Great Wole Soyinka joins UJ as visiting professor

Written by Azizzar Mosupi

The University of Johannesburg’s Humanities Faculty has received the Midas Touch with the addition of Nobel Prize winner‚ Professor Wole Soyinka.

Nigerian-born Soyinka‚ the first African to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature‚ joins the university as a Distinguished Visiting Professor.

Professor Alex Broadbent‚ Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities said Soyinka’s involvement will serve as an opportunity for the unique inspiration of their students‚ while attracting other renowned scholars.

“He has been and continues to be associated with some of the best universities in the world. UJ’s drive to decolonisation as well as the Africanisation of knowledge have led to substantial dialogues at the Institution [which] provided the university the opportunity to ask searching questions about our African identity and our role in nurturing the New Africa‚ and the future of our university‚” he added.

Professor Soyinka boasts international recognition‚ having held fellowship and professorial positions in the Dramatic Arts and Comparative Literature at the Universities of Ibadan‚ Lagos and Ife in Nigeria; Legon in Ghana‚ Sheffield and Cambridge in England; as well as Yale‚ Cornell‚ Harvard‚ Emory‚ Nevada‚ Loyola Marymount in the United States of America.

Currently he is Life Fellow of Churchill College‚ Cambridge‚ Emeritus Fellow of the Black Mountain Institute‚ University of Nevada‚ Overseas Fellow of Hutchins Institute‚ Harvard University‚ and Professor Emeritus‚ Obafemi Awolowo University‚ Ile-Ife‚ Nigeria‚ Founder and Chairman of the Wole Soyinka Foundation in Nigeria.

Broadbent said that in addition to his lecturing position‚ the high profile academic will also bring with him partnership with his foundation‚ well-known known for its Wole Soyinka Award for Literature.

-TMG Digital/The Times