Professor Andrea Hurst

Bio: Professor Hurst was awarded PhD in Philosophy from Villanova University, Philadelphia, 2006. This research focused on bringing complexity-thinking in continental philosophy into contact with psychoanalytic theory, leading to the publication of a book entitled Derrida vis-รก-vis Lacan: Interweaving Deconstruction and Psychoanalysis (New York: Fordham University Press, 2008), as well as over 40 accredited articles and book chapters on related subjects. From her appointment in 2012 at Nelson Mandela University, she has been extensively engaged with the revival and restructuring of Philosophy as a discipline at the University, and served for nearly 2 years as Director: School of Language, Media and Culture (2016-2017). Professor Hurst has been and remains deeply committed to building research capacity. She has organised an on-going weekly Philosophy seminar, and has developed and presented close to 30 research workshops, including 8 5-day workshops on academic writing for publication. She has also recently served for 4 years as Editor-in Chief of the South African Journal of Philosophy (2014-2017).

Research Interests: Professor Hurst remains engaged, broadly speaking, in examining the interfaces between philosophy as a way of life in its many dimensions, psychoanalytic thinking, and the development of notions of ethical responsibility within the contemporary paradigmatic shift from “simplicity” to “complexity.” The extension of this research into the field of aesthetics and practice-based knowing in the various arts, promises to be an exciting new development.

Harsheila Riga

Bio: Harsheila joined the University in July 2014 as the Project Coordinator of ICEP [Institutional Culture Enlivening Process]. During her involvement in that project she got to know a wide number of staff members across all the campuses and has familiarised herself with the different university systems etc…

She is passionate about issues of the past that still affect us in present day South Africa.  Her current work as Project Coordinator of the Identities and Social Cohesion in Africa Chair allows her to apply her wide practical and interpersonal experience to contribute where she can towards addressing the transformational issues that we grapple with on a daily basis.