Teaching and Researching the World in South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT This reflective article offers an argument for the importance of making international connections for historical research regardless of where one is based. For students in South Africa to gain further knowledge of the world, universities in the field of history need to offer global coverage in subject offerings and research strengths. The National Research Foundation in South Africa offers tremendous help in this regard through research funding calibrated to publication output. The challenge is less that an historian who specializes on history outside South African history faces limitations but rather that those faculty will have challenges recruiting students who are not narrowly focused on South African history to the exclusion of other regions of Africa and the globe. Since the best universities in the world strive for global coverage of topics a winning strategy would be for universities in South Africa to do the same. The SAHJ plays a vital role in solving this dilemma. This article argues that the SAHJ should build on its impressive focus on South African history while casting at the same time a broader net, offering history faculty and students in South Africa the resource of scholarship that emphasizes South Africa's global connections and influence on the world.