https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8034-7538
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ABSTRACT
The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Stellenbosch University is the oldest geography department in South Africa and celebrates its centenary in 2020. This paper provides insight into a range of publications that emanated from the department during that time. The presentation is periodized in three sections of review and analysis: the genesis of the department from 1920 up to 1947; the apartheid period of 1948 to 1993; and the democratic era (1994–2019). Drawing on various sources it appears that published research in the department amounted to a meagre output in the early years by one staff member. Publication numbers grew in the 1960s and 1970s. This period was, however, characterized by publications mostly in South African journals and generally in Afrikaans. This period also consolidated a positivist epistemology that remains to the present. Research output increased in the 1990s. The past decade (2010s) saw publication output rise steeply to register more than half of all publications ever produced in the department. This was due to the establishment of research centres in the department, increased staff complements and the appointment of research fellows.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. The history of the department draws on Visser and De Waal (Citation2020) unless indicated otherwise.
2. The Afrikaner Broederbond was a secret, all-male organization for the advancement of Afrikaner interests.
3. The Centre for Urban and Regional Innovation and Statistical Exploration (CRUISE) resides in the department and is externally funded by Statistics South Africa. CRUISE presents master’s and doctoral programmes in urban and regional science and urban and regional planning.
4. The forerunner of the Centre for Geographical Analysis (CGA) was the Institute for Cartographic Analysis which was established in 1975. The CGA is a self-funded centre residing in the department. The CGA presents short courses in addition to conducting contractual research.