Bruce Bennett

Dr B. S. Bennett, M.A. (Canterbury), Ph.D. (Cambridge), bennett@mopipi... [Click here for full email address] Office: 239/229. Tel. ext. 5050. Head of Department

After studying in Christchurch (New Zealand) and in England, I came to the University of Botswana in 1993 and have been here since then, except during 1998 - 99 when I taught at the University of Malawi (Chancellor College, Zomba). I have taught a number of courses especially in the areas of introductory European history, Britain and the British Empire, colonial history, research methods and the philosophy of history.

My first published work was on New Zealand foreign policy, (New Zealand's Moral Foreign Policy 1935 - 1939, N.Z. Institute of International Affairs, 1988) but I have subsequently researched mainly in British political and church history and in Southern African history.

Some publications:

"The Church of England and the law of divorce since 1857: Marriage discipline, ecclesiastical law, and the Establishment", The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, vol. 45 no. 4 (Oct 1994) pp. 625-41.

" 'Suppose a Black Man Tells a Story': the Dialogues of John Mackenzie the Missionary and Sekgoma Kgari the King and Rainmaker". In That Tremendous Voice: Essays in honour of Leonard Diniso Ngcongco, ed. Kofi Darkwah (1997, special issue of Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies). For details of this Festschrift see UB publications. This article can now be accessed online at http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/html/itemdetail.cfm?recordID=2512.

"Banister v. Thompson and Afterwards: The Church of England and the Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act", Journal of Ecclesiastical History, October 1998.

Bruce Bennett, "The contested history of Modimo", in God, BOLESWA Occasional Papers in Theology and Religion (Volume 1, Number 9, 2002), eds J.B.R. Gaie, L.S. Nthoi and J. Stiebert [paper presented to the Boleswa (Botswana - Lesotho - Swaziland) conference on Theology and Religious Studies, Gaborone, February 2001].

[Modimo is in modern Setswana translated as "God". But the "original" meaning - i.e. the meaning when the missionaries first arrived - is disputed, and has been for a long time.]

"Some historical background on minorities in Botswana", in Minorities in the Millennium: Perspectives from Botswana ed. Isaac N. Mazonde (Gaborone: Lightbooks, 2002), pp. 5-15. [Based on paper presented to the International Conference on Challenging Minority Deference and Tribal Citizenship in Botswana, Gaborone, May 2000, International Centre for Contemporary Cultural Research, Manchester & University of Botswana.]

"Dead bodies on display: El Negro in cross-cultural perspective", Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies vol. 16 no. 1 (2002) pp. 8-13. [This issue of Pula was a special issue entitled "El Negro and the Hottentot Venus: Issues of Repatriation", containing the papers of the one-day conference on the return of El Negro held at the University of Botswana in May 2001.]

Bruce S. Bennett, "Ancient Egypt, Missionaries and Christianity in Southern Africa" in Ancient Egypt in Africa (Encounters with Ancient Egypt series) edited by David O'Connor and Andrew Reid, (London: UCL Press, 2003) pp. 107-120.

"The declaration of the Protectorate" and "The 1891 Proclamations", in Forty Years On: Essays in Celebration of Botswana's Forty Years of Independence, edited by T Mgadla and Brian T Mokopakgosi (Gaborone: Department of Information Services, 2008).

"Mogotse's Goats and Other Cases before the Gaberones Magistrate in 1908", Botswana Notes and Records, vol. 40 (2008) pp. 21-34.

"Ecumenical Readings of Bessie Head", in The Life and Work of Bessie Head: A Celebration of the Seventieth Anniversary of her Birth (proceedings of July 2007 symposium) (eds) Mary S. Lederer, Seatholo M. Tumedi, Leloba S. Molema, and M. J. Daymond, (Gaborone: Pentagon Publishers, 2008) pp. 72-84.

Bruce S.Bennett & Maitseo M. M. Bolaane, "The BaKhurutshe Anglicans of Tonota and religious persecution in the Bechuanaland Protectorate", International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 43 no. 2 (2010) pp. 319-340.

The History Department Web-site:

I maintain the History Department's Web-site. Any comments or suggestions, either on the content or on the technical side, will be gratefully received.

Information for students:

Adrian Hastings appeal

One of the scholars I have most admired and learnt from is the late Adrian Hastings (1929-2001), who died in 2001. He was the external examiner for my Ph.D. thesis in 1992. His work on religion and politics, especially in Africa but also in Britain, is of great value and dispels many widely-held misconceptions. At one point he himself played an important role in African history, when in 1973 he exposed the massacre at Wiryamu by the Portuguese army.

The University of Leeds, where Adrian Hastings was Professor, is raising funds for an "Adrian Hastings Africa Scholarship" which will assist doctoral students in religion at Leeds from Africa. See this item in the Leeds University Reporter for further information. This is a most worthwhile project, and one which will honour a great scholar and friend of Africa.

Dr Bruce S. Bennett

Some publications:

The History Department Web-site:

Information for students:

Adrian Hastings appeal