Ari Sitas is a sociologist, poet, dramatist, writer, ensemble leader and civic activist. He has been a recipient of many honours, including the Order of Mapungubwe in Silver for his contribution to the social sciences and the arts. He has retired from the University of Cape Town’s Sociology Department and from his titular Gutenberg Chair at the University of Strasbourg and has joined the Africa Open Institute as an Extraordinary Honorary Professor at the end of 2023.  

PRESENT AND RECENT POSITIONS 

• Acting Director of Institute of African Alternatives, Cape Town, 2023-4 
• Honorary Professor, Open Africa Institute, University of Stellenbosch 2023-26 
• Scientific Committee of UNESCO’s World Humanities Report 2022-4 
• Lifetime Achievement Award for Creative Work, Durban International Book Fair, December 2023 
• Fellow at CEPED and GRIP Paris University Cite-Descartes 2022-3 
• Recipient of the Order of Mapungubwe (OMS), the South African Presidency, 2019 
• Member of Ministerial Panel for the Future of the Science, Technology and Innovation 
• Framework in South Africa (HESTILL), co-author of its Report 2019-20 
• Titular Gutenberg Chair, University of Strasbourg, France, 2019-20/extended to 2023 
• Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town, 2019ff 
• Director and Principal Investigator of the Multi-Institutional Research Project- Re- 
• Centring AfroAsia, 2016-21, funded by the AW Mellon Foundation.