Advancing African Digital Humanities Ideation Hub (AADHIH)

Welcome to the Advancing African Digital Humanities Ideation Hub (AADHiH), housed within the College of Human Sciences (CHS) at the University of South Africa (UNISA). Established in 2024 through a Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP) grant, AADHiH serves as an interdisciplinary research and innovation hub that collaborates across UNISA’s academic colleges.

Aligned with the University’s Catalytic Niche Area on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and Digitisation, the Hub seeks to advance the field of Digital Humanities in Africa by cultivating contextually grounded methodologies that centre on African epistemologies, promote decolonial praxis, and foster collaborative knowledge production. In line with UNISA’s institutional commitment to digitally mediated scholarship, AADHiH supports staff and student capacity development in African-centred digital humanities practice. Operating at the intersection of critical theory, subaltern studies, and digital methods, the Hub produces research and pedagogical outputs that are both methodologically rigorous and socially responsive.

Mission, Vision and Core Values

Mission: To develop and sustain a generative platform for African Digital Humanities (ADH) that advances locally grounded methodologies, supports open and ethical digital scholarship, and builds research capacity across disciplines and regions.

Vision: A continentally networked ecosystem of scholars, practitioners and communities where African knowledge systems are preserved, reinterpreted, and extended through critically informed digital methods and tools.

Core Values: Decoloniality, epistemic plurality, methodological transparency, ethical stewardship of cultural data, capacity building, and public engagement.

The BaobabX Eco-System

Africa possesses a wealth of knowledge, ideas, and creativity that spans centuries of intellectual and cultural heritage. Yet, much of this wisdom has often remained dispersed, underrepresented, or inaccessible beyond the continent.

BaobabX was established to address this challenge, i.e., creating a comprehensive ecosystem where African thought is articulated, curated, applied, and amplified. Guided by the principle “Where Africa Thinks Aloud”, BaobabX provides a platform for African voices to be heard, preserved, and mobilised.

The BaobabX ecosystem is structured around six interrelated pillars, each contributing uniquely to the production, dissemination, and application of knowledge:

BaobabX Podcast: Engages listeners through stories, dialogues, and conversations that inspire reflection and curiosity.
BaobabX Talks: Provides a stage for innovators, scholars, and cultural leaders to share ideas that challenge assumptions and spark discourse.
BaobabX Summit: Convenes thought leaders, practitioners, and visionaries to collaborate and strategise on Africa’s intellectual and practical futures.
BaobabX Publications: Documents and curates Africa’s scholarship, making it accessible to a global audience.
BaobabX Toolkit: Offers practical frameworks and resources that translate knowledge into actionable solutions.
BaobabX Academy: Cultivates the next generation of thinkers and leaders through structured learning, mentorship, and capacity-building initiatives.

Collectively, these pillars form a cohesive cycle of African knowledge, i.e., from conception to discussion, from preservation to practical implementation, and from individual learning to collective transformation. This ecosystem embodies the conviction that knowledge grows when shared, applied, and nurtured.

The mission of BaobabX is to present African thought in its full diversity, rigour, and relevance. It offers readers an entry point into the vibrant intellectual landscape of the continent and invites engagement with ideas that shape Africa’s present and future. BaobabX is more than a platform; it is a living ecosystem, one that fosters dialogue, collaboration, and innovation across all dimensions of African scholarship and creativity.

An initiative of the Advancing African Digital Humanities Ideation Hub (AADHiH) in the College of Human Sciences at the University of South Africa. Funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP).