Stellenbosch University: Stellenbosch University Museum hosts conference, Ubuntu Dialogues- Revisit. Rethink. Reimagine

Ubuntu in conversation with social justice, feminism, and Ubuntu and the politics of knowledge production are three themes to be explored at the Ubuntu Dialogues Revisit. Rethink. Reimagine conference hosted by the Stellenbosch University Museum from Monday, 24 October to Friday 28 October.

Professor Kopano Ratele of Stellenbosch University will kick off the conference on Tuesday, October 25 with the session My Story, Your Story, Our Story – What Does Ubuntu Look Like Where You Come From? On Wednesday, October 26th, Professor Louise du Toit of Stellenbosch University will speak about Ubuntu’s conversation with feminism, and on Thursday, October 27th, Professor Yusef Waghid will speak about The Politics of Knowledge Production – revisiting, rethinking, and reimagining societies and ourselves.

Marietjie Oelofsen, project manager of the Ubuntu Dialogue Project at Stellenbosch University, explained that the conference will delve deeper into some of the project’s initial goals, which include a commitment to a cross-continental conversation that reimagines the nature and practices of Ubuntu and dialogue itself, while drawing creatively on multiple philosophical traditions that are not limited to a single continent or moment in history.

The Ubuntu Dialogues Project has hosted conversations and seminars for 30 students and 24 young and emerging academics over the past three years. This conference will bring students and academics together with new scholarly voices and practitioners working in the fields of museums, archives, and conversational spaces to reflect on what they have learned about Ubuntu and dialogue, what they are still struggling with, and what promise dialogue and Ubuntu hold for the future.