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Did Prison Change Mandela?

Prof. Elleke Boehmer explores how prison did or did not...

Nelson Mandela in the 21st Century

To mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, the legacy of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), first president of democratic South Africa, will be considered - both within his country and in the wider world.

South Africa’s Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Afrikaner people it served had, since the 17th century drawn a distinction between white ‘Christians’ and the apparently unconvertible ‘heathen’ peoples around them. Theology legitimised apartheid, but was also instrumental in its end.

Van Eyck's The Virgin with the Canon: Visual Disability and Societal Attitudes as Depicted in the Northern Renaissance

Examples of disease as shown in artworks will be examined, from the medical and surgical point of view as well as the historical and artistic ones, particularly visual loss as portrayed by artists from pre-historic times.

The Zika Virus, Dengue and the Yellow Fever Mosquito

The Zika virus originated in Africa and causes a febrile illness but was little known until it spread within Brazil in 2014. The lecture will also discuss the ‘nightmare scenario’ of the increased range of the mosquito as a result of climate change.