Online CV Thomas Blaser

Thomas Michael Blaser
Graduate Centre Humanities
University of the Witwatersrand
Republic of South Africa


Personal

Place of Birth: Berne, Switzerland
Marital status: Single

Education
School

1982 – 1989 Gymnasium Baumlihof, Basel
1990 – 1992 Institut Minerva, Basel
Eidgenossische Matura

University

1994 Capilano College, West Vancouver, Canada

1994-1999 Political Science (Comparative Politics, Political Philosophy)
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
Bachelor of Arts

1999-2001 Political Science (Comparative Politics)
Thesis: Official Language Policy in Canada
and Switzerland: Language Survival and Political Stability
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Master of Arts

2002 - 2008 Political Studies
Thesis: Afrikaner Identity after Nationalism
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)



Employment
1997-1998 Immigration Canada, Vancouver, internship and employee
Researched and wrote reports in preparation for legal proceedings

2002 -2005 Tutor: Department of Sociology, Wits University, Johannesburg SOCL 320, States, Market and Economic Policy
SOCL 211, Sociological Theories
SOCL 109, Poverty and Society

2004 Course Lecturer (Evening class):
SOCL 320, Culture, Power & Identity

2005 Tutor, School of Accountancy,
Business Communication, course: ACN 226

2006-07 Ford Foundation research project into races, colours, ethnicities,
gender, class, and sexualities in Johannesburg

2007 – 08 South African Institute of Race Relations, Johannesburg, Researcher (Politics, race, and education)

2008 - 2010 African Futures Institute, Tshwane, Researcher (Futures Studies,
scenario building, and African development)

2010 - Post-doctorate Fellow, Graduate Centre Humanities, University of
the Witwatersrand


Other Activities and Skills

1990-1994 Member of the Othella Dallas Jazz Theater, Basel, Switzerland

2002 -03 Executive Member of the Postgraduate Association (PGA),
University of the Witwatersrand

PGA Representative University Council, Wits University

2002-08 Founding member of the Political Studies Forum,
Wits University
The Forum organises, together with the History Workshop,
lectures by PhD Candidates, national and international visitors.
(www.wits.ac.za/politicsforum).



2005 Carnegie Equity Student Leader for Sustainable Dialogue
Student leaders raise awareness about issues of equity and transformation amongst the student population and the faculty through social and academic events.

2005 Consultant with the Wits Writing Centre

2006 Consultant and presenter for an undergraduate short course, Ethics,
Protocols and Practices of International Research, University of
Virginia, USA

2007 World of Work Training Program, Wits University
A one month Business Training Program in the Faculty of
Humanities, involving workshops with business people which address all aspects of doing business in contemporary South Africa.

Computer - Hardware: IBM and Apple personal computers
- Software: Word Processing (Microsoft Word, Powerpoint) and
spreadsheet (Excel), internet and email

Languages Afrikaans, reading ability
French and German, fluent in oral and written expression


Publications

Journal article:

South African Historical Journal, ‘The Afrikaners and Nation Building in Post-apartheid South Africa’, 51, (2005)

The Journal of South African and American Studies (Safundi), ‘Looking at ‘The Heart of
Whiteness’ in South Africa Today’, vol. 9, issue 1, (January 2008), 81-96.

Chapters in a book:

Fragile Freedom, eds. Greg Cuthbertson and Alan Jeeves ‘A New South African Imaginary: the Afrikaners and Nation Building in Post-apartheid South Africa’ (UNISA Press, Pretoria, 2008).

The South Africa Survey 2007/08, South African Institute of Race Relations, chapters on the economy and education



Reviews:

Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) newsletter, 2003, ‘Thinking
Blackness and Africa’. Three Lectures by Achille Mbembe

African Studies Review, 2004,‘Whiteness is just not what it used to
Be’. Melissa Steyn (2002).

H-Net SAfrica, 2007, ‘The Populist Dimension to African Political Thought: Essays
In Reconstruction and Retrieval’, P.L.E. Idahosa (2004)

H-Net SAfrica, 2007, ‘The Illusion of Cultural Identity’, Jean-Francois Bayart (2005)

Politikon, 2009, ‘African Intellectuals in the 19th and early 20th Century South Africa’,
Mcebisi Ndletyana (ed.) (2008)

Newspaper:
Beeld (Johannesburg), ‘Skep nuwe geskiedenis, Afrikaners moet ophou om ‘n ’aparte
groep’ te wees’, Sept. 6, 2005, p. 11

Other:
Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Working Paper Series, 2006, no. 4, ‘Afrikaner Identity after Nationalism’



Conference Papers and Presentations
2002 PhD Forum, University of the Witwatersrand, State and Narration:
Afrikaner Identity

2004 Ten Years of Democracy in Southern Africa: Historical Achievement, Present
State, Future Prospects:

- Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, May 2-5, 2004, The Afrikaners and
Nation Building in Post-apartheid South Africa

- University of South Africa, Pretoria, August 23-25, 2004, Identity after Nationalism: Young Afrikaners and the New Nation

2005 South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS) Colloquium,
Pietermaritzburg, 22-23 September 2005, Young Afrikaners: new citizens
of the nation?

2006 Discussant for Rehad Desai’s documentary Heart of Whiteness at the
Graduate Conference, Wits School of Literature and Language Studies, March 18 -19

Seminar Leader: Truth, Reconciliation and Transformation in
South Africa, Interdisciplinary Seminar: Paradigms of Community Engagement in South Africa, Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and Ikageng Itireleng, Soweto; May 28

Basler Afrika Bibliographien and Namib Resource Centre, and Historisches Seminar University of Basel, Switzerland, June 12, Afrikaner Identity after Nationalism

International Sociological Congress and Junior Sociology Workshop, Durban, July 22-29, Afrikaner Identity after Nationalism

2007 Anthropology South Africa Conference, University of Pretoria,
September, 2007, ‘Transforming Identities among the rainbow nations’s
youth: Interactions across “races, colours, ethnicities”, gender, classes and
sexualities in Johannsburg, with Zethu Matebeni and Brigitte Bagnol

Human Resources Africa Conference, Johannesburg, November 2007, ‘Scarce
skills in 2010’, with Marius Roodt

2008 Presentation to undergraduate students at Wits University, 24 May 2008
‘South Africa Mirror: Socio-economic and political indicators’,

Colloquium on Race and Racism in South Africa, 18 June 2008, University of
South Africa, (UNISA) ‘Race, Racism and Liberalism’

2010 Experience and Experiments: Afrikaners after apartheid,
‘Afrikaners after nationalism: young Afrikaners and the new nation’, University of Stellenbosch, 18 February 2010


Awards
2002-2004 Post-graduate Merit Award, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesbrg, South Africa

1994 Dean’s Honor Roll, Capilano College, West Vancouver, BC, Canada





References
Prof. Jonathan Hyslop
Deputy Director, Wits Institute of Social and Economic Research (WISER), University of the Witwatersrand, RSA
hyslopj@wiser.wits.ac.za
011 717 4272

Prof. Shela Meintjes
Chair, Department of Political Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, RSA
meintjess@social.wits.ac.za
011 717 4371

Dr. Alioune Sall
Executive Director, African Futures Institute, Tshwane, RSA
asall@africanfutures.org
012 352 4071/4107