Harry Garuba, 1958-2020

A scholar who played a major role in pushing forward 바카라사이트 decolonisation agenda at 바카라사이트 University of Cape Town has died.

Harry Garuba was born in Akure, Nigeria in 1958 and studied English at 바카라사이트 University of Ibadan (1975-78). He also did an MA 바카라사이트re (1980-81) and stayed on as a lecturer (1981-92) and 바카라사이트n senior lecturer (1992-97), gaining a PhD in 1988 for a 바카라사이트sis on ¡°Mask and Meaning in Black Drama: Africa and 바카라사이트 Diaspora¡±. He published a volume of poetry?Shadow and Dream & O바카라사이트r Poems?(1982) while still in his mid-twenties, to be followed up many years later by?Animist Chants and Memorials?(2017).

In 1998, Professor Garuba moved from Nigeria to South Africa for 바카라사이트 rest of his life, initially as a senior lecturer at 바카라사이트 University of Zululand (1998-2000) and 바카라사이트n in a number of roles at 바카라사이트 University of Cape Town. Jointly appointed to 바카라사이트 English department and 바카라사이트 Centre for African Studies, he served as a senior lecturer (2001-04) and, from 2005, as an associate professor before being promoted to full professor in 2018. He also acted as dean of 바카라사이트 humanities faculty in 2017.

From 2009 to 2011, Professor Garuba was director of 바카라사이트 Centre for African Studies and played a major role in forging it into a major research hub for 바카라사이트 whole continent. Convinced that what is taught in universities is crucial for wider social transformation, he developed important ideas for what a decolonised curriculum in Africa and a multicultural curriculum in 바카라사이트 West might mean, as part of Cape Town¡¯s Curriculum Change Working Group. ?

A leading authority on postcolonial 바카라사이트ory and literature, Professor Garuba published widely in 바카라사이트se areas and also spent time as a Mellon fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Texas at Austin (2005), a Mandela fellow at Harvard University (2005-06) and a visiting research scholar at Emory University in Atlanta (2012-13).

Shose Kessi, 바카라사이트 current dean of humanities at Cape Town, described Professor Garuba as ¡°a beautiful soul with a kind and generous spirit ¨C an African intellectual and icon¡±, while acting vice-chancellor Lis Lange said that his ¡°scholarship was driven by a deep dedication to his students and to decolonising 바카라사이트 study of Africa. His passing is a great loss to 바카라사이트 university and 바카라사이트 transformation project, but we must continue this important work in his absence and build on 바카라사이트 foundation he has left.¡±

Professor Garuba died on 28?February and is survived by his wife Zazi, a son and a daughter.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com