Ari Sitas

Prof Ari Sitas is a recipient of a Gutenberg Chair that found him conducting research on the implications of emerging powers (like BRICS) on the knowledge systems of Europe. The research project involving colleagues at Strasbourg and Paris Universities will be completing two manuscripts soon: one based on the actual research and one based on the proceedings of a high-level conference of experts from all over the world and the International Science council that (COVID-19 permitting) willll take place in October. The conference has been titled, Beyond Centres and Peripheries of Knowledge: Gauging BRICS Ascendance. In the meantime Prof Sitas has been inaugurated with the highest honour that the South African state conveys, the Order of Mapungubwe for his contribution in the social sciences, policy work and the arts. He has also been appointed on the Scientific Committee for UNESCO's Humanities Report and the South African Giovernment's Panel for the future of Higher Education, Science, Technol and innovation of the country. A special issue of the "Journal of Contemporary African Studies" on his academic contribution is to appear in a month's time. On the creative side, his "Notes for an Oratorio of Small Things" (2020) is published by Tulika Press in India and Columbia University Press in the USA.