Research

Renowned African public intellectual and interdisciplinary scholar to speak at the 2023 ODeL Conference

As a scholar, public intellectual and seasoned university administrator with experience in the higher education sector in six countries on three continents, Prof Paul Tiyambe Zeleza will share his views at the 2023 Unisa ODeL Conference. 

Prof Paul Tiyambe Zeleza
(Image credit: Case Western Reserve University)

Zeleza is currently Associate Provost and the North Star Distinguished Professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in the United States. An interdisciplinary scholar, Zeleza’s work covers the fields of African economic history, development studies, intellectual history, diaspora studies, gender studies, human rights studies, cultural studies and literary studies.

He has published more than 400 journal articles, book chapters, encyclopaedia entries, reviews, short stories and online essays, and has authored or edited 27 books and five short monographs. Several of his books have won international awards, including the 1994 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa for A Modern Economic History of Africa, Vol I: The Nineteenth Century (1993). In 2021, he published Africa and the Disruptions of the 21st Century.

Zeleza has raised tens of millions of dollars for institutional advancement and personal research. He says that he is most proud of the $63.2 million grant from the Mastercard Foundation that the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, where he previously served as Vice-Chancellor, received in 2020 to provide scholarships for 1 000 students from across Africa for ten years. 


About the conference 

Taking place from 15 to 17 August 2023 at Emperors Palace near OR Tambo International Airport in Gauteng, the conference explores the theme "ODeL in the Global South: Opportunities in times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA)". Pre-conference workshops take place on 14 August. 

Besides keynote addresses from four internationally renowned ODeL specialists and three noteworthy panel discussions, there are over 80 paper presentations. 

Of further interest are nine preconference workshops and over 80 paper presentations of interest to students, scholars and academics in ODeL.

For all the conference information, please visit http:/www.unisa.ac.za/odel2023

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* Compiled by Virginia McManus, Manager: PR and Communication, Directorate Research Support

Publish date: 2023/08/09

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