News & Events

The Week of the Afrikaans novel will take place from 19 – 26 September in The Netherlands and Vlaanderen (Belgium). Five South African writers that publish in Afrikaans will make a tour of the Low Lands. The authors are Etienne van Heerden, Irma Joubert, Sonja Loots, Kirby van der Merwe and Marita van der Vyver. The ASC Library has numerous books by these authors in its collection. On Friday 26 September a symposium will be organized at the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University.

On the occasion of the retirement of Robert Ross, Professor in African History at Leiden University, his successor and former student Jan-Bart Gewald wrote a valedictory note. Robert has been in Leiden since 1976, first as coordinator and (later) professor in African History. He has taught in the BA degree course Languages and Cultures of Africa, and the MAs (including the Research MA) on African Studies. Most of all, Robert has been a long-standing friend of the ASC!

Unions have played multiple roles throughout Africa’s history. In order to shed light on the diverse and complex nature of organised labour in Africa, the ASC's research group ‘Trade Unions and Labour Issues in Africa’ and the International Institute of Social History (IISH) are organising a Round Table on 10 September about the multiple roles of trade unions in Africa today. The Round Table will bring together academics, practitioners and policy-makers.