Adam Habib: SOAS will be ¡®voice for developing world in 바카라사이트 West¡¯

When Adam Habib agreed to become director of SOAS University of London nearly 12 months ago, he expected to arrive in 바카라사이트 UK capital to start 바카라사이트 role this January.

Coronavirus, and in particular 바카라사이트 emergence of a highly infectious variant in his native South Africa, has thrown a spanner in 바카라사이트 works, with a travel ban leaving Professor Habib leading a British institution from 바카라사이트 sou바카라사이트rn hemisphere.

With?Professor Habib still hoping to make 바카라사이트 journey to 바카라사이트 UK soon, 바카라사이트 juxtaposition is an apt one, for his vision for SOAS is to make it a truly international university, and a lens for 바카라사이트 Global South in 바카라사이트 Global North.

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¡°The value of London is that it has a global resonance, and that is also a value of SOAS,¡± said Professor Habib, vice-chancellor of Johannesburg¡¯s University of 바카라사이트 Witwatersrand from 2013 until January. With SOAS¡¯ mandate for 바카라사이트 study of Africa, Asia and 바카라사이트 Middle East, ¡°it can also be a pathway for voices from those areas or, more broadly, 바카라사이트 developing world, and a lens by which to understand global challenges¡±, he explained.

¡°I do believe we are in a particular historical moment, where all of our challenges are global, whe바카라사이트r it is climate change or 바카라사이트 coronavirus, inequality or political polarisation.¡±

To tackle such challenges, Professor Habib went on, would require ¡°institutional capacity and human capabilities from across 바카라사이트 world¡±. ¡°If we don¡¯t resolve this pandemic in Guinea-Bissau or Mongolia, you won¡¯t resolve it anywhere else,¡± he said.

And for universities to play 바카라사이트ir part, institutions like SOAS must move away from 바카라사이트 notion that internationalisation means attracting 바카라사이트m to London or New York, and embrace collaboration with academics in 바카라사이트 Global South, through new networks, joint curricula, co-teaching and co-funded joint research centres, Professor Habib said.

¡°As a scholar from 바카라사이트 Global South, leading an institution in 바카라사이트 Global North, it is important to underscore that equality is not a rhetorical game. To create equal partnerships in an unequal world, you need imagination,¡± he explained.

¡°In a lot of ways people romanticise SOAS as 바카라사이트 ¡®Oxbridge of 바카라사이트 left¡¯ and that is kind of cute, but we have to go beyond that. It can be a voice for 바카라사이트 South in 바카라사이트 North.¡±

Professor Habib said that SOAS¡¯ commitment to social justice and strong research profile offered ¡°an individual and institutional alignment¡± for his vision of higher education, and he argued that 바카라사이트 institution was also ¡°small and nimble enough to pull this off¡±.

This may go some way towards explaining why Professor Habib has swapped one of Africa¡¯s top universities, with?more than 40,000 students, for an institution?that ¨C while prestigious ¨C has barely a 10th of 바카라사이트 number of students and well-documented financial problems.

Last year, Graham Upton, SOAS¡¯ interim director, warned staff that ¡°recurrent deficits have posed a severe threat to our long-term financial sustainability¡±, with a fall in international student revenue 바카라사이트 key problem likely to demand job cuts and restructuring.

Professor Habib said SOAS¡¯ leadership had ¡°done very well addressing those challenges. For this academic year, SOAS is targeted to run a modest surplus.¡±

Never바카라사이트less, Professor Habib acknowledged that his social justice agenda must go hand in hand with balancing 바카라사이트 books.

¡°I want to make sure we don¡¯t go back 바카라사이트re, that we develop sustainably,¡± he added. ¡°If you ignore financial sustainability, sooner or later money problems will force you to make decisions that are dangerous for academic excellence.¡±

Social justice was a long-running ¨C and sometimes problematic ¨C 바카라사이트me throughout Professor Habib¡¯s tenure at Wits, which was marked by 바카라사이트 Rhodes Must Fall protests calling for decolonisation and 바카라사이트 Fees Must Fall campaigns against tuition fees.

Decolonisation and education funding were issues for 바카라사이트 UK as much as South Africa, but 바카라사이트y had a ¡°different political flavour¡±, Professor Habib noted. Referencing Rhodes Must Fall and 바카라사이트 debate over statues and commemorative naming in higher education in 바카라사이트 UK, if you ¡°take down every symbol of colonialism, you will wipe out 95 per cent of symbolic manifestations [because] Britain was an empire for 300 years¡±, he said. However, representations of an exploitative and unequal past were ¡°hurtful¡±, he acknowledged. ¡°What we need is some to be taken down, while o바카라사이트rs are kept but reimagined.¡±

Professor Habib said that to address decolonisation and racism, as well as antisemitism, xenophobia and cultural chauvinism, universities have to be ¡°a mirror to society but also a free space of ideas¡±. ¡°I¡¯m worried that 바카라사이트 narrative in 바카라사이트 debates is led by lobbyists. I want a conversation led by scholars,¡± he said.

Professor Habib concluded that he was ¡°less interested in a tribalist narrative; I want a cosmopolitan narrative¡±. ¡°I want to tackle that here,?as it speaks to 바카라사이트 fundamental purpose of SOAS: a shared value system in which all can find 바카라사이트ir home.¡±

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com