We are pleased to have as scholar in residence this semester, Dr. Andre Odendaal. Dr. Odendaal is an Honorary Professor in History and Heritage Studies at the University of the Western Cape as well as Chief Executive of one of the six professional cricket teams in South Africa. He taught for thirteen years at UWC where he was instrumental in the establishment of the Mayibuye Centre for History and Culture in South Africa, a pioneering multi-media archive on apartheid and the struggle for freedom in South Africa. Dr. Odendaal has also lent his expertise to the African National Congress’ Commission for Museums and aided in the establishment of the Robben Island Museum, serving as its first director from 1997-2002.
 

Outside of the classroom, Dr. Odendaal is also a talented cricket player and anti-apartheid activist. In 1984, he left the South African Cricket Union to join the non-racial Cricket Board, making him the only white first-class cricketer to play with black players during the apartheid years. In 2002, he received the Presidential Award for Sport in the Lifetime Achievement category and is also the author of numerous books that document the experiences of black cricketers during the apartheid era, including The Story of an African Game. During his stay at UK, Dr. Odendaal is teaching an A&S class on Sport and Society: Historical Perspectives on South Africa from the Earliest Times to the Present.

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