In search of new team members
Biography students and other faculty visit the Huguenot museum in Franschhoek, February 2019.
The Biography of an Uncharted People project is now advertising bursaries for a third intake of students. The project, generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has two main aims: firstly, to digitise and transcribe historical records that has hereto been inaccessible to researchers and, secondly, to equip students with the tools to analyse and interpret these sources. The team currently consists of three fully-funded postdocs, two PhD students, three Master's students and three Honours students, with six research assistants. Three Honours students already graduated at the end of 2018.
Five themes have been identified that will now become the core of the project. Each theme is linked to one or two individual-level data sets. The theme 'Love and Marriage in the Mother City', for example, makes use of more than 55 000 newly transcribed Anglican marriage records and a household survey of Cape Town during the 1930s. The five themes, their research questions and participating members, will soon be reflected on our website.
If you are (or know of) a student with excellent academic transcripts, with dedication and a willingness to explore new methods and tools, please apply for one of the available bursaries. I look forward to welcoming a new cohort to Stellenbosch.