News

By Dotto Kuhenga, CMU

The University of Dar es Salaam History Scholar Dr. Salvatory S. Nyanto has been appointed  Research Fellow in the Institute for Social and Health Sciences in the College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa (Unisa).

The news of this appointment to serve in this scholarly position, for a period of three years from 01 July 2024 to 30 June 2027, was communicated in a letter from UNISA Vice-Principal responsible forteaching, learning, community engagement and student support, Prof ZT Motsa Madikane, dated 26 June 2024.

“The purpose of the Research Fellow program is to encourage critical discourse, enhance the department’s research capacity, and to increase the number of accredited publications attributed to the University”, stated the letter by Prof. Madikane.

The letter further stated that the appointment is renewable at the end of term and will be reviewed annually by the Executive Committee of Senate of Unisa (SENEX), upon Dr. Nyanto’s submission of a report. “Note that Research Fellows are not employees of Unisa and as such, the conditions of employment are not applicable”.

Publishing in a South African-accredited journal

The letter further stated that: “Each year, a Research Fellow is expected to publish at least one article in a South African-accredited journal and he/she may also be assigned limited mentoring duties of staff and/or students in the department where he/she is appointed”.

Dr Nyanto, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History, College of Humanities and Director in the Office of the Vice Chancellor received this news with gratitude and honour to his department and the University of Dar es Salaam at large.

“I have unreservedly accepted this appointment to work as Research Fellow at Unisa. It is an honour bestowed upon myself, the department of history, and the University of Dar es Salaam”, said Dr. Nyanto.

A prolific history scholar

Dr. Nyanto, a prolific history scholar, has researched extensively in the areas of Religion and Empire; Slavery and Missionaries; and Christian-Muslim relations. In 2022, Dr. Nyanto was appointed a member of the Editorial Board of the African History Review for three years, effective from 1st November, 2022.

He also serves as member of the Advisory Board for the project “Women at Work: for a comparative history of African female urban professionals (Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana), 1919-1970” (2023-2027) which is housed in the Institut des Mondes Africains (IMAF) in France and the University of Bologna in Italy.

Dr. Nyanto is author of a book, Slave Emancipation and Christian Communities in Post-Abolition Tanzania, 1878-1978 (London and New York: James Currey, 2024). He is currently, chair of the editorial team for the book project, ‘A History of Post-Colonial Tanzania: Essays in Honour of Prof. Isaria N. Kimambo.’ He is also co-editing ‘Six Decades of Production of Historical Knowledge at Dar es Salaam’, and ‘Utumwa na Maisha Baada ya Utumwa katika Jamii za Afrika Mashariki’.