HUMA Director Divine Fuh appointed to head Anthropology at UCT
Divine Fuh, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology and Director of HUMA – Institute for Humanities in Africa at the University of Cape Town (UCT), has been appointed Head of the Department of Social Anthropology. This is a five-year term from 01 January 2025 until 31 December 2029.
"Associate Professor Divine Fuh is ideally positioned to lead the Department of Anthropology, bringing exceptional resourcefulness, vision, and networking skills honed through his leadership roles as Director of HUMA and, prior to that, as Head of Publications at CODESRIA," says Francis Nyamnjoh, Professor of Anthropology at UCT. "His impressive accomplishments inspire the entire Anthropology Department. My colleagues and I are eager to draw on his expertise and bold vision to further elevate anthropology at UCT and across the continent."
Divine Fuh was previously Director of the Publications and Dissemination Programme at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) 2017–2019. He has been a visiting fellow at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies in Berlin (ZMO) and a guest at the African Studies Centre in Leiden. He is the Founding Managing Editor of Langaa Research and Publishing, current Co-Chair of the Global Africa Group (GAG) of the World Universities Council (WUN) and the Vice President of the African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA).
I am delighted that Associate Professor Divine Fuh has accepted to serve as Head of Department of Anthropology from 1 January 2025. His commitment to advancing UCT's Vision 2030 and driving a pan-African focus has benefited HUMA and the faculty immensely, and I have no doubt that he will bring the same energy and commitment to leading the Department. Congratulations to Divine on this appointment! I look forward to working with him in his new role.
Prof. Shose Kessi, Dean of Humanities, University of Cape Town
Divine Fuh brings more than two decades of experience in research, leadership and mentorship to the Social Anthropology Department at The University of Cape Town. As Director of HUMA – Institute for Humanities in Africa since 2020, he has successfully fundraised for the support of junior and senior researchers as well as postgraduate students. He has successfully led an intellectual project that seeks to question what it means to be human in Africa, and in the world, driven by decolonial, feminist and southern epistemologies.
Divine Fuh joined the University of Cape Town in 2012 from the University of Basel. There, he was Researcher in the Chair for Research and Methodology at the Institute for Sociology. He has taught at the Universities of Basel, Cape Town, Western Cape, and Stellenbosch and has been a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Brasilia, Tokyo, and Gaston Berger. His research focuses on the politics of suffering and smiling, particularly on how urban youth seek ways of smiling in the midst of their suffering. He has conducted research in Botswana, Cameroon, Senegal and South Africa. His current work focuses on the political economy of Pan-African knowledge production and on AI and the ethics of care in Africa. He was trained at the Universities of Buea in Cameroon (BSc Hons), Botswana in Gaborone (MA), and Basel in Switzerland (PhD).
On his appointment, Divine Fuh says, "I take anthropology seriously. I have always looked to a time in which we can centre both Africa and the Decolonial project in re-imagining the discipline. I am looking forward to bringing the world to the continent for anthropology, and to centering anthropology in the decolonial project. I want the world to come to UCT, and to anthropology, to think with Africa from UCT, through UCT, and in connection with other programs around the world."
"The news about Divine's appointment is exciting. I am looking forward to seeing where he takes the department," says Fanidh Sanogo, Doctoral Research Fellow at HUMA.
As the HUMA team, we would like to warmly congratulate our wonderful director on his appointment.