Abstract
INVITATION
UJ SARChI Chair: African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy and
the UJ Library in partnership with NB Publishers, invite you to
a discussion with PROFESSOR JONATHAN JANSEN author of
As by Fire: The End of the
South African University
DATE: 27 July 2017 TIME: 16h30 for 17h00
VENUE: Chinua Achebe Auditorium (6th Floor), APK Library,
University of Johannesburg, (corner Kingsway and University Road, Auckland Park)
RSVP by Tuesday 25 July 2017 to Theodorah Modise on licevents@uj.ac.za / 011 559 2264
FACILITATOR: Prof Chris Landsberg (SARChI Chair: African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Prof Jonathan Jansen is a leading South African educationist,
commentator and the author of several books including the bestselling, Letters to My
Children. He is the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State, where
he earned a reputation for transformation and a deep commitment to reconciliation.
He is married with two children.
ABOUT THE BOOK: What are the real roots of the student protests of 2015 and 2016?
Is it actually about fees? Why did so many protests turn violent? Where is the government
while the buildings burn, and do the students know how to end the protests? Former Free
State University Vice-Chancellor Jonathan Jansen delves into the unprecedented disruption
of universities that caught South Africa by surprise. In frank interviews with eleven of the
VCs most affected, he examines the forces at work, why the protests escalate into chaos,
and what is driving – and exasperating – our youth. This urgent and necessary book gives
us an insider view of the crisis, tells us why the conflict will not go away and what it means
for the future of our universities.