Departmental Chair
Tel: +27 (21) 959 2210
Email: igswart@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications: DPhil (Religious Studies) - Stellenbosch University
Biography
Ignatius Swart is a full professor in the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape and has acted as Head of Department since the beginning of 2023. He completed his doctoral studies in religious studies at Stellenbosch University and, among other qualifications, holds a master’s degree in development studies from the International Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands. His research, publications, teaching and postgraduate supervision traverse the related fields of religion and development, theology and development, religion and society, diaconal studies, and social ethics. He currently serves as Chair of the Executive Board of the International Society for the Research and Study of Diaconia and Christian Social Practice (ReDi) (elected in April 2025).
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Academic Staff
Qualifications: D.Th, (Stellenbosch, 1992)
Biography
Ernst M. Conradie (1962-) is Senior Professor in the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape where he teaches systematic theology and ethics. He is married to Esther Marié Pauw, a flutist. Pieter (2000-) and Hildegard (2003-) also form part of this household.He studied at Paul Roos Gymnasium and Stellenbosch University and received the degrees BA (1982), BA Hons (Philosophy) (1984), BTh (1986) and MTh (1990), all cum laude. He obtained a doctorate from Stellenbosch University in 1992 with a dissertation entitled “Teologie en pluralisme: ‘n Kritiese analise van David Tracy se voorstel van ’n analogiese verbeelding” (Theology and pluralism: A critical analysis of David Tracy’s notion of an analogical imagination).
He joined the staff of the University of the Western Cape in 1993. He served as chairperson of the Department of Religion and Theology for three terms (2000-2001, 2006-2007, 2012-2015), as chairperson of the Arts Postgraduate Board of Studies (2000-2007) and of the Arts Research Committee (2010-2016) and as acting Deputy Dean for Research and Postgraduate Studies in the Faculty of Arts (September 2011-June 2012, July-August 2013).
He has read numerous papers at national and international conferences. He has obtained various fellowships, scholarships and invitations for periods of research in Utrecht, Oxford, Berkeley, Heidelberg, Exeter, Princeton, Stellenbosch, Decatur and Amsterdam. He has registered several major collaborative research projects, including ones on Christianity and Ecological theology (1995-2005, 2006-), Ecology and Eschatology (1996-2000), Anthropology and ecology (2000-2005), The Earth in God’s Economy (2006-2014), Ecumenical Studies and Social Ethics (2012-2015), Redeeming Sin? Hamartiology, Ecology and Social Analysis / Diagnostics (2014-2020), Food Contestation (2015-2019) and “An Earthed Faith: Telling the Story amid the Anthropocene” (2020-).
He was the convener of the steering committee for an international research project entitled “Christian Faith and the Earth” (2007-2013). He served as Chairperson of the Theological Society of South Africa (2016-2024), is a co-editor of the journal Scriptura, and a Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. He was elected as a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2015 and invited as a Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion in 2020.
He holds a rating as a leading international scholar (A2) from the National Research Foundation (2025-). At UWC he received UWC Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award in 2012, the UWC Book prize (in 2020), the UWC Award for “Best PhD supervisor” (2021) and several Faculty research awards. He has been awarded the Andrew Murray prize for theological publications in Afrikaans three times, namely for Waar op dees aarde vind mens God? (awarded in 2007), Lewend en Kragtig? In gesprek oor God se handelinge in die wêreld (awarded in 2013) and Die Bybel in Fokus (awarded in 2022, with Louis Jonker and Jan Botha) and was also awarded the Elise Tempelhoff prize for ecotheology (2020).
Tel: +27 (21) 959 2629
Email: jjodamus@uwc.ac.za
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Ph.DBiographyJohnathan Jodamus is Associate Professor at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), Cape Town, South Africa, teaching in the Department of Religion and Theology. He engages students in biblical texts, which continue to regulate norms for daily living. His primary research and teaching interests intersect the disciplines of biblical studies, gender studies and critical race studies. Theoretical insights plus political commitments (gender studies and race studies) and textual analysis (biblical studies) come together in his work as an interdisciplinary scholar.
CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1givkv6vK8ZkFcc2TC0p0lL26cXvLEwl-/view?usp=drive_link
Tel: +27 (21) 959 2388
Email: tsakupapa@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications: BA Hons Cum Laude (UWC), MA in Dogmatics Cum Laude (PThU Netherlands), PhD (UWC)
Biography
Dr Teddy Chalwe Sakupapa is senior lecturer in ecumenical studies and social ethics in the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape. His research traverses the fields of ecumenical studies, systematic theology and social ethics, decoloniality, African theology, and the history of Christianity in Africa on which he has published several articles, book chapters and an edited book volume. He is a member of Theological Society of South Africa and serves as Vice moderator of the WCC Commission on Ecumencial Education and Formation. Dr Sakupapa is a recipient of the Mellon Inclusive Professoriate (2024-2025) and previously won the Coimbra Group Award for Young African Scholars in 2019. In 2018, he received the DVC Academic achievers award for Excellent Emerging Lecturer in the Arts Faculty. Dr Sakupapa was a recipient of the 2017 Arts Teaching and Learning Award and of the 2018 DVC Academic achievers award for Excellent Emerging Lecturer in the Arts Faculty. His latest publication is an edited book volume published with Bloomsbury titled Bonhoeffer and the Responsibility for a Coming Generation (2024).
