Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Apartheid Archive Conference

Today was our last day in Johannesburg!! We went to the University of Pretoria and attended their annual Apartheid Archive Conference. It really was a privilege for us to attend this conference as undergrads, and hear about such diverse research. The theme of the lecture was Race, Space, Location, Dislocation. The lectures we went to today covered many different subject areas but still remarkably kept to the theme. The first round of lectures focused on areas such as environmental racism, histories of different identity groups as well as city building in relation to racism. The second round focused on the history of urban Islam in Johannesburg, the history of tennants in Johannesburg, the co-presence of race and space in modern South Africa and the architecture of Pretoria. The third round focused on the history of Rustenberg, the history of the hospitals in Pretoria, recovering memories from Fairview and the significance of backyard shacks. What was really most incredible for us was that this conference gave us insights into what South Africans were actually discussing when it comes to apartheid and it's legacy. 
After our conference we went on our flight to Cape Town!! The flight was very smooth and we got to see the city all lit up and we got to our lodgings just fine! 

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