Bertram Baltasar Mapunda current Principal of Jordan University College in Morogoro—is our ‘UDSM Alumnus of the Month’ for August 2021. He was born on the 26th day of September 1957 in Lukali village in Lituhi, Nyasa district (Ruvuma region), where he obtained his primary education. He moved on to Likonde Seminary in Mbinga district for both O-Level and A-Level of secondary education which was obtainable at the same school from Form I (1975/6) through VI (1981). Upon completion of secondary Form VI, he joined the Dar es Salaam College of Education for a two-year diploma teacher-training course (1981-1983). [He also spent some time at Mahiwa TANU College in 1984, where he was awarded a certificate in ideological education. The next three years were spent teaching at Tunduru Secondary School (1983-1986).
With good advanced-level passes in the ‘A-level’ examinations, Bertram applied for and secured entry into a degree study programme at the University of Dar es Salaam, in the-then Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. He pursued studies in history and archaeology. These two subjects eventually led to a strong passion for a more specialised field that focuses on a combination of social history, archaeo-metallurgy, cultural heritage and historical archaeology. With such an amiable combination study interests, the History Department identified him for a staff-development position of Tutorial Assistant in Archaeology pending proceeding to postgraduate specialisations. Accordingly, in 1989/90, Mapunda obtained a Ford Foundation scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Florida in USA, beginning an MA in Anthropology (1989-1991) and proceeding with a doctoral programme. Four years later, in 1995, he earned his PhD in Anthropology.
Professor Mapunda has had a successful career, growing through the University ranks from tutorial assistant (1989-1991), to Assistant Lecturer (1991-1995), to Lecturer (1995-1998), to Senior Lecturer (1998-2007), Associate Professor (2007-2015), to Professor in 2015. He served the University in this rank up to 2017, when he relocated to Jordan University College in Morogoro, a constituent college of the Mwanza-based St. Augustine University of Tanzania. At Jordan, he is doubling up as the College’s Principal as well as Professor of Anthropology and History.
Back at UDSM, Professor Mapunda is remembered for his active service not only as a teacher and researcher but also as a highly conscientious academic manager and administrator. He served as Coordinator of the Archaeology Unit (1996-99); as head of the History Department within the-then Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 2003 to 2009; and as Principal of the College of Arts and Social Sciences from 2009 to 2013; and subsequently as Principal of a reconstituted College of Humanities from 2013 to 2015. In a previous period of 10 years, from 2000 to 2010, Prof. Mapunda and colleagues in the History Department developed an innovative proposal on ‘Promoting Tanzania’s Cultural Heritage Resources’, one of scores that were fully supported by the University of Dar es Salaam-Carnegie Corporation of New York collaborative partnership with African Universities. Bertrand directed the project for six years from 2004 to 2010.
This led to the currently tangible innovations in cultural heritage resources, including a designing of diploma and degree courses in heritage management and tour guidance. The project also led to a creative planning for a university museum and for museum and cultural studies which, in collaboration with other units, would help shape UDSM graduates for future roles as instructors in heritage resources, as museum curators, conservators, heritage consultants, as well as cultural/heritage tourism operators.
Professor Mapunda is a well-published scholar, credited with over 70 items of publication, including 43 journal articles, five books and three booklets. Space can allow only a few of these. The books include Salvaging Tanzania’s Cultural Heritage (with Paul Msemwa, eds, Dar es Salaam University Press, 2005); In Search of Relevance: A History of the University of Dar es Salaam (with Kimambo, I. and Y.Q. Lawi, eds, Dar es Salaam University Press, 2008); and Contemplating the Fipa Iron Working (Fountain Publishers, Kampala, 2010). Over fifty of the publications are in form of journal articles, book chapters and reviews, including “Metallurgy in Tanzania” (with Lyaya, in H. Selin, Ed. Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, Springer, 2016); “Symbolism and Ritualism in Pre-Colonial African Context: The Case of German East Africa”, in Reyels, Ivanov and Weber-Sinn, eds., Humboldt Lab Tanzania (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 2018, pp. 150-207; “Challenges facing accessible tourism in cultural heritage sites: The case of village museum in Tanzania” (with Lwoga) in ; “JUCo’s Future Prospects” in Marcel Mukadi (Ed, Jordan University College Silver Jubilee (1993-2018)): Teaching All Nations: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Morogoro: Salvatorium (2019), pp.85-100).