International Study and Training Partnership with the University of Fort Hare (East London/Alice, South Africa)

International Study and Training Partnership with the University of Fort Hare (East London/Alice, South Africa)

Staff: Prof. Dr. Rudolph Botha (Alice), Prof. Dr. Abraham Olivier, Prof. Dr. Nomsa Satyo, Prof. Dr. Dianne Shober (East London), Prof. Dr. Gabriele Sommer, Dr. Irina Turner (Bayreuth)                                                                                     

Term of project: 2015-2017, prolongation: 2017-2021

Financing: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)                    

This project has been suspended in 2019.

Since February 2015, African Linguistics and Literatures at Bayreuth University have joined a cooperation with Fort Hare University, South Africa. The exchange program called ISAP − International Study and Training Partnerships – provides funding by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for exchanging students and staff. The program, initially scheduled for two years, has been prolonged for another four years until September 2021.

Fort Hare holds an exceptional historic relevance in South Africa (http://www.ufh.ac.za/ About/Pages/History. aspx) and African leaders like Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Julius Nyerere, or Robert Mugabe are alumni of Fort Hare University. Today, it maintains the largest archive of the ruling party the African National Congress (ANC) as well as other resistance movements. The university, which celebrated its centenary in 2016, strives to make its research relevant for the community.

Several teaching and research stints have regularly taken place from Bayreuth staff to the University of Fort Hare. From South Africa, delegates from the Department of English and Comparative Studies, the Department of African Languages and – a recent disciplinary extension of the program - the Department of Philosophy have visited Bayreuth and established a solid partnership.

Also, students gained valuable insights from the respective exchange experiences. With UFH and DAAD support, three South African students at BA or MA level can study for a semester at UBT, while three students from Bayreuth attend classes at Fort Hare University and deepen their insights into South African languages, literatures and schools of thought. 

An exchange student from Bayreuth (visiting East London/Alice in 2017)