was comprised of white; black and international academics. It’s a healthy balance and indicates that we are building excellence across the board,” he said.