The Tourism-Migration Nexus: Memory, Mobility and the Limits of Academic Disciplines. The increasing intersection between tourism, migration and other forms of travel interrogate precise definitions and disciplinary boundaries. John Urry’s influential ‘mobility paradigm’ opened up new avenues of research, but …
Academic Agnosticism: Unknowing and UNKnowledge Systems. Agnosticism is a philosophical term characterized by uncertainty. Perhaps it is rather peculiar and seemingly counter-intuitive to append ‘agnosticism’ to academia. The former is all about the unknown and the probably unknowable, while …
Spatial Exploration of the Third Kingdom. In my inaugural lecture I will discuss briefly the basic tools of mineral exploration, describe briefly my career pathways in the field of mineral exploration, and discuss briefly GIS-based mineral systems approach to …
From the Margin to the Mainstream: Women and Gender in South African History. The talk provides a critical assessment of debates within and about gender history in South Africa. Women’s history, now transforming into gender history, is notably broadening and …
On the margins: Writing History at a Time of Profound Political Change. In this lecture I will present an overview of the main themes in my work over the past three decades, both its empirical content as well as theoretical …
Metal complexes as magic bullets against drug resistant diseases and precursors for nanomaterials. The study of chemistry until the nineteenth century was viewed as a religion derived from alchemical roots that focused on spiritual quest in search of keys to …
The Marvels and Magic of Physical Chemistry. In my inaugural lecture I will briefly describe my upbringing in a community of Italian immigrants in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. I will then discuss how my education led me …
Affordability and equitable access to medicines for public health. Debate is growing globally around the topic of affordability and equitable access to medicines for public health. The United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines Report said: “Never in the …
From Magnetostratigraphy to Paleogeography: A Journey Through Paleomagnetism. The magnetic field of the earth is routinely recorded during rock formation processes and gets preserved for billions of years thereafter. This fossil magnetic field could be used for a spectrum of …
Teachers and teaching: transforming education. In this lecture I offer glimpses into my personal journey in the path to address a key element in education – teachers and teaching. My journey began 20 years ago as an academic working with …