A century of human geography at Stellenbosch University: Reflections on urban and tourism geography

ABSTRACT

As part of a special edition of the South African Geographical Journal on the centenary of geography at the University of Stellenbosch, this paper briefly documents the evolution of human geography since 1920 in the department. The paper is structured in three sections. First, a brief account is given of the contribution by an era of Piet Serton, founding professor of the department. Second and third, accounts of the urban and tourism geography scholarship, respectively, are provided. Human geographic academic study was characterized by apolitical and positivistic approaches for most of the 100 years. The absence of departmental research into apartheid’s injustices and the immediate post-apartheid era’s policies, outcomes and shortcomings in a period of transition is a reflection of the institutional psyche, politics and staff of the day. Research output has increased dramatically since 2010, but now bears evidence of vigorous attempts to be relevant to the broader society in the subdisciplines of urban and tourism geography.

KEYWORDS:

• Stellenbosch University
• geography department
• Serton
• South African urban scholarship
• South African tourism scholarship

Acknowledgments

Pieter de Necker’s (lectured for 33 years in the department - 1974 to 2007) contribution as language editor for over hundreds of papers (including three of the papers in this special edition) of his colleagues and students over the past four decades has largely gone unnoticed and the department wants to acknowledge his expertise and assistance in this regard.

Notes

1. See the introductory paper of this special edition for an example of him openly criticizing the government.

2. In Barnard (2016) the street address of Serton’s house is incorrectly given as 46 Jonkershoek Avenue. This was the number before the town expanded and the street number was later changed to 79 Jonkershoek Road.

3. Unless stated otherwise, research output refers to any one or more of the following types of publications: journal article, book, book chapter, monograph.