Campaigning Against Apartheid: The Rise,Fall and Legacies of the South Africa United Front 1960–1962

ABSTRACT

The international struggle against apartheid that emerged during the second half of the twentieth century made the system of legalised racial oppression in South Africa one of the world’s great moral causes. Looking back at the anti-apartheid struggle, a defining characteristic was the scope of the worldwide efforts to condemn, co-ordinate, and isolate the country. In March 1961, the international campaign against apartheid achieved its first major success when Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd chose to withdraw South Africa from the Commonwealth following vocal protests at the Heads of State Summit held in London. As a consequence, it appeared albeit briefly, that external pressure would effectively serve as a catalyst for achieving far-reaching and immediate political change in South Africa. The global campaign, centred on South Africa remaining in the Commonwealth, was the first of its kind launched by South Africa’s national liberation movements, and signalled the beginning of thirty years of continued protest and lobbying. The contributions from one organisation that had a role in launching and co-ordinating this particular transnational campaign, the South Africa United Front (SAUF), an alliance of liberation groups, have been largely forgotten. Leading members of the SAUF claimed the organisation had a key part in South Africa’s subsequent exit from the Commonwealth, and the purpose of this article is to explore the validity of such assertions, as well as the role and impact it had in generating a groundswell of opposition to apartheid in the early 1960s. Although the SAUF’s demands for South Africa to leave the Commonwealth were ultimately fulfilled, the documentary evidence suggests that its campaigning activities and impact were not a decisive factor; however the long-term significance of the SAUF, and the position it had in the rise of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) has not been fully recognised. As such, the events around the campaign for South Africa’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth act as a microcosm of developments that would define the international struggle against apartheid.     

The Daily Life of the Professors of National Southwest Associated University—Taking Professor Zheng Tianting and Zheng Tianting’s Diary of National Southwest Associated University (Zheng Tianting Xinan lianda riji) for Material

This article explores the life of the professors of National Southwest Associated University during the Anti-Japanese War in detail, and tries to reveal their mental outlook and their enlightenment on how to live. The paper also describes the daily lives of Professor Zheng Tianting and his colleagues, including living and sleep, body care, diet and hobbies, family life, closeness to nature, appreciation of cultural artifacts, various cultural and entertainment activities, nostalgia for deceased relatives, communication and care within clans and social groups, diary writing, and self-cultivation. Zheng and his colleagues from National Southwest Associated University felt deeply that people living in social groups needed to take the initiative to find friends, make friends, and be critical friends. Friends can encourage each other, solve difficulties, promote personal development, enrich life interest, and improve quality of life, which makes an already active life more dynamic and colorful. The life of Zheng and his colleagues was in accord with the social conditions of the times. There are three aspects of consistency between them: the common experience of war, patriotic spirit, and confidence that China would definitely win; traditional moral benevolence and the inheritance of the spirit of the ancient Chinese intellectuals who cared about the country and the people before personal enjoyment; and maintaining the spirit of the times, which was a new awareness of independent personality and consciousness. There are many inspirations for life that can be drawn from the daily life of Zheng and his colleagues: People should have a rich and diverse life, every meal deserves to be taken seriously, and one should watch art performances, play mahjong and poker, appreciate art works, collect cultural relics, and so on. Such is what life should mean. Whether it was the willingness of the professors of National Southwest Associated University to “go Dutch” when they had dinner parties during the Republic of China or the novel experience of daylight savings time, these were considered new things in life. They are a reminder that we need to continue to supersede closed thoughts. The professors, who had both the essence of traditional morality and the modern sense of democracy, realized their desire to be their own “master.”     

Professionalising Teaching: enhancing the status of teaching,improving the experience of learning and supporting innovation in higher education

Extant literature on professions suggests that there is a readily recognisable set of characteristics of a profession, but this is a contested issue, particularly in the area of recognising the professionalism of those who teach and support learning in higher education. In the UK, the Institute for Learning and Teaching was set up as a result of the Dearing report to recognise the experience and expertise of those working in these areas. The ILT offers a model for professionalising teaching, to which continuous professional development (CPD) is key. Geographers and those who teach related subjects are already in the vanguard of this activity.     

战时大学校园中的国民党:以西南联大为中心

During the Anti-Japanese War, universities became an important arena for the competition between GMD and CCP, as well as the contention among various nationalist factions. The GMD branch in the National Southwest Associated University was the most active one among its university party branches during the wartime. About half of the professors joined the GMD, and the university authorities also tolerated professors and students in other parties and factions. The professors made up a heterogeneous group that included “democratic fighters” like Wen Yiduo and “faithful party members” like Yao Congwu. The co-existence of intellectual elites belonging to different parties and factions created a highly tolerant “fortress of democracy” on campus. Translated by Zhou Weiwei from Lishi Yanjiu 历史研究 (Historical Research), 2006, (4):125–148     

Reforming China’s polar science and technology system

ABSTRACT

Along with its modernization process, China has developed many interests in polar ecology and has connected the significance of the Antarctic and Arctic to its national interests. We present an in-depth analysis and assessment of the state of the art of China’s polar research from following points of view, mechanism of policy making on polar affairs, science diplomacy and polar governance, on-spot research expedition management, allocation of scientific funds, forming polar scientific team, especially on the management system of CHINARE. From an integrated perspective of social and natural sciences, we present a vision for future reform and development of polar affairs of China: to establish a macro and long term policy for the polar regions, to promote and establish a government-led, diversified polar scientific management system, to establish a reasonable and rule based evaluation system, to train, stabilize and expand polar scientific research teams, and to attract and encourage talents for polar science communication.     

Variety and Adventure in the Life of Carl Linden

Abstract

In his long life Carl Linden lived variously and wonderfully. For more than half a century he was a teacher and promoter of Great Books in the classroom and in the neighborhood. Great Books in his hands and mind transformed him into a kind of latter-day Socrates, always questioning, always smiling, sometimes teasingly. As a naturalist he was a hiker/biker on the C&O Canal towpath and promoter of it, as well. His scholarly pursuits took him to Eastern Europe, especially to Russia and Ukraine, about which he wrote and taught for four decades. Finally, he was a bon vivant whose Socratic ways won him laurels in the classroom and friends in the places where good fellows meet.