The past informs the present while the past and the present inform the future. In this episode, our academic citizens help us trace the importance of knowing the events and memories that inform our heritage, identities and guide our spirituality.

Dr Sven Ouzman is an archaeologist, rock art researcher and heritage specialist working in northern Australia, Borloo (Perth) and southern Africa. His research interests range from ancient artefacts to modern graffiti, along with issues of Indigenous Knowledge, contemporary archaeology, museums and identity.

Youlendree Appasamy is a feminist free radical, working in the spaces of writing, zine-making and collage. Her writing work can be found on Africa is a Country, Mail & Guardian, Sunday Times and Kajal Magazine. She is interested in how Indian indentureship in South Africa influenced kinship structures, violence and gender/race-making in Indian South African communities. She is  member of Kutti Collective, a queer art and cultural work collective that supports young African artists and writers of South Asian ancestry.

Dr Mohammad Shabangu is a music curator and DJ as well as an assistant professor of English at Colby College, where he teaches and researches world literatures. 

The Academic Citizen (Season 6) is produced and funded by the South African Research Chair in Science Communication, hosted at Stellenbosch University. We welcome your feedback, guest and theme suggestions. Email us on theacademiccitizen@gmail.com or on our WhatsApp line on +27 76 608 3177.