Public Lecture and engagement with Professor Hans van Delden

Save the date for this public lecture and engagement with renowned Professor.

Professor Hans van Delden has served as the President of the CIOMS (Council of International Organisations of Medical Sciences) and the Chair of the Workgroup for the 2016 CIOMS Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research. He also served as the Chair of the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO. van Delden is a Professor of Medical Ethics at the University Medical Centre of Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

We look forward to your participation as we explore the frontiers of safeguarding research
participants with the application of research ethics principles from the latest CIOMS Guidelines.

The activity will be CPD accredited.

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Welcome Day 2024

WITS WELCOME DAY 2024

When: Sunday, 28 January 2023
Where: Braamfontein Campus West DIG Fields
Start time: 09:00am for 10:00am
Enquiries: events@wits.ac.za

Congratulations! You are now a Witsie for life...

FIRST YEARS ONLY!

Wits University invites you and your parents/guardians to attend Welcome Day, at which first-year student
will be addressed by the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi FRS, and others.
Limited seating capacity is available (max 2 guests per student).

Faculties and a few support departments will be available to answer any questions you may have.

There will be entertainment available and food stalls where refreshments can be purchased.

Please arrive early to secure parking and avoid traffic congestion at the gates.
You are welcome to use e-hailing services.

The event will be live-streamed via the Wits University YouTube page

We look forward to welcoming you to your campus.

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Pitso Ya Kalaneng Student Festival

The Wits Theatre complex opens its doors to the Pitso Ya Kalaneng (A Call to the Theatre) Festival.

This is a relaunch of its annual Orientation Week Festival, this student-centred festival programme, initiated by Wits Theatre staff, seeks to facilitate collaboration and creative exchange within the Wits School of Arts and with other performing arts institutions in the Gauteng province. Tickets are available on Webtickets.

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Health, Aging and Dementias in South Africa

The event will present Health and Ageing in Africa: Longitudinal Studies in South Africa (HAALSA).

The Study highlights the latest research from the HAALSI community study in Agincourt, as well as forthcoming national expansions. The HAALSA groundbreaking initiative takes a ‘whole of society approach’ to address vital issues as populations age in African contexts: cognitive health and dementias; HIV/AIDS and treatment; chronic non-communicable diseases and multimorbidity; public policies; social and environmental determinants of health; and health inequalities. These have profound implications for the productivity and well-being of individuals, their families and society. Findings can inform health and development policies to achieve better outcomes for those ageing in South Africa and beyond. The showcase takes place on Tuesday, 6 February, from 13:30 to 17:30, at the Wits Club, Braamfontein Campus West, Wits University. 

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Wits Seabrooke Concerts

The Wits Seabrooke Concerts offer you performances by leading South African and international musicians in a world-class acoustic.

The 2024 season starts with a concert by English violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck with South African pianist Peter Cartwright. These musicians have performed together at numerous venues across South Africa and more recently in England. Their most recent concert was praised as “sincere and accomplished” in Seen and Heard International.

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Beyond Disposal: Toward a Circular Economy for Batteries

Speaker: Léandre Berwa (Co-founder and CEO: SLS Energy, Kigali, Rwanda)

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Breathing In: Air and Atmospheres by Uhuru Phalafala

WISER is very pleased to host the Wits Interdisciplinary Seminar in the Humanities.

My grandfather is dead

he was vomiting blood, my mother says

lungs contaminated by history

brimming full with mine dust.

These are the opening lines of the epic poem Mine Mine Mine (2023), a personal narration of my family’s experience of the migrant labour system brought on by the gold mining industry in Johannesburg, South Africa. Using geopoetics to map geopolitics, it maps scales of catastrophic environments, or ecologies of crisis, from my grandfather’s lungs to colonial capitalist sites of Black breathlessness. The epic poem reveals how the extraction of natural resources from the body of earth is contingent upon the extraction of the Black body from the body of humanity. In this session I think through the process of writing Mine Mine Mine, which I view as existing within the black feminist tradition of imagining, ‘making’ and ‘doing’ against the commodification of humans and earth. I work from ‘an elsewhere’ – from Southern African cosmologies which rupture the logics and limits of New Worlding cosmology – from which I refuse the terms of wreckage, detritus, and ruin by experimenting with poetics of aliveness, possibility, communion, and futurity.

Uhuru Phalafala (PhD) is preoccupied with practices and poetics of be-ing together with ancestors, the land, plants and animals, cosmos and waters. This protracted contemplation has thus far produced essays, zines, a sonic documentary, poetry, poetico-mentary, and a turn to deep listening as embodied method. She is the author of Mine Mine Mine (2023) and Keorapetse Kgositsile & the Black Arts Movement: Poetics of Possibility (2024), and is a senior lecturer in the English department at Stellenbosch University.

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Reconfiguring Racial Capitalism: South Africa in the Chinese Century

WiSER invites you to a hybrid book discussion on Reconfiguring Racial Capitalism: South Africa in the Chinese Century

Since the turn of the millennium, the return of the People’s Republic of China to the African continent has been framed as a neocolonial scramble or revival of south-south cooperation. An ethnography of Chinese capitalist projects in Johannesburg, Reconfiguring Racial Capitalism: South Africa in the Chinese Century recasts these relations of power as racial capitalism in a global moment of Chinese ascendance. The book draws on historical analysis and ethnographic research sited at a Chinese wholesale mall along Johannesburg’s old gold mining belt to offer a palimpsestic method for reading the colonial present. It argues that Chinese migrants act within global structures of white supremacy, anti-Blackness, capitalism, and colonialism that they did not create but perpetuate. The incorporation of Chinese from margins to center expands and fortifies racial capitalism and empire while urging a deprovincialization of critical terms based in Euro-American contexts. The book offers an ethnographic analysis of “Chinese capitalism” as racial capitalism, while also engaging South African theorizations of racial capitalism. A study of Chinese racial formations, it explores the emergence of racial and imperial forms “after whiteness.”

