Sol Plaatje University’s Faculty of Humanities is proud to host the Historical Association of South Africa (HASA) Biennial Conference 2025 from 18 to 20 June, at the Humanities and Heritage Studies Building, Central Campus.
Under the theme “Heritage, History and Historiography – From the Local to the Regional and Continental,” the conference invites academics, scholars, students and researchers to engage with a wide range of topics. These include Comparative Histories, Intersections of History, Politics and Culture, Historical Studies, New Directions in Regional History, Heritage, Tourism and Historical Archaeology, Microhistories and more.
This biennial gathering offers a platform to critically explore the evolving boundaries of historical inquiry. It will showcase innovative research, interdisciplinary methodologies and emerging approaches shaped by the digital transformation of the post-COVID era. Presentations aim to challenge conventional narratives, broaden the spectrum of historical voices and integrate underrepresented perspectives – redefining how we record, study and interpret history.
Reflecting Sol Plaatje University’s unique position at the intersection of heritage and academic excellence, this conference resonates with the institution’s identity and growing reputation as a space for knowledge rooted in place, memory and transformation.
Conference Highlights
Keynote addresses will be delivered by:
- Professor Jan-Bart Gewald, a leading Socio-Cultural Historian of Southern Africa, Senior Researcher and Professor in African Studies at the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL). His current work focuses on a “Multi-Species History of Diamond Mining in Kimberley, South Africa, 1870–1920.”
- Dr Wayne Dooling, Senior Lecturer in the History of Southern Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Dr Dooling’s research centres on Southern African history, apartheid and decolonisation. His notable works include “Poverty and Respectability in Early Twentieth-Century Cape Town” and “Cape Town Knows, but She Forgets: Segregation and the Making of a Housing Crisis During the First Half of the 20th Century.”
More than 170 academic papers will be presented by scholars and researchers from across the globe – including South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia, Mozambique, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In addition to the academic programme, delegates can look forward to a gala dinner, building networks, cultural exchange and shared reflection among peers.
