Register for the TB Davie Memorial Lecture

Dear colleagues and students

Registration is open for the 60th TB Davie Memorial Lecture, which will be hosted by the University of Cape Town (UCT) on Wednesday, 26 August 2026. Professor Mogobe Bernard Ramose will deliver the 2026 lecture, to be held in the New Lecture Theatre (New LT) on upper campus at 18:00.

• RSVP for the lecture.

The lecture honours Thomas Benjamin Davie who served as UCT’s Vice-Chancellor from 1948 to 1955 and was a strong advocate for academic freedom. Established by UCT students and organised annually by the Academic Freedom Committee (AFC), the TB Davie Memorial Lecture provides a platform for leading scholars and thinkers to examine questions of academic freedom and broader freedoms in South Africa and internationally.

Professor Ramose’s lecture, titled Spes bona through “the Cape of Storms”, will explore the historical and philosophical significance of the Cape. He will trace the journey from Bartolomeu Dias’s designation of the “Cape of Storms” to its later naming as the “Cape of Good Hope”, using these histories to reflect on the meaning of UCT’s motto, Spes Bona, or “Good Hope”.

Through the lenses of African philosophy and ubuntu, Professor Ramose will examine how histories of colonialism continue to influence contemporary debates about knowledge, justice, memory and freedom. His address will also consider the responsibility of universities to create spaces for critical thought, dialogue and the pursuit of truth.

Professor Ramose is a leading South African philosopher and an internationally recognised scholar of African philosophy. His work has played a significant role in advancing the philosophical study of ubuntu and has contributed to debates on justice, reconciliation, sovereignty and human dignity. He currently serves as a research professor at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University and as a researcher in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria. His academic career includes appointments at institutions across Africa and Europe, while his scholarship continues to influence philosophical debates internationally.

The 60th edition of the TB Davie Memorial Lecture provides an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between history, philosophy and academic freedom, while considering the role of universities in a democratic society.

The UCT community and members of the public are invited to attend the lecture and engage with Professor Ramose’s reflections on questions that remain central to the university and South African society.

Communication and Marketing Department