Sediments of Meaning: A Military History of Mapungubwe National Park, 1932-present

 

Jacob Dlamini, professor of history, presented “Sediments of Meaning: A Military History of Mapungubwe National Park, 1932-present.” Dlamini was the first speaker in the fall 2025 HMEI Faculty Seminar Series.

This presentation was about the archaeological and political history of South Africa’s Mapungubwe National Park, with a particular focus on the reserve’s role during apartheid as a rehabilitation camp for gay military conscripts and recreational drug users. The talk examined the much-neglected role of the apartheid military in fashioning a notion of normalcy founded on arbitrary distinctions between black and white, gay and straight, as well as ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal.’

Sediments of Meaning: A Military History of Mapungubwe National Park, 1932-present

Publish Date

September 9, 2025

Presenter(s)

Jacob Dlamini

Link to Video

https://youtu.be/IBigIieA44k

Video Length

55:43

 

Jacob Dlamini, professor of history, presented “Sediments of Meaning: A Military History of Mapungubwe National Park, 1932-present.” Dlamini was the first speaker in the fall 2025 HMEI Faculty Seminar Series.

This presentation was about the archaeological and political history of South Africa’s Mapungubwe National Park, with a particular focus on the reserve’s role during apartheid as a rehabilitation camp for gay military conscripts and recreational drug users. The talk examined the much-neglected role of the apartheid military in fashioning a notion of normalcy founded on arbitrary distinctions between black and white, gay and straight, as well as ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal.’