Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study

Introducing STIAS Conversations, a podcast from the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study.

In this series, we explore the ideas, questions, and discoveries shaping our world, straight from the brilliant minds of STIAS Fellows.

Catch the first episode on YouTube 👇
https://bit.ly/STIASConversationsEpisode1

In case you missed it, the recording of yesterday's public lecture by Jean Louis Fendji is now available. See: https://www.youtube.com/live/9M04p6SerOo?si=SNiyr6G3Z1PFIzzd

Congratulations to our Lewis Abedi Asante. Best wishes!

Congratulations to Prof. Lewis Abedi Asante on your promotion to Associate Professor.

🔔HAPPENING TODAY🔔

Be sure to join us this afternoon for the second lecture in the 2026 , to be delivered by Jean Louis Fendji.

Not able to join in person? No worries, the lecture will be livestreamed, and a recording will be available immediately afterwards.

📆 Thursday, 16 April 2026
⏰ 16:00 SAST
📍 STIAS Wallenberg Research Centre, 10 Marais Road, Stellenbosch
🔗

Designing for the Margin - A STIAS Public Lecture by Jean Louis Fendji STIAS invites you to attend our second lecture in the 2026 STIAS Public Lecture Series to be held on Thursday, 16 April 2026.This series of lectures, present...

🔔HAPPENING THIS WEEK🔔
Remember to sign up for the 2nd lecture in the for 2026, presented by
, Jean Louis Fendji, on the topic: "Designing for the Margin".

📆Thursday, 16 April 2026
⏰16:00 SAST
📍STIAS
🔗https://bit.ly/STIASPublicLectureRSVP

🔔PUBLIC LECTURE INVITATION🔔

Join us for the second lecture in the for 2026.

These lectures, presented in person and livestreamed, offer the general public, academics, researchers, and students, locally and abroad, an opportunity to engage with the work of STIAS Fellows.

, Jean Louis Fendji, will on Thursday, 16 April, present a lecture titled "Designing for the Margin".

📆Thursday, 16 April 2026

⏰16:00 SAST

📍STIAS Wallenberg Research Centre, 10 Marais Road, Stellenbosch

🔗https://bit.ly/STIASPublicLectureRSVP

Project: Textless Speech-to-Speech translation for voice user interfaces using an oral language to assist low-skilled, low-literate people.





https://youtu.be/dbcPQ0ew58M

2026 Public Lecture Series: STIAS Iso Lomso Fellow, Jean Louis Fendji Join us for the second lecture in the for 2026.These lectures, presented in person and livestreamed, offer the general public, acad...

- Human Futures – AI Transitions in a Global Context -

The Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) is initiating a new international research program supported by the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanity and Society (WASP-HS) and developed in collaboration with 東京カレッジ/ Tokyo College and the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS).

The program will bring together scholars from different disciplines and regions to explore the transformations associated with the rapid development of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.

"Human Futures" will be formally launched at an inaugural workshop at SCAS in Uppsala on 27–29 May 2026, bringing together scholars from Asia, Africa, and the Nordic region.

The initiative will continue through workshops hosted by the partner Institutes for Advanced Study in Stellenbosch and Tokyo in 2027.

Discussions within the program will examine how AI is influencing the production of knowledge, research methods, and disciplinary practices, as well as how scholars encounter and negotiate AI systems in their everyday academic work. By bringing together perspectives from different regions and intellectual traditions, the program aims to open new conversations about the role of AI in shaping research environments, institutions, and the future of scholarly work.



Read more: https://www.swedishcollegium.se/archives/news/2026/2026-03-26-human-futures---ai-transitions-in-a-global-context

STIAS Fellow and Abdulrazak Gurnah paid us a pleasant visit this morning, graciously greeting the staff and sharing some of his memories from his 2018 STIAS residency, when he was working on his acclaimed novel, Afterlives.

On Monday, Gurnah was awarded a Doctor of Literature (DLitt) honoris causa by Stellenbosch University.

We were delighted to host him in November 2025 as co-convenor and speaker at the Nobel in Africa - Nobel Symposium in Literature, titled: “Retrieving Pasts, Imagining Futures: Creative Forms in African Writing”.

It is always a great pleasure to see past Fellows. As STIAS Director, Edward K Kirumira always says, "Once a Fellow, always a Fellow".

🔔HAPPENING TODAY🔔

Be sure to join us this afternoon for the first lecture in the 2026 , to be delivered by Robin Crewe. Not able to join in person? No worries, the lecture will be livestreamed, and a recording will be available immediately afterwards.

📆 Thursday, 19 March 2026
⏰ 16:00 SAST
📍 STIAS Wallenberg Research Centre, 10 Marais Road, Stellenbosch
🔗

2026 Public Lecture Series: Robin Crewe Join us for the first lecture in the for 2026. These lectures, presented in person and livestreamed, offer the general public, acad...

🔔CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 🔔

Applications for the STIAS fellowship for the second semester of 2027 are now open.

DEADLINE: 30 April 2026

See poster for details.

The STIAS building extension has received yet another Green Building Award. This time from the Higher Education Facility Management Association of Southern Africa (HEFMA).

The extension building was inaugurated on 10 March 2025 and marked the STIAS Silver Jubilee celebrations.

“We are proud that we are making a tangible contribution to the journey of South African universities toward smart campuses,” STIAS Director, Edward K Kirumira said.

Pictured handing over the award certificate is Stellenbosch University Director of Property Services, Nadeem Gafieldien.