Mingwei Huang is an assistant professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH and former research affiliate with the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa at Wits. Her first book Reconfiguring Racial Capitalism: South Africa in the Chinese Century, is coming out with Duke University Press in October 2024. She has published in Scholar & Feminist Online, Radical History Review, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Public Culture, Verge, and Made In China, as well as edited volumes Anxious Joburg: Space, Affect, and Experience in a Global South City (Wits University Press/NYU Press, 2020) and New World Orderings: China and the Global South (Duke University Press, 2022).

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Carlo Mombelli and the Prisoners of Strange

The Wits Seabrooke Concerts offer you performances by leading South African and international musicians in a world-class acoustic.

This concert features Mombelli’s project, ‘The Prisoners of Strange’ with the powerful voice of Siya Makuzeni, Marcus Wyatt on horns, Justin Badenhorst on drums, & the composer/bassist, Mombelli.

Between them they have toured the world, performed on some of the greatest international festivals, recorded with some of the greatest legends in the South African as well as international music scene, and their album ‘Theory’ is still as fresh & innovative as the day it came.

Bassist Carlo Mombelli is something of a sage figure. He remains one of the most restlessly creative forces in South African jazz - All about JAZZ (New York).

Carlo’s music has been described in the press as: Hauntingly beautiful - BBC London.

It is music of outrageous, almost scandalous beauty - Die Weltwoche Switzerland.

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Evolution: Classical Philosophy Meets Quantum Science.

Official Book Launch of Evolution: Classical Philosophy Meets Quantum Science by Professor Somnath Bhattacharyya.

The book reconceptualises the ancient philosophy of ‘dualism’ and a ‘trinity’ applied to classical and quantum nonequilibrium phenomena. In addition to classical mechanics and electrodynamics, a remarkable connection of this philosophy with quantum mechanics is established, which can be useful for quantum computing and the development of quantum artificial intelligence.

Packed with the recent theoretical models, quantum simulations of black holes, and experimental observations of quantum phase transitions, this book brings a holistic approach that can be useful in refining the concept of the ‘Creation’, i.e., the evo- lution of the Universe from the condensed state of matter, and in explaining the artificial vision.

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Is the Funding Squeeze Ending?

The seminar is presented by Mr Abebe Selassie, Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Wits School of Economics and Finance (SEF) will host the Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to present a seminar. 

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Lecture with Professor Loretta Baldassar

Transnational Family Care: from social death to digital kinning over a century of Australian migration

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Transnational Families in Africa: Migrants and the Role of Information Communication Technologies

This book capture the stories of transnational African families and their use of digital media in mediating their experiences of migration.

Through the lens of a unique interdisciplinary collaboration - psychology, migration and social studies - this book addresses an important gap in transnational family studies by highlighting the opportunities and challenges of migration, care and digital connection from African perspectives. Transnational Families in Africa analyses the highs and lows of family separation as a result of migration in three contexts: migration within South Africa from rural to urban areas; migration from other African countries into South Africa; It provides a ground-breaking contribution to global debates on migration from the Global South. 
You can find more info and the content listing of the book here.

Professor Ingrid Palmary (University of Johannesburg) will be the guest speaker and discussant with the editors of this book, Prof Maria Marchetti-Mercer, Prof Leslie Swartz and Prof Loretta Baldassar, together with some of the contributors.

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Television is Dead. Long Live Television

This lecture will explore the dynamic landscape of television in the multimedia era.

The lecture features esteemed speaker Professor Claudia Nothelle. She is a renowned expert in television journalism, with extensive experience in both academia and industry. 

As the former Multimedia Program Director of Rundfunk Berlin- Brandenburg (ARD/rbb) and currently serving as Professor of television journalism at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Science, Nothelle brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the discussion on multimedia in television.

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Memorial Service in honour of Prof Edward Webster

Professor Edward (Eddie) Webster, passed away on 05 March 2024 after a short illness.

Join as we honour Professor Webster and acknowledge the immense contribution he made as a scholar, activist and friend right until the end.

May he rest in eternal peace.

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Wits World Social Day Celebration

The Wits Department of Social Work cordially invites you to the World Social Work Day Celebration.

The theme for 2024 is Shared Future for Transformative Change, which is rooted in the Global Agenda and emphasises the need for social workers to adopt innovative, community-led approaches that are grounded in indigenous wisdom and harmonious coexistence with nature. 

To celebrate the occasion, the Social Work Department will host a webinar where esteemed social work scholars, Dr Mbongeni Sithole from the Department of Social Work, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Dr Robert Lekganyane from the Department of Social Work, University of South Africa will reflect on this year’s theme. 

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The Essence of Entrepreneurship: What makes entrepreneurs successful or not?

Speaker: Nico Jacobs - CEO: South African Future Trust

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World TB Day

World TB Day is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis and efforts to eliminate the disease.

Despite significant progress over the last decades, TB continues to be the top infectious killer worldwide, claiming over 1,5 million per year.

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Graduation

Congratulations! It is time for the University to formally recognise your hard work and congratulate you on your success.

Use this link to find all graduations information 

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Writing Community: Wits Writing Festival

The Wits Writing Programme (WWP) presents writing festival

The theme of this year’s writing festival is Writing Community. The festival features South African poet-activist Diana Ferrus and two scholars from Bard College in the United States. The festival includes workshops on storytelling and listening, panel discussions on integrating writing with learning, writing black, and writing the city with Barbara Adair. Don’t miss the screening of WWP alumna Roberta Hunte’s documentary Sista in the Brotherhood, a reading from teenagers from Hillbrow of their version of Aime Cesaire’s Notebook of a Return to the Native Land, as well as poetry from Phillippa Yaa de Villiers. The festival also features evening book launches including Avenues by Train by Farai Mudzingwa, Cassava Republic Press; Once Removed by David Mann, Botsotso; Still to be Named: An exploration of African Epistemologies using Simphiwe Dana’s selected works by Nompumelelo Radebe and Zeithu Cakata, UNISA; and She Will Struggle: Revolutionary Women Who Shaped the World, presented by contributing author Kebotlhale Motseothata. Pluto Press presents the festival in partnership with Xarra Books, Wits Creative Writing, Open University Society Networks and Bard’s Institute for Writing and Thinking.

View the brochure below with the festival programme:

Writing Community: Wits Writing Festival brochure

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Bettina Malcomess: Sentimental Agents Walkabout with Artist

Join the artist walkabout

Sentimental Agents is a series of moving image works embodying the entanglements of cinema within the nervous system of empire, an immersive information field of signals, light, sound and transmission. The film cycle was shot in various locations in varied formats, tracking the journey of the sentimental agent, a technician of minor histories trying to tell the story of cinema's place in the South African War, but who suffers from the neurological disorder of narcolepsy. We travel with the agent to battlefields, memorials, unmarked graves, museums and archives, as well as colonial cinema palaces from the 1930s in Johannesburg and in Accra, Ghana. The films continuously gesture to an absence that they cannot fully articulate: the spectral presence of those figures that haunt the South African War archive, such as Solomon T. Plaatje. The work does not recycle archival footage nor historical images of the War's biopolitical violence. The cinematic language instead embodies a specifically colonial operationalisation of the nervous system by empire, one which violently marks, damages and marginalises black, feminine, queer, animal and nervous bodies. A registering of the re-inscription of historical representation on the celluloid substrate. Gaps, omissions, partial shadows, leakages of light.
 
The films form part of a PhD in Film Studies at Kings College London, the result of 7 years of archival and field research. The exhibition at Wits Art Museum includes objects, drawings, prints and expanded cinema works. The show opens with a first iteration from 26 March, and slowly over the course of the 3-month run, the space develops and shifts, culminating in the addition of a final film in May. While the project's research extends back to 2016, showing this work in Johannesburg in 2024 has an unplanned resonance with the contemporary conflicts we see playing out in our own media in a field of violent and opposing geo-political and neo-colonial forces. Thus, the show will have an active public programme of interventions and conversations that respond to the resonances between this war history and our contemporary moment.
 
Courtesy of the artist and Gallerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin

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Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship Awards

Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Zeblon Vilakazi awards students

Professor Vilakazi will awards students  based on academic merit

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‘Dangerous, Ugly Air': reckoning with atmospheric and photosynthetic injustice in Dying for Gold

WiSER and the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) at the University of London UCL warmly invite you to the new online seminar series.

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Varsity Cup: FNB Wits vs FNB Shimlas

Watch as the FNB Wits take on the FNB Shimlas at the Wits Stadium

Tickets can be purchased on the Varsity Cup site 

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Freedom Day

South African public holiday

Freedom Day commemorates the first post-apartheid elections held on that day in 1994.

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Workers' Day

South African public holiday

Workers' Day celebrates the role played by Trade Unions and other parties to achieve equal employment standards for everyone.

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Wits School of Law Career Fair

Join over 30+ firms and organisations to find out about the innerworkings of the legal professions.

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Tangible Fingerprints of the 1.1°C Post-Industrial Warming

Keynote Speaker: Professor Jennifer Fitchett will explore the bio-meteorological fingerprints of global warming that help us to understand climate change.

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Sankofa - Columbian Dance Company

Join us in welcoming Sankofa, a Colombian dance company, on their tour to South Africa.

This international  act is in South Africa as part of a series to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the establishment of relations between the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Colombia.

This dance initiative promotes a differential and intercultural framework through diverse pedagogical dance and theatre projects involving black and other vulnerable communities in Colombia to educate and create danza.

Sankofa's work is oriented to the search for poetics that start from the roots of Afro dance, developed within the framework of the everyday, the traditional and the contemporary, as an option for social bonding, personal growth and positioning of local cultures in the national dynamic.

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Bridging Continents: Exploring Portuguese - South African Relations.

We are thrilled to invite you to the 2024 Joint Freedom Celebration, a collaborative event between the Faculty of Humanities at the Wits University.

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Poetry for pleasure and a workshop with Robert Berold.

Gathering, to read and discuss South African poetry written in the 90s and 00s.

The 90s and 00s were a creatively fertile time for South African poetry. Daring young poets were writing in daring new forms, trying to articulate the hopes, doubts and confusions brought about by the new democracy. Berold, editor of New Coin in the 90s and later the editor of Deep South books will lead a reading and discussion on some of the amazing poems of these years. The reading will be followed by an open workshop at 14:00, same day. The Poetry for Pleasure meetings are a collaboration between the Wits Writing Centre and the Creative Writing Department.

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Wits Art Museum's make-a-book workshop

Join the Wits Art Museum for the make-a-book workshop.

Learn and enjoy the art of book making at the Make-a-Book workshop hosted by Wits Art Museum. You will learn how to bind books using three different traditional Japanese binding techniques.

All materials will be supplied, but you are welcome to bring along two A4 sheets of thin decorated paper for your book cover and anything that you would like to work with. There is no charge for the workshop, but donations are welcome.

All ages welcomed.

WAM offer school tours from Tuesday to Friday, between 10:00 and 16:00. 

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Enhancing Innovation Readiness in the Knowledge Economy

This talk explores the concept of innovation readiness within the framework of the knowledge economy,

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A fusion of Indian and Western Music Concert

Join the Wits Chris Seabrooke Music Hall for an evening of music.

Patrons will enjoy a concert with fusion music from India and the West.

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Promoting Intersectional Development Research Learning Series

The research is presented by the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies in collaboration with Canada's International Development Research Centre.

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South Africa - USA Security Nexus Symposium

The symposium offers insightful discussions on police reform, tech in policing, alternative response strategies and more.

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A love letter to the many: Arguments for transformative left politics

Join Professor Vishwas Satgar for the launch of his book A lover letter to the many: Arguments for transformative left politics.

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In their voices and through their lenses: Conversation with Party Leaders

In Conversation with Mat Cuthbert - Democratic Alliance's Head of Policy.

The Wits School of Governance (WSG) is hosting a series of of dialogues to address key issues around the 2024 National Elections in South Africa. This series will provide a comprehensive assessment of the meaning and implications of the 2024 elections through multiple lenses. This scholarly series themed, 30 Years of Democratic Governance and the 2024 South African Elections: Taking Stock and Looking Forward, will focus on the implications of South Africa’s Elections for the country, SADC, Africa, and Global South while also focusing on gender and the elections. For each of these dialogues, prominent and expert voices will comprise panels. The WSG will host dialogues with the leaders of other smaller and large parties, and other individuals in the coming weeks. Look out for details at www.wits.ac.za/wsg.

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In their voices and through their lenses: Conversation with Party Leaders

In conversation with Mr Julius Malema, President of the Economic Freedom Fighters.

The Wits School of Governance (WSG) is hosting a series of of dialogues to address key issues around the 2024 National Elections in South Africa. This series will provide a comprehensive assessment of the meaning and implications of the 2024 elections through multiple lenses. This scholarly series themed, 30 Years of Democratic Governance and the 2024 South African Elections: Taking Stock and Looking Forward, will focus on the implications of South Africa’s Elections for the country, SADC, Africa, and Global South while also focusing on gender and the elections. For each of these dialogues, prominent and expert voices will comprise panels. The WSG will host dialogues with the leaders of other smaller and large parties, and other individuals in the coming weeks. Look out for details at www.wits.ac.za/wsg.

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Leveraging on the Petroleum Industry for Biomass Valorisation

The School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering invite you to a special lecture by Professor Yusuf Makarfi Isa.

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Symposium on a book by Dr Aribiah Attoe

Symposium: The Question of Life’s Meaning: An African Perspective, by Dr Aribiah Attoe

You are invited to a symposium on a recent book, titled The Question of Life’s Meaning: An African Perspective, by Dr Aribiah Attoe, a lecturer in the Wits Philosophy Department. The symposium will feature an introduction to the book by Attoe, as well as commentary by Professor Thad Metz (University of Pretoria), Professor Masahiro Morioka (Waseda University), Professor Motsamai Molefe (University of South Africa) and Dr Asheel Singh (University of Johannesburg). Tea and a light lunch will be served.

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Roundtable on Community Mental Health hosted by Frederik Booysen

Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention in the Global South and North

Too often, researchers, practitioners and community activists and advocacy groups do not engage each other sufficiently to inform joint efforts at making a difference in communities characterised by poor mental health outcomes and high rates of suicide.

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Motswako the Mix Student Concerts

Showcasing the best of Wits Music's Classical and Jazz Student Musicians

This showcases the best of the Wits Music Department’s student musicians from the foundation programme, and first years through to post-graduate students. Musicians are selected following a rigorous audition round judged by the music performance staff. This ensures that the best students are part of the concert, with extensive preparation and rehearsals guaranteeing a high standard performance. This free admission concert provides a professional platform for students to engage with a responsive public audience. It also serves as a showcase for the young talent and high standard of teaching provided at Wits University, encouraging potential young audience members to find out more about possible careers in music. Free parking is available in Solomon Mahlangu House and the entrance is on Jorissen Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

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Labour Day

Public Holiday

Labour Day is an annual public holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers.

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Elections day

General elections in South Africa

Voting day for South Africans to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces. 

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WISER Seminar

Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research Seminar

Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) hosts the Wits Interdisciplinary Seminar in the Humanities. The seminar takes place online every Monday at 16:00 to 17:00, from 19 February to 1 July 2024. WISER, and its predecessor institutions, the Institute for Advanced Study and the African Studies Institute, have hosted similar seminars that date back to the late 1960s. The archive of those events, and the past papers of the current semester, is available here. A printable version of the seminar schedule for the current year is available here. For the details of the Zoom meetings, please sign up for email notices here. Participants are encouraged to read the paper prior to the seminar. The paper will typically only be available on the Friday preceding the seminar.

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In their voices and through their lenses: Panel Discussion on Gender in the 2024 Elections

Panel Discussion on Gender in the 2024 Elections.

The Wits School of Governance (WSG) is hosting a series of of dialogues to address key issues around the 2024 National Elections in South Africa. This series will provide a comprehensive assessment of the meaning and implications of the 2024 elections through multiple lenses. This scholarly series themed, 30 Years of Democratic Governance and the 2024 South African Elections: Taking Stock and Looking Forward, will focus on the implications of South Africa’s Elections for the country, SADC, Africa, and Global South while also focusing on gender and the elections. For each of these dialogues, prominent and expert voices will comprise panels. The WSG will host dialogues with the leaders of other smaller and large parties, and other individuals in the coming weeks. Look out for details at www.wits.ac.za/wsg.

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In their voices and through their lenses: Panel Discussion on the Implications of the 2024 Elections

Panel Discussion on the Implications of the 2024 Elections for SADC.

The Wits School of Governance (WSG) is hosting a series of of dialogues to address key issues around the 2024 National Elections in South Africa. This series will provide a comprehensive assessment of the meaning and implications of the 2024 elections through multiple lenses. This scholarly series themed, 30 Years of Democratic Governance and the 2024 South African Elections: Taking Stock and Looking Forward, will focus on the implications of South Africa’s Elections for the country, SADC, Africa, and Global South while also focusing on gender and the elections. For each of these dialogues, prominent and expert voices will comprise panels. The WSG will host dialogues with the leaders of other smaller and large parties, and other individuals in the coming weeks. Look out for details at www.wits.ac.za/wsg.

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Skills for Green Hydrogen: Steering the path for a sustainable future

The Centre for Researching Education and Labour hosts a panel of researchers engaged with skills for green hydrogen research in Germany, Brazil, SA and India.

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Global Change Institute Lunchtime Seminar

Understanding past, present and future Mountain Ecosystem-Societal interactions to inform Sustainable Futures.

Mountains are topographically complex areas, play a fundamental role in shaping regional and continental-scale climates, underpin global processes, are a source to major river systems and support unique, and often highly biodiverse and threatened, ecosystems. Mountains cover only ~25% of the world’s total continental land surface yet are home to more than 85% of the world’s amphibians, birds, and mammals, many of which are entirely restricted to mountains. This amazing diversity is especially high in the tropics; where hotspots of extraordinary species richness commonly exhibit high levels of endemism and beta diversity at genetic, species, and ecosystem scales as well as being culturally diverse and of economic importance; directly supporting communities through the provision of a diverse range of ecosystem services.

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Some aspects of microbial corrosion (MIC) that have been overlooked

The School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, invite you to the webinar/workshop.

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One Night in Africa

Volley Nchabeleng: One night in Africa

One Night in Africa is a musical journey exploring African rhythms, instruments, heritage, and culture. This one-day concert offers the audience a rare opportunity to experience the Pan-Africanist approach to sound in celebrating Africa Month. This event is a celebration of the shining star of this concert, Volley Nchabeleng, a percussionist of global acclaim and an award-winning artist, his latest prestigious award as the 2024 Cultural and Creative Industry Awards (CCIA) winner.  With a career that spans international collaborations, commercial ventures, and theatre performances, his musical prowess resonates with diverse audiences and cultures in Africa and worldwide. His focus is on celebrating African musical heritage through sound that transcends borders, encompassing not only South Africa but also the diverse parts of the African continent. Book here. 

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Yebo Gogga

Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo Festival explore Nature's Cycles: A Fun and Educational Experience for All

The annual Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo festival is set to captivate nature enthusiasts of all ages. This unique event brings together animals and plants under one roof, offering tailor-made talks from experts and providing a fun and educational experience for kids and nature lovers alike. This year’s festival is themed “Cycles” exploring some of the cycles that drive life and the planet.

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Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo 2024

The annual Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo festival is set to captivate nature enthusiasts of all ages.

Wednesday 15 May – Friday 17 May 8:30 – 15:30

Saturday 18 May and Sunday 19 May 9:00 – 16:00

Cycles make life possible. Day and night, the progression of seasons and the rise and fall of tides provide the beat for the dance of life. Air and water circulate regulating temperatures and returning water lost through evaporation, transpiration and runoff to the land.

The chemicals that are the structure and fuel for life are ultimately broken down becoming available again for the complex web of life. When cycles are broken life is affected. CO₂ released from fossil fuels and intensive animal farming exceeds the capacity of the system to use or store the excess, so levels increase and the planet warms. Waste and applied fertilizer pollute water if not properly managed and instead of these nutrients being utilized in a harmless or advantageous way, they promote the growth of water plants such as water hyacinth and make the water toxic for aquatic animals and unsuitable for drinking.

Every living thing has a life cycle from the moment of being a new entity to death.

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Africa Day Commemoration

Resilient Education Systems and skills development. How we can ensure inclusive, accessible, lifelong learning for all Africans.

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Wits School of Arts: Africa Day 2024

Authentic Storytelling Workshop with Thandeka Dladla.

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Wits School of Art: Africa Day

Exploring the intricacies of Isicathamiya and Jazz with legendary pianist Themba Mkhize and the Mtuba Thulisa Brothers.

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Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment Research Seminar Series

Unpacking the Just Energy Transition: Myths, Fuss, Buzzword or Reality?

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Case Seminar with Dr Judy Dlamini

The Remarkable Story of Khonology Digital Solutions: Values-Driven Entrepreneurship

Wits Business School is hosting a special case seminar with Dr Judy Dlamini, author of the case study:  Khonology Digital Solutions: Values-Driven Entrepreneurship. Dr Dlamini will be in conversation with the three South African entrepreneurs featured in the story. This is a unique opportunity to witness a case study come to life and will be an enriching learning experience for entrepreneurs or anyone considering a career in entrepreneurship.

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Understanding past, present & future mountain ecosystem-societal interactions to inform sustainable

The Monthly Lunchtime Seminar hosted by the Global Change Institute.

Mountains are topographically complex areas, play a fundamental role in shaping regional and continental-scale climates, underpin global processes, are a source to major river systems and support unique, and often highly biodiverse and threatened, ecosystems.

Mountains cover ~25% of the world’s total continental land surface yet are home to more than 85% of the world’s amphibians, birds, and mammals, many of which are entirely restricted to mountains. This amazing diversity is especially high in the tropics; where hotspots of extraordinary species richness commonly exhibit high levels of endemism and beta diversity at genetic, species, and ecosystem scales as well as being culturally diverse and of economic importance; directly supporting communities through the provision of a diverse range of ecosystem services. 

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Wits Innovation Series

Fostering Innovation and Enterprise through University-Industry Partnerships

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Earth, Fire, Water: Reflections on Air and Atmospheres by Ruth Gilmore

WiSER is pleased to host the Wits Interdisciplinary Seminar in the Humanities.

The Earth, Fire, Water: Reflections on Air and Atmospheres seminar will be presented by Ruth Gilmore. Participants should please note that they are required to read the paper prior to the event. 

WISER, and its predecessor institutions the Institute for Advanced Study and the African Studies Institute, have hosted similar seminars that date back to the late 1960s. The archive of those events is also available on the WISER web site at http://wiser.wits.ac.za.

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Case Seminar with Dr Judy Dlamini

The Remarkable Story of Khonology Digital Solutions: Values-Driven Entrepreneurship.

The Wits Business School is pleased to invite you to a special seminar which will take a deep dive into a new case study written by Dr Judy Dlamini, Chancellor of Wits University and WBS alumna.
 
The case is on Khonology Digital Solutions, a young South African start-up with a vision of becoming Africa’s leading digital enabler. In September 2023, ten years after Khonology was founded, the management team of Dapo Ayedemo, Africa Nkosi and Mosa Nyamande realised they still had a long way to go in realising their vision. What would it take for the company to move out of the shadows and truly achieve its goal of digitising the African continent and expanding its services to the rest of the world?
 
Presenting a unique opportunity of witnessing a case study ‘come to life’, Dr Dlamini will be chatting to the three entrepreneurs featured in the story. Please join us for a rich, interactive learning experience about overcoming the barriers to entrepreneurial success.

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Wits Integrated Experience

Evaluation of the JHB Infrastructure – how to prevent another “Bree Street” explosion!

For the seventh year the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) will host the Wits Integrated Experience (WIE), with contributions from all 5 faculties, including aspects from Science, Engineering and the Built Environment, Humanities, Health Science, and Commerce, Law and Management. The WIE is targeted at Gauteng top academic Grade 11 learners.

This short course is designed to expose learners to real life scenarios and problem-solving exercises that develop their 21-century soft skills such as critical thinking and creativity in finding solutions to otherwise disruptive problems. This experience will also expose learners to the evolving career opportunities within the different faculties and showcase the interdisciplinary nature of these various branches within the five disciplines. The course is exciting, with an experiential and interactive aspect to it that includes a captivating analytical exercise.  This course will aid participants in making better informed decisions about subject choices, careers and higher education opportunities that lead to the future world of work.

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The Global Academy of Liberal Arts (gala) Information and Networking Session

GALA invites you to their information and networking sessions.

GALA is an international community of diverse, innovative, and socially responsible universities and colleges, whose aims are to transform lives and to enhance global understanding through interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching and research.

These online sessions are open to all Faculty and staff members as well as postgraduate students. Sessions include: How you can get involved in the network; details of forthcoming GALA conferences; an opportunity to share your own interests on research, teaching, and professional services; and an opportunity to connect with colleagues and other GALA partners.

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Unpacking the just energy transition: myths, fuss, buzzword or reality?

The office of the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment invite you to the Inaugural edition of the FEBE Research Seminar Series

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Afretec Healthcare Summer School

The American University in Cairo (AUC) will host the Afretec Healthcare Summer School from June 9-12, 2024.

The event will be in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University Africa and supported by the African Engineering and Technology Network, of which Wits University is a member. The summer school is a four-day workshop which will be held hybridly online and at AUC. 

With healthcare in Africa rapidly advancing through digital technologies, AI, and telemedicine, the summer school aims to enhance collaboration. It will gather researchers, allied medical professionals, industry leaders, and government stakeholders to exchange insights, foster understanding of emerging concepts, and drive healthcare transformation across the continent.

Learn more and register: https://auc-connect.aucegypt.edu/publicev/rsvp_boot?id=300104646

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Professor Barry Dwolatzky Memorial Lecture

Looking Back & Looking Forward: Building a Sustainable Future Through Science and Technology

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Empowerment of Women in Academia Workshop

This workshop focuses on identifying and addressing the barriers and drivers of gender equity and discussing effective solutions to promote gender equity.

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Mental Wellness Walkabout with Dr Kirti Ranchod: Understanding Brain Health

Neurologist and brain health specialist, Dr Kirti Ranchod will discuss aspects of our brain, mental wellness and healthy brain function.

Join neurologist and brain health specialist, Dr Kirti Ranchod for a walkabout around Origins Centre, while she discusses aspects of our brain, mental wellness and healthy brain functioning.


The walkabout is part of a series of monthly walkabouts 'Investing in our Cultural Capital for Better Brain Health' that focuses on what we have within our traditions and cultures to support brain health and mental wellness.

Space is limited.

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lo-fi street cred: artists' zines, DIY and alternative publications

Walkabout by David Paton of lo-fi street cred: artist' zines, DIY and alternative publications. 

This exhibition contains a diverse and intriguing collection of zines and self-published works that you might not typically find in a traditional museum setting, especially within an academic institution. The display highlights the vibrant history and evolution of these unique forms of expression, spanning five decades and ranging from literary magazines of the 1950s to contemporary posterzines created by students and the general public. The exhibition provides an insightful look into the world of alternative art publications in South Africa.

A zine is a self-published work that features original or repurposed texts and images. These works are usually produced in small quantities and reproduced using a copy machine. Zines serve various purposes, from being a source of entertainment to offering a platform for inexpensive and provocative social commentary.

JGCBA gallery hours are Tuesday – Friday 10:00 – 16:00
Museum hours are Tuesday - Saturday 10h00 - 16h00

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The Data Science Strategic Group

Let's Agree to Agree - towards interactions supporting users and AI systems align.

Elizabeth Daly, of IBM Research Europe (Dublin), will be presenting the next Data Science Strategic Group talk. 

The talk takes place at the IBM Research Laboratory in Braamfontein or online. 

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2024 Vona du Toit Memorial Lecture

The Vona du Toit memorial lecture is the most prestigious of the OTASA awards.

The 2024 Vona du Toit memorial lecture has been awarded by the Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa (OTASA) Council to Dr Tania Rauch van der Merwe.

The purpose of the lecture is to honour South African occupational therapists or others who have made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the profession.

 Dr Tania Rauch van der Merwe's lecture, titled Harnessing Human Praxis: Turning our Wisdom into Practice with Impact will be presented as a hybrid event during the OTASA congress.

Delegates will be able to join the lecture online or in-person at eFundanathi (eZone) on the Wits education campus. 

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Beads, Seeds and Sand: Family Activity Day

Join us for a morning of crafts and activities inspired by nature and archaeology.

Make art from seeds and plants, explore our indigenous garden, excavate like an archaeologist, learn about stratigraphy, go on a treasure hunt, learn about South Africa's rich heritage, and touch real artefacts!
Join us for an hour or for three. Kids and adults welcome.

Enquiries: bookings.origins@wits.ac.za; tammy.hodgskiss@wits.ac.za; 0117174700

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Public Lecture by Dr Sam Challis

The impact of contact and colonization on indigenous worldviews, rock art, and the history of southern Africa - “The Disconnect”, by Dr Sam Challis

Rock art in southern Africa testifies to successive interactions among hunter-gatherers, incoming African herders, African farmers, and, later, European settlers. New subject matter, however, is not simply incorporated into the preexisting tradition. Images that depict novel motifs are made differently from the “traditional corpus,” usually rougher in appearance (in both paintings and engravings), more dynamic, or made with vivid and chalky paints. The drop in pigment quality is likely owing to the disruption and ultimate decimation of indigenous groups and the subsequent breakdown in trade and social communications—the Disconnect. The changes owe more, it seems, to the increasingly mixed membership of the art-producing people and the mixing of their cosmologies, albeit with specific cultural survivals. Precolonial contact images speak to a multitude of interactions that can inform the archaeological record, and colonial-era rock art constitutes a major component of the historical archive that offers a reverse gaze from an indigenous perspective.

Dr Sam Challis is Director of the Rock Art Research Institute, Wits. His research focus is on the interaction between hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and farmers, as well as Europeans, as expressed in rock art around the world.

Tickets on webtickets or at the door. R70 adults, R40 students/pensioners

Enquiries: bookings.origins@wits.ac.za; tammy.hodgskiss@wits.ac.za; 0117174700

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Temporary Exhibition: Origin of the World

Origin of the World: creation and transformation in San Dress, Narrative and Rock Art, by Dr Vibeke Viestad

This exhibition looks at the rich material and embodied culture of San dress practices, and how these made explicit part of a complex cultural discourse encompassing all aspects of life – in myth, ritual, and everyday practice. The exhibition displays and explores special items, clothing and accessories, and the creation beliefs of historic Khoe and San groups from around southern Africa.

This is the story of the Origin of the World – told through ways of dressing the body.

On until end July 2024.

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Prospector Course in Entrepreneurship at Wits

The Workshop will consist of lectures by invited speakers, case studies, group discussions and role-playing sessions related to commercialisation of products.

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Inaugural Lecture of Professor Abdullah Laher

TITLE: HIV IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

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Books Launch at Drama for Life Resource Centre

Join us for morning celebrating SA theatre writing, as we share Drama for Life's new vision for its Resource Centre, library and archive.

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Analysis of Microscale Segregation and Socio-economic sorting in Gauteng

The Gauteng City-Region Observatory presents a study by Christian Hamann.

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Inaugural Lecture of Professor Daniela Casale

Inequality in South Africa: Reflections of a feminist economist

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Publishing in Top-Tier International Ranked Interdisciplinary Academic Journal

The School of Law invites you to a seminar by Professor Raphael Heffron.

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Postgraduate Diploma in Philanthropy and Resource Mobilisation & Masters of Management

Join the information session.

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Solar socialism: Wind, sunlight, and the paradox of abundance

The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Climate, Sustainability and Inequality invites you to the quarterly seminar series.

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Aspiring for good governance principles - the hallmark of an excellent university

An address by the Science Faculty Dean, Professor Nithaya Chetty.

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Empowerment of Women in Academia: Strategies, networking and overcoming challenges

The workshop will provide an insight into knowledge, skills and strategies to support career progression.

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Walkabout at Wits Art Museum (WAM): Karel Nel: Close and Far

Join Wits Art Museum for a Walkabout of Karel Nel: Close and Far led by Professor Federico Freschi.

Professor Federico Freschi is the executive Dean of the Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture at UJ. Professor Freschi, who wrote the introductory chapter to Karel Nel's forthcoming book, will provide valuable insights and perspectives on the exhibition.

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Convergence of gene therapy and modern vaccine technology

The Infectious Diseases and Oncology Research Institute (IDORI) invites you to its monthly seminar.

Professor Patrick Arbuthnot, will give the talk titled, Convergence of gene therapy and modern vaccine technology.

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Researching elections in Africa: Innovative methods and new perspectives

Join a discussion with two distinguished scholars of elections and politics in Africa.

Professor Gabrielle Lynch and Professor Michael Wahman, who have worked on polls in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia. Will discuss methods for researching elections, questions of data access and quality, as well as exciting new research methods and directions.

This promises to be an excellent discussion and will be relevant not only for those interested in politics and elections, but for all students and staff in the Social Sciences and Humanities who are interested in innovative research methods. 

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The impact of contact and colonisation on indigenous worldviews, rock art, and the history of SA...

The impact of contact and colonization on indigenous worldviews, rock art, and the history of Southern Africa – ‘the disconnect’

Public lecture by Dr Sam Challis, the Director of the Rock Art Research Institute at Wits.

Rock art in Southern Africa testifies to successive interactions among hunter-gatherers, incoming African herders, African farmers, and, later, European settlers. New subject matter, however, is not simply incorporated into the pre-existing tradition. Images that depict novel motifs are made differently from the “traditional corpus,” usually rougher in appearance (in both paintings and engravings), more dynamic, or made with vivid and chalky paints.

The drop in pigment quality is likely owing to the disruption and ultimate decimation of indigenous groups and the subsequent breakdown in trade and social communications – “the Disconnect”. The changes owe more, it seems, to the increasingly mixed membership of the art-producing people and the mixing of their cosmologies, albeit with specific cultural survivals.

Precolonial contact images speak to a multitude of interactions that can inform the archaeological record, and colonial-era rock art constitutes a major component of the historical archive that offers a reverse gaze from an indigenous perspective. 

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Responsible Leadership Practices and SDG5 Gender Equality

This workshop will examine the nexus between SDG5 (Gender Equity) and Responsible Leadership and explore opportunities for Responsible Leadership.

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Mandela Day Celebrations

This year’s Nelson Mandela International Day will be celebrated under the theme It’s still in our hands to combat poverty and inequity.

There are several Witsies involved in different Mandela Day events taking place today – some are involved in book drives, others in school visits, and many in a clean-up operation in Hillbrow as part of the #JoziMyJozi initiative. We salute you all for giving of yourself, your time, and your resources, to help others, for good.

We will also launch the Mandela Month food drive today at 13:15 on the Wits Library Lawns. Remember, that you can continue to drop off non-perishable food and care packs at the Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach unit based at the Sanctuary on Braamfontein Campus East, throughout the month.

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Women's Day: A conversation with students

Attend an inspiring panel discussion on Women in Leadership with student leaders, industry, and LGBTQIA+ activists.

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The role of think tanks in the African economic emancipation and Renaissance Project.

The Postgraduate Student Support of the Academic Development Unit of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, invite you to a webinar.

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Inaugural Lecture of Glynis Goodman-Cron

Of Daisies and Mountains - A plant systematist’s journey exploring the biodiversity of southern Africa

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Disability and technology in Higher Education workshop

The Disability Rights Unit at Wits University, in collaboration with the Afretec Inclusion, Diversity and Impact team invite you to a two day workshop.

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Topic: Critical Systems Thinking, Addressing Change in the Modern World

How do you deal with change? Do you go into a panic and make poor decisions?

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Cybersecurity Awareness Talk

Learn how you can protect yourself from cyber attacks.

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Ethics Colloquium

Wits SARIMA Carnegie Global Ethics Day 2024: AI and Big Data: Ethical Dilemmas in Modern Research

The Wits Research Integrity Office along with SARIMA (Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association) and Carnegie host the annual Ethics Colloquium, which this year discusses some key ethical dilemmas in modern research due to the rapid developments of AI and big data. Some short presentations will be made from colleagues from diverse research fields, but who all have interests in research ethics and integrity. If time permits, an open discussion forum on some of these ethical dilemmas in research in an African and global context will be held. All colleagues and students from across the University and externally are welcome to attend and participate.

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South African Society for Research in Music's 18th Annual Conference

The Department of Music and the Wits School of the Arts for hosting this year’s SASRIM conference.

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Women is Academia: Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset and Leadership Skills

This workshop enables participants to apply entrepreneurial thinking and practices to leadership design, development and implementation.

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