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Tel: +27 (21) 959 2384
Email: tibosman@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications: PhD, Stellenbosch University
Biography
Tiana Bosman studied at the University of Stellenbosch. She holds two Masters degrees and a PhD. Her PhD is in Biblical Languages with a focus on Ancient Hebrew and the understanding of the semantic domain of affection in the Old Testament. Her field of specialization is the translation and interpretation of Old Testament texts. Before her appointment at UWC, she lectured at the University of Stellenbosch, was appointed as Bible translator for Libronix as well as the Bible Society of South Africa, and served as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. In her capacity as minister she worked interdenominationally with colleagues on the Cape Flats.
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Email: faessop@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications: PhD (UCT)
Biography
Dr Fatima Essop holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town’s Law Faculty. Her thesis focused on the intersection between the Islamic laws of inheritance and the South African laws of inheritance. Fatima has a BA degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the International Peace College of South Africa (IPSA) and a Certificate in Islamic Finance from the ETHICA Institute of Islamic Finance in the United Arab Emirates. She has a keen interest in how usūl al fiqh (principles of jurisprudence) and maqāsid al-sharīa (objectives of Islamic law) can be utilised to derive fair and just substantive rulings in various areas of contemporary fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Her current research focuses on legal and religious pluralism, socio-legal studies and the practice of Muslim family law in constitutional democracies. She is a former Fellow of the Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World at Harvard Law School, the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Western Australia and of the Young Scholars Fellowship on Religion and the Rule of Law, Oxford. She is also the founder of the Muslim Family Law Hub, a non-profit organisation which aims to educate and advocate for more equitable Muslim family law outcomes in South Africa.
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Tel: +27 (21) 959 2525
Email: amaclennan@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications: MA received at The University of the Western Cape
Biography
I am currently completing a PhD in Old Testament Studies.
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Tel: +27 (21) 959 3893
Email: lzwane@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications: Master of Philosophy (Cum Laude in the dissertation) University of Cape Town
Biography
Li’Tsoanelo Zwane is currently pursuing Doctoral studies at the University of the Western Cape within the Religion and Theology department. Her research focuses on the divinity of water. She is a PhD Fellow of the International Research and Training Group on Transformative Religion and a member of the Association of the Study of Religions in Southern Africa. She lectures within the Department of Religion and Theology and her focus is Ethics (African, social and business). She is a practising Senior Sangoma/Gobela, Mthandazeli (faith-healer/prophetess). She is a Section 11 advisory board member of the South African Human Rights Commission (Diversity Education and Training) and a member of the Traditional Healers Organization of Africa.
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Tel: +27 (21) 959 2201
Email: troberths@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications: Masters in Practical Theology: Pastoral care & counselling
Biography
Tamlynn Roberths is a lecturer in Practical Theology and Missiology at the University of the Western Cape and a PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University. She holds postgraduate qualifications in both theology and psychology, with research specialisations in Pastoral Care & Counselling, Dialogical Intergenerational Pastoral Care, Contextual Therapy, and Relational Ethics. Her work also engages with African Philosophy, African Relational Ethics, Dialogical Philosophy, and Family Therapy.
Her doctoral research explores the relational resources within three-generational households and examines the role of the church as an agent of socialization amidst community-based trauma on the Cape Flats. She investigates how faith, resilience, and intergenerational relationships shape family dynamics in marginalised communities, particularly in contexts affected by social, historical and economic trauma or instability. Her research also highlights the church’s role in fostering relational support and ethical responsibility as an agent of socialisation.
Beyond academia, she is a ministerial candidate in the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), reflecting her commitment to community engagement. She is passionate about empirical qualitative research, and community outreach. She also greatly enjoys academic engagement, teaching and supervision of students both at an undergraduate and postgraduate level.
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Tel: +27 (21) 959 2386
Email: nymohamed@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications: MA (UWC)
Biography
Nabil Yasien Mohamed is a lecturer in Islamic Studies in the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape. He is a former fellow at the Cairo Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences (CILAS). He is the author of Ghazālī’s Epistemology: A Critical Study of Doubt and Certainty (Routledge, 2023). Nabil is a PhD candidate with research interests in Islamic theology and philosophy at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He holds an M.A in Islamic Philosophy from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), an honours degree in Islamic Studies from the Islamic Peace College of South Africa (IPSA), a BA degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of South Africa (UNISA), and a BSc Honours degree in Engineering from the University of Cape Town (UCT). Nabil has spent several years in Egypt studying Arabic and traditional Islamic sciences. His research interests and publications include Ghazālian studies, classical Islamic Philosophy, contemporary Islamic thought, theology, epistemology, ethics, and ecology.
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Tel: +27 (21) 959 2206
Email: lchetty@uwc.ac.za
Qualifications
Biography
Lloyd (Zanna-Rex) was appointed as the Academic Administrative Officer to the Department at the start of January 2019. Zanna comes from a multi-skilled background with specialisation in Events and Administration. Her admin/events career began at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Westville, Durban. She was appointed as the assistant to the Desmond Tutu Centre in 2017, whereafter she joined the Department. Her passion for people, artistic and creative know-how, attention to detail and out-of-the-box lifestyle shapes her work style, productivity, and ethics.
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