Seven inaugural lectures to be held in October

Dear colleagues and students

As we head towards the end of yet another busy academic year, I am delighted to announce another round of stimulating academic activity in the form of seven lectures to be held in October 2024 as part of the University of Cape Town (UCT) Inaugural Lecture series. This is the highest number of inaugural lectures we have held in a single month since the resumption of the series in 2023 following a break during the COVID-19 pandemic.

True to the UCT culture, these lectures are an important part of the academic project as they commemorate our academics’ appointments to full professorship. They also provide a platform for professors appointed in the preceding five years to present the body of research that they have been focusing on during their careers. These presentations provide us an opportunity to showcase our academics and share our research with members of the wider university community and the general public in an accessible way.

The lectures will be delivered by Professor Amanda Weltman on 8 October; Professor Eftychia Nikolaidou on 10 October; Professor Sandra Young on 16 October; Professor Marcello Vichi on 21 October; Professor Megan Becker on 22 October; Professor Jay Pather on 23 October; and Professor Sudesh Sivarasu on 24 October.

Professor Amanda Weltman (Faculty of Science)

Professor Amanda Weltman’s lecture, titled “From the laboratory to the sky: New windows on the Universe”, will be held at 17:00 SAST on Tuesday, 8 October at M304, Maths Block, on upper campus.

Join Professor Weltman on a journey through the cosmos at this lecture. The journey will move from the tiniest vibrating strings to the great expanse of the Universe at large, exploring how to build theories and test them in varied environments and at all scales. In so doing, you will get a crash course on our current understanding of the large-scale picture of the universe and everything in it, while exposing the ever-greater crises facing Cosmology today.

You will learn about chameleon gravity, a novel theory of gravity she developed as a PhD student, and the many efforts in the intervening years to discover its effects in the laboratory and through astrophysical observations.

Professor Weltman is a theoretical physicist in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, specialising in connections between theoretical cosmology, astrophysics and fundamental physics. She is renowned for proposing and developing chameleon gravity, an innovative theory of gravity that makes novel predictions and explains dark energy consistent with all observations.

Professor Weltman received her PhD on cosmological moduli dynamics from Columbia University in 2007 under Professor Brian Greene. She was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Theoretical Cosmology, led by Professor Stephen Hawking, and took up the position of lecturer at UCT in 2007.

Her research has earned significant recognition, amassing over 10 000 citations and resulting in numerous accolades, including the Meiring Naude Medal from the RSSA and the Silver Jubilee medal from the SAIP. She has held the South African Research Chair in Physical Cosmology since 2016, and currently serves as the head of the High Energy Physics, Cosmology & Astrophysics Theory Group, which she established in 2019. She was promoted to full professor in 2020.

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Professor Eftychia Nikolaidou (Faculty of Commerce)

Professor Eftychia Nikolaidou will present her lecture, titled “Defence spending: Drivers and economic effects”, at the School of Economics Seminar Room on Level 4, School of Economics Building, middle campus, on Thursday, 10 October at 17:00 SAST.

In her research, Professor Nikolaidou attempts to answer the following research questions: What are the economic effects of defence spending? How does military expenditure affect public debt? What are the political, economic and strategic determinants of military spending? Can high military spending by countries that do not face security concerns be justified on economic grounds? Her work in this area has sought to contribute to and influence the ongoing debate on the links between military spending, public debt and economic growth both in developed and developing economies.

Professor Nikolaidou has an international reputation in the defence and peace economics area, with a number of contributions in this field over the last 25 years. She has also developed her research in the area of banking and finance. She serves as a member of the editorial board of Defence and Peace Economics and the Economics of Peace and Security Journal; and is a member of the US non-for-profit organisation “Economists for Peace and Security”.

Her journey in the defence and peace economics field started when she was a graduate student in London. She was fascinated by the discussions around the secrecy and corruption that surrounds military spending. While world military spending is an important part of government spending, its economic effects have received relatively little attention. Being born and raised in Greece, she was always puzzled by the appreciable amount of defence spending allocated by her country in order to “deal with the Turkish threat”. Defence spending is usually justified on the basis of security concerns, but many times, security concerns are exaggerated to justify high defence budgets while countries face important developmental issues. Professor Nikolaidou decided to look into the drivers and economic effects of such spending during her PhD. This was the start of her journey into this niche area of economics.

Professor Nikolaidou is professor of economics at the UCT School of Economics (SoE) and the current director of the SoE. She teaches macroeconomics and banking and finance-related courses; and her research is focused on the economics of security, the determinants and economic effects of public debt, banking crises and financial development and growth.

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Professor Sandra Young (Faculty of Humanities)

Professor Sandra Young will present her lecture, “Exploring the literary imagination in times of reckoning: What might Shakespeare have to do with social justice today?” at the LT1 Auditorium, Neville Alexander Building, School of Education on lower campus on Wednesday, 16 October at 17:30 SAST.

How do works of the imagination help us to reckon with difficult histories, in a world that continues to feel the impact of centuries of unjust social structures? This is the challenge Saidiya Hartman confronts when, writing about the lives of the enslaved, she asks: “What are the stories one tells in dark times?” The question pertains to the writing of history, as well as creative practice, and has challenging implications for literary studies, which some regard as an elitist pursuit. But the discipline is well placed to analyse how cultural practices can secure the interests of the powerful, or challenge them. Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a play that gives pointed attention to slavery and colonisation, offers a rewarding case study, showing theatre practice as a context for reckoning with injustice. Given the play’s wildly different interpretations historically, archival research tells a fascinating story: before abolition, Shakespeare’s version was almost never performed. It was replaced with a series of adaptations that shifted the emphasis so significantly that enslaved characters were not treated as humans whose plight deserves attention. But later independence movements wrought radical changes, and contemporary artists continue to reimagine the play to address the concerns of a new generation.

Professor Young is professor of English Literary Studies. Her scholarship pursues questions of social justice in works both imaginative and historical. Her most recent book, Shakespeare in the Global South: Stories of Oceans Crossed in Contemporary Adaptation, examines how theatre practitioners reimagine Shakespeare’s works to tell new stories of dispossession, struggle and survival. Her first book, The Early Modern Global South in Print, traces the emergence of a racialised ‘South’ in early modern maps, geographies, and natural histories. Her current book project began while a fellow at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. A performance history of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the study reflects on the spectre of slavery within public culture, from 1660 until today.

Her research is also concerned with contemporary cultures of memory and activism, as explored in her book project, An Intimate Archive: The Work of Public Remembrance in the Wake of Apartheid and a forthcoming co-edited special issue of Interventions: International Journal of Post-Colonialism on ‘Feminism/Memory/Activism: Local Movements, Transnational Solidarities’.

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Professor Marcello Vichi (Faculty of Science)

Titled “Fifty degrees of separation: Why Antarctica and the polar regions matter for Afrika”, Professor Marcello Vichi’s lecture will take place on Monday, 21 October at Hahn 2, First Floor, PD Hahn Building on upper campus at 17:00 SAST.

Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are remote and separate entities from Afrika. Very few people are aware that South Africa is one of the first signatories of the Antarctic Treaty, and that Cape Town is one of the five gateways through which expeditions depart for Antarctica. Polar regions are major climate regulators, and the Southern Ocean is an essential component to absorb the excess heat and carbon accumulated in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, hence reducing the adverse effects of climate change.

This lecture will take us through a journey toward the sea ice and the continental Antarctic ice sheets. Along the way, it will explain why these components of the Earth system matter for our livelihood, and why Afrika must become a relevant actor in polar sciences.

Professor Vichi is professor in the Department of Oceanography and director of the Marine and Antarctic Research Centre for Innovation and Sustainability. His research interests are linked to interdisciplinary earth system processes, embracing coupled physical-biogeochemical modelling of the global ocean; observations, simulation and parameterisation of sea-ice dynamics and biogeochemistry; Antarctic policies and infrastructures; climate change impacts on marine and sea-ice ecosystems; and interdisciplinary process studies in coastal and shelf seas. He was chief scientist on three scientific expeditions of the icebreaker SA Agulhas II in the winter Antarctic sea ice. He is a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa.

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Professor Megan Becker (Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment)

Under the title “Why minerals matter – the role of mineralogy in the pursuit of sustainability”, Professor Megan Becker’s lecture will be held at Snape Teaching Studio 3B, Snape Building on upper campus on Tuesday, 22 October at 17:15 SAST.

Connect the words ‘mining’ and ‘sustainability’ and one questions how extracting minerals from Earth’s finite resources can lead to sustainability and more so, given the legacy of mining in South Africa. Yet, our future society depends on the valuable metals extracted from these minerals, particularly in the generation of all forms of renewable energy.

Professor Becker will showcase examples of her research, demonstrating how fundamental knowledge of the mineralogical characteristics of materials informs the requirements for the recovery of value, highlights the need for innovation, the risk potential of the material and opportunities for functionalising mine waste. Case study examples from platinum, gold and base metals mining will be used to illustrate these concepts.

Professor Becker has been working in the field of process mineralogy for close to 20 years since she joined the Centre for Minerals Research as a graduate in geological sciences with the mandate to integrate mineralogy into the centre’s research activities. Highlights during this time include her application of mineralogy in projects extending from the geology of ore deposits, their separation and upgrading to valuable concentrates, extraction of valuable metals, environmental impacts and more recently, how she can use this mineralogical knowledge to valorise mine and mineral processing waste. In 2018, she was featured as one of the top 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining.

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Professor Jay Pather (Faculty of Humanities)

Professor Jay Pather will present his lecture, “Shifting spaces, tilting time: art and art education in a society that aches for transformation”, at the Hiddingh Hall, on Hiddingh Campus, on Wednesday, 23 October at 17:30 SAST.

How do artists take on the complexities of political and economic transformation? Without indulging in easy representation of the abject, how do artists grapple with the depths, expanse and nuance of emotion in a society that is so slow to transform?  Further, how do artists work with the site of the artwork, ensuring that the colonial inheritance of exclusivity and access to art are troubled and dismantled? In this lecture, Professor Pather explores these questions – drawing from his performance research, speaking to how this work considers the velocity of change as well as in many instances, inertia and stasis and its manifestation in performance for multiple publics.

Professor Pather also addresses art education in the academy as needing to be courageous, transgressive, interdisciplinary, collaborative and generative and not simply obedient to narrow disciplinary silos, a meticulously preserved inheritance from the colonial, insular conservatoire.

Professor Pather is a curator, choreographer and an academic. He is a professor at UCT, where he directs the Institute for Creative Arts (ICA). He curates Infecting the City and the ICA Live Art Festivals in Cape Town and Afrovibes in several cities in the Netherlands. He has co-curated for the French Season Africa 2020/21 and Spier Light Art, Stellenbosch. His choreographic work includes re-imagining Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps. Recently, he directed Nadia Davids’ What Remains and Hold Still. His publications include articles in Changing Metropolis, Rogue Urbanism, Performing Cities, Where Strangers Meet, and a book he edited titled Acts of Transgression: Contemporary Live Art in South Africa. He has served as juror for the International Award for Public Art, as board member of the National Arts Festival of South Africa, on the TURN Fonds Jury and was recently made Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

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Professor Sudesh Sivarasu (Faculty of Health Sciences)

Professor Sudesh Sivarasu’s lecture, “Engineering tomorrow's medical devices for Africa's unique needs”, will be held at the New Learning Centre Lecture Theatre, Anatomy Building, Health Sciences Campus on Thursday, 24 October at 17:30 SAST.

The lecture will explore the pioneering frontiers of biomedical engineering tailored to Africa's distinct healthcare landscape. Professor Sivarasu will address the challenges and opportunities presented in developing healthcare technologies specifically suited for low-resource environments in Africa. The lecture will feature Professor Sivarasu's innovative Frugal Biodesign™ methodology, which focuses on designing accessible, affordable and contextually appropriate medical devices. His methodology has gained recognition for revolutionising medical technology development in resource-constrained settings. Drawing on his extensive body of work, including a substantial portfolio of patent applications and numerous peer-reviewed publications, Professor Sivarasu will demonstrate the journey from conceptualisation to the real-world implementation of these technologies.

In addition, the lecture will share insights into the successful commercialisation of biomedical innovations and four startup companies, including open-source medical technologies currently deployed in 16 countries. The lecture will also underscore the vital role of biomedical engineering in pandemic preparedness, highlighting Professor Sivarasu's significant contributions to the South African National Ventilator Project during the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of ventilation technologies that hold promise for future public health emergencies.

Looking ahead, Professor Sivarasu will discuss emerging trends in healthcare technology across the African continent and reflect on the potential for young innovators to contribute to this dynamic and evolving field. In addition, the lecture will emphasise the transformative impact of biomedical engineering in improving healthcare delivery across Africa, with the potential to save millions of lives. This lecture promises to merge engineering innovation with Africa's pressing healthcare needs, offering a forward-looking vision for a technologically empowered and healthier continent.

Professor Sivarasu holds the DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Biomedical Engineering & Innovation and is the Director of UCT’s Biomedical Engineering Research Centre. A professor of biomedical engineering at UCT’s Department of Human Biology, he has established award-winning labs under UCT MedTech, producing ground-breaking medical technologies. He has supervised over 85 students in their post-graduate academic journey. Professor Sivarasu has an extensive patent portfolio with over 67 patent applications across various countries, and his innovation has led to the launch of four start-up companies from UCT's MedTech laboratories and several open-source innovations used in over 16 countries. He leads the efforts on medical devices for future pandemics within the recently formed National Institute for Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention (NIP3). Professor Sivarasu is an accomplished author with over 125 peer-reviewed publications and has received numerous awards, including the UCT Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Innovation, NSTF TW Khambule Award and 22 other awards in four different continents. He is an elected member of the Global Young Academy (GYA) and South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS), to which he served on the Exco and as a Co-Chair. Professor Sivarasu edited the textbook titled Medical Device Innovation for Africa.

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Don’t miss the chance to be inspired by our professors as they present groundbreaking work that highlights the brilliance, diversity and passion that define UCT’s academic excellence. Join us in celebrating this milestone.

Sincerely

Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor

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