Welcome
This August, join colleagues from across the international higher education sector for the 28th Annual IEASA Conference in KuGompo (East London), Eastern Cape, South Africa, taking place from 25–28 August 2026.
Under the theme “Rewriting the Agenda: Internationalisation Through a Global South Lens,” the conference invites bold reflection, critical dialogue, and collaboration on how international higher education can be reshaped to become more equitable, context-driven, and responsive to the lived realities and intellectual leadership emerging from the Global South.
This year’s conference creates space for rethinking internationalisation beyond mobility—expanding into knowledge diplomacy, curriculum transformation, digital engagement, and South-driven research and innovation. It calls for a shift from critique to co-creation, where institutions actively shape new, inclusive models of academic engagement and partnership.
Hosted in the vibrant Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, a UNESCO City of Literature and part of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, the conference is set within a dynamic region that includes KuGompo (East London), Bhisho, and Qonce, as well as Mdantsane and Zwelitsha—each contributing to a landscape of resilience, creativity, and transformation.
Framed by the Indian Ocean coastline, beaches, and rich cultural heritage, KuGompo offers an inspiring setting for meaningful academic exchange and collaboration. From coastal walks along Nahoon Beach and the Esplanade to vibrant local culture, art, and cuisine, the city provides a unique environment for reflection, connection, and exchange.
This is not just a conference—it is a space where African coastal identity, innovation, and knowledge production meet meaningful academic engagement and collaboration.
Keynote Speaker Bio
Jonathan Jansen
Jonathan Jansen is Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and Past President of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy of the Humanities and Social Sciences and the American Academy for the Arts and Sciences. As a curriculum theorist, he specializes in the politics and poetics of knowledge. A recent book is On discovery: How knowledge is produced across the disciplines (Cambridge University Press). He works with dysfunctional schools and has a forthcoming book on the subject. He has also written about his life in a 2025 book called Breaking bread (Jonathan Ball Publishers) which was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Non-Fiction Award.
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She is also a member of the 2030 Reading Panel convened by previous Executive Director of UN Women, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, which seeks to influence work being done across sectors to ensure that all children in South Africa learn to read for meaning by 2030.
Some of Judy’s achievements include being an Abe Bailey Fellow, Mandela Rhodes Scholar, Fulbright Scholar, Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow, Sarie magazine’s top 10 women under 30, and has received special alumni awards from both her high school and university for outstanding, all-round achievements in her career. She has a Master’s degree in Organisation Psychology from Columbia University in New York City, and is a certified coach through the Centre for Coaching at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. In her spare time Judy enjoys tennis, nature walks, travelling, music, art, reading, and spending time with loved ones and her beloved daughter Zazi.
Siyabulela Mandela
Dr. Siyabulela Mandela is the descendent of King Ngubengcuka Aa Ndaba! from the House of Mandela of the Thembu Kingdom from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Affectionately known by his clan name Madiba, Dr. Mandela is a Peace and Human Rights Activist and an independent consultant on Human Rights, International Development and Conflict Resolution. He Currently serves as Lecturer for Politics and International Relations at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq where he lectures both undergraduate and postgraduate candidates on Peace, Security and Post-conflict Reconstruction and development.
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He is also an affiliate of the Centre for Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. He previously served as a Country Director for Journalists for Human Rights project focused on advancing Human Rights, supporting the Peace process and strengthening Media in South Sudan and later worked as a Regional Project Manager for East and Southern Africa at Journalists for Human Rights (JHR). He was also a Eugene J. McCarthy Centre for Public Policy and Civil engagement Scholar in Residency at Saint John’s University and College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota, United States. Dr. Mandela holds a Master of Philosophy in Conflict Transformation and Management and a Ph.D. in International Relations and Conflict Resolution from the Department of Politics and History at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. He was a visiting Scholar Affiliate at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) at George Mason University in 2018 focusing on his PhD research.
Born and bred in the rural areas of Qunu in the Eastern Province of South Africa, Dr. Mandela is passionate about conflict resolution, post-conflict reconstruction and development in Africa and the Middle East, continents characterized by chronic conflicts and underdevelopment. His doctoral thesis titled Preventive Diplomacy and Conflict Provention in Africa: Examining South Africa’s role in Conflict resolution in Democratic Republic of Congo, argued for the hybrid approach to the resolution of African conflicts, paying specific attention to the frustration of basic human needs and an urgency for institutional and structural change in African governments in order to achieve stability, durable peace, and development and ultimately realize “an Africa that is developed and at peace with itself”. His career interests and expertise include diplomacy, Human Rights Advocacy, international relations, African politics, conflict resolution, foreign policy and history.
Dr. Mandela, has delivered academic papers, published book chapters, works as a consultant and speaks on topics of human rights, development, peace, reconstruction and conflict resolution in Africa and globally, on different parts of the World including; Denmark, Poland, Italy, Portugal; United States; Canada; Republic of Ecuador, Brazil, France, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and many more.