A human skull on display in Berlin in 2018. Germany handed back human remains seized during the Namibia genocide from 1904 to 1908.
EPA-EFE/Hayoung Jeon
Khanya College’s curriculum was quite different from the one taught at other universities of the time. Its students studied oral African literature and history alongside Western literature.
It’s time for students to see Africa differently.
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A global approach to African history complements the radical post-colonial histories, while also asserting the role of the continent in the world’s global pasts and present.
Thatcher meets Mandela after his release in 1990.
Mike Stephens/PA
More than two decades after apartheid ended, South African universities still tend to offer a view of the country and continent that is rooted in colonial and apartheid thinking.
Spines don’t stop animals from browsing, but slow down their feeding rates.
Gareth Hempson
Fire has been viewed as the main protagonist in creating Africa’s iconic savannas. However, new research shows that browsing animals created savannas millions of years before fire became important.
Ancient fermentation techniques are an example of African chemistry in action.
James Akena/Reuters
Knowledge is power. If you own it, you can control those without it. Since so much knowledge about Africa doesn’t sit on the continent, it’s apparent that Africa lacks power in this regard.
What is the best way to return ‘Africa’ to African Studies?
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Modern techniques such as CT scanning and ancient DNA analysis have allowed scientists to discover a great deal about a mummy found in a shallow grave in Botswana.
A baobab in Tete Province, Mozambique.
Christian Kull
Why are African baobab trees found in India? Genetic research is starting to shed light on the answer.
A bust of Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid. Verwoerd believed that black people should know their place – and that included staying away from ‘white’ jobs.
Juda Ngwenya/Reuters
Vocational training is regarded as “low status” in South Africa. Much of the negativity around technical and vocational work seems to lie in the country’s history.
A scene from the film ‘The Vow’, which is being shown at the Africa World Documentary Film Festival that aims to depict African stories through documentary.
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Cape Town’s screening of the Africa World Documentary Film Festival provides a platform for debate, and shows how documentary films clarify and complicate the answers.
A sailor walking among African captives in the hold of a slave ship. From the book Revelations of a Slave Smuggler published in 1860.
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The Portuguese slave ship São José, which sank off Cape Town, was one of many vessels that either rounded the Cape or pulled into Table Bay for refreshment during the Transatlantic slave trade.