Power and Politics: Bushman Rock Art Studies in South Africa

Dr. Marcelle Olivier (Cambridge)

Dr. Marcelle Olivier is Visiting Scholar at Cambridge University's Department of Archaeology. On Thursday the 26th of January, she presented a guest lecture on the topic of Bushman Rock Art Studies in South Africa. 

The study of Rock Art in South Africa has seen a variety of approaches and attitudes towards the unique painting style which has adorned rockfaces for thousands of years. Dismissive attitudes were replaced with deeper interpretations thanks to the work of Lewis-Williams, Deacon and others. Ethnographic studies, for instance the famous work of the linguists Bleek and Lloyd, have also contributed a great deal to the understanding of Bushman Rock Art. Dr. Olivier introduces the key moments and concepts in this field.

A Brief History of the South African Economy

Prof. Charles Wait

Professor Charles Wait is Emeritus Professor at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and currently Visiting Professor at the Warsaw School of Economics. On Tuesday the 24th of January he gave a lecture to the students of South African Studies and anyone else who is interested in the history of the South African economy and its relationships to other African economies.

Whereas our perspective on colonialism and post-colonialism is usually a linguistic and literary one, Professor Wait provided some important insights into the economic substrate within which the phenomena we study operate. He addressed the issue of the 'Africa syndrome' and asked questions relating to the economic ramifications of South Africa's 1994 political revolution as compared to other decolonisations in Africa.