Update on the recent activities of the Department of Dutch and South African Studies

Update on the recent activities of the Department of Dutch and Afrikaans Language, Literature and Culture (now Department of Dutch and South African Studies)

The 2006/2007-academic year began positively with nearly twenty first year students enrolling for the Specialization in South African Studies. This is good news considering the relatively short period this specialization has been in existence. Six second year students continued with the academic program in South African Studies which means that we will accommodate our first group of third year students during the 2007/2008 academic year. Since the beginning of the 2006/2007 academic year our students took modules in Afrikaans Language Acquisition, South African Cultural Studies, South African English Afrikaans Literature, History of South Africa and English South African Literature.

Our second year students satisfactorily expanded their existing knowledge on relevant South African issues and are fully capable to initiate and follow proper conversations in Afrikaans. Our first year students are quickly following in the footsteps of their predecessors. During their last Afrikaans classes our first year students gave presentations on traditional Polish cuisine in Afrikaans.

Karien Brits joined our department in October 2006 and Stephen Naudé (who had been in Poland for the past three years) will join our team in October 2007. The specialization will be managed during the 2007/2008 year by the following academic personnel: prof dr habil. Jerzy Koch, dr Pawel Zajas, mgr Ewa Dynarowicz, mgr Ola Cichocka, mgr Neil Cochrane, mgr Karien Brits and mgr Stephen Naudé.

Last year most of our co-workers delivered papers at international conferences in Belgium, the Czech Republic and South Africa. We had a strong presence during the bi-annual conference of the Afrikaans Literature Association which was held in Stellenbosch (South Africa) from 9-13 September 2006.

Two of our colleagues received study bursaries to study abroad. Mgr E. Dynarowicz worked on her PhD in the famous South African Library in The Netherlands. Prof. J. Koch is going to The Netherlands in September to complete the second part of his Afrikaans literary history at The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences. On the home front other co-workers are working on their respective PhD's and post-doctoral dissertations.

We plan to accommodate two new PhD-students from the beginning of the new academic year. This will further ensure our continuous academic growth.

In co-operation with Northwest University (Potchefstroom-campus) a study visit for our second year students during August 2007 was organized by Karien Brits. It is of the utmost importance that we organize similar student visits to South Africa in future.

In October 2006 we began organizing a monthly South African film evening for our students and other interested parties within IFA. The reaction was predominantly positive.

The press project which we began with in the 1990s continues to grow. It concerns snippets from a vast number of Polish publications (from daily newspapers to quarterly publications) which focus on South Africa. The working relationship we have with the South African Embassy in Warsaw and the active role of the current South African ambassador, Her Excellency, Mrs. Febe Potgieter-Gqubule ensured continuous financial support from the South African embassy. The scientific reworking of these texts can be observed in the scientific work of dr. P. Zajas (on images of South Africa in Polish travel literature and reports) and mgr. E. Dynarowicz (on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)).

The team was also busy preparing the second number of Werkwinkel: Tydskrif vir Nederlandse en Suid-Afrikaanse Studies/ Journal of Low Countries and South African Studies which will be published in the second half of 2007. A webpage was developed which contains editorial procedures, submission guidelines and abstracts of previously published articles. You are welcome to visit the site at http://wa.amu.edu.pl/werkwinkel/ if you wish to submit an article. We are currently in the process of applying for accreditation with the ISI. The third number will focus on colonial and postcolonial literature and accompanying theoretical perspectives. Articles may be submitted until the end of August.

The South African writer, Eben Venter visited our department in May 2005. The past two years we were in consultation with a prominent South African writer who would be our writer-in-residence during 2007. Unfortunately, it was not possible for this person to join our department in 2007. We are, however, very satisfied that Marita van der Vyfer (a prominent South African author who resides in France) visited our department on 17 May 2007. She conducted highly informative sessions with both first and second year students (see photos). Although our students have sufficient contact with Afrikaans native speakers, contact sessions with South African authors serves as a additional value adding experience.