Africa Month events and other updates

Dear colleagues and students

The Africa Month public lecture which was scheduled for Thursday, 12 May 2022 has been rescheduled to Tuesday, 17 May 2022. The public lecture forms part of a series of events to be hosted by the university during the month. Read about this and other recent developments on campus.

1. Africa Day lecture rescheduled

The public lecture to be addressed by Minister Naledi Pandor, initially scheduled for Thursday, 12 May 2022, has regrettably been rescheduled.

The lecture, under the theme “Africa in 2063: Removing obstacles to prosperity”, will now take place on Tuesday, 17 May 2022 at the UCT GSB Conference Centre at 17:30 for 18:00 SAST.

It will be hosted jointly by the University of Cape Town, the Faculty of Humanities and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

• Register for the public lecture.

This lecture is part of a series of events to be held this month in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the African Union.

It will be followed by a public seminar, to be staged by the Faculty of Humanities and UCT’s Institute for Humanities in Africa in collaboration with DIRCO, on Wednesday, 18 May 2022. The seminar will be held under the theme “Pan Africanism in current times”. It will also take place at the UCT GSB Conference Centre at 17:30 for 18:00 SAST.

Further details on both events, including the speakers and registration link for the public seminar, will be shared in due course by the Faculty of Humanities and through other university communication channels.

The public lecture and the seminar form part of a several events to be hosted by the university and the Faculty of Humanities in May in celebrating Africa Month.

These include a two-part panel discussion centered around the theme “Language and music as agents of liberation and continental integration” scheduled for Thursday, 26 May 2022, at the Baxter Theatre, Lower Campus, from 10:00-16:00 SAST. It will be hosted by UCT in collaboration with the International Jazz Day South Africa (IJDSA).

The first panel discussion will focus on “The contemporary role of Kiswahili”, while the second is themed “Celebrating the legacy of Miriam Makeba”.

• Register to attend the panel discussion sessions.
• Read the recent VC Desk for more on UCT’s Africa Month commemoration events.

2. VC’s Inaugural Lecture: Professor Abimbola Windapo

Professor Abimbola Olukemi Windapo will present a virtual inaugural lecture on 18 May, titled “Building resilient foundations to prevent project failure: is there a formula for success?” The lecture will take place on the Microsoft Teams platforms at 18:00 SAST.

• Read the VC Desk: VC’s Inaugural Lecture: Professor Abimbola Windapo.
• Register online to attend the lecture.

3. Suggest a name for UCT’s New Learning Platform

In December last year, the university announced the adoption of a new digital learning platform, Brightspace from Desire2Learn, as part of shaping UCT’s digitally enabled learning and teaching environment to support student success.

In finding a unique UCT identity for Brightspace, students and staff are invited to suggest a name for the new digital learning platform.

Submissions need to be made by Monday, 16 May 2022.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, will choose the new name from a shortlist of proposed names submitted.

• Submit your recommendation.

4. ICTS scheduled maintenance

Please note that on Sunday, 15 May, the Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) department will carry out scheduled maintenance from 09:00 to 17:00. All ICT services other than UCT email and other Microsoft 365 services will be unavailable for the duration of the maintenance slot. Please remember to consult the scheduled ICTS maintenance slots before planning any teaching, conferences, meetings, etc that require ICT services. For more information, see an article on why ICTS schedules regular monthly maintenance slots.

Communication and Marketing Department

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements