Staff Faculty: Historical Studies

Joshua Chakawa is a senior lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies. He joined the Department of History and International Studies at Midlands State University, Zimbabwe, in 2008 as a lecturer and rose to become Head of Department and senior lecturer. He joined National University of Lesotho as a sabbatical fellow before taking up a lectureship post at NUL. Dr Chakawa has published journal articles and book chapters locally and internationally on environmental history, indigenous knowledge systems, liberation struggles, history education, traditional leadership peace and conflict, sanctions and of late, borderlands among other areas of historical interest. He is also working on a number of research areas which include human-wildlife conflicts, political biography and history of stock theft in Lesotho. Currently, Dr Chakawa teaches undergraduate courses in History and Environmental History as well as Oral traditions and oral history for MA.

Sean teaches courses in African History, Environmental History, Culture & Heritage Studies, and Research Methods (Historical and Ethnographic Methods). He is an economic historian and ethnographer of commerce and digital financial systems in Southern Africa. He works on the history of the Southern African Customs Union, development of “mobile money” in Lesotho and South Africa, economic history of Lesotho, and philosophy of healing, focusing on ethnobotany, metaphysics and epistemology within the Ngoma branch of African healing. He was previously a Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies, University of the Free State (2021-2022). He has held two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Historical & Heritage Studies (2019-2020), and Human Economy Programme, Centre for Advancement of Scholarship (2016-2018).

Bopane Rampeta is a Lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies at National University of Lesotho, teaching Heritage and Cultural Studies courses. She holds that knowledge and appreciation of one’s History and Cultural Heritage has potential to bring about solutions to economic, political and social issues. She obtained a BA Degree majoring in Environmental History and Heritage and Cultural Studies at NUL and Honours in Africa Studies at UFS and Masters in Africa Studies (with a specialisation in Indigenous Knowledge Systems) at UFS. She is currently pursuing her PhD studies at UFS. Her research interests are on Indigenous belief systems and Liberation Struggles.

Mr. Mphezulu is a History and Culture and Heritage Lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies at the National University of Lesotho (NUL). He teaches a number of courses in Lesotho’s History from the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial phases. These are the courses which are meant to make Basotho insular. He also teaches the courses on colonialism, African History and some aspects of world History. He obtained an MA in History from NUL. His research interests include Security Threat Groups (STGs) such as prison and street gangs. He is also interested in studying ethnic groups and landscape and memory. He represents the Department in the Board of Moshoeshoe 1 Institute of Peace and Leadership of NUL.

Masemote is a Lecturer in the department of Historical Studies at National University of Lesotho, teaching anthropology and environmental history courses. She obtained BA in Anthropology and Sociology and MSc in Sociology at NUL. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies with UFS in African ethnicity. Her research interests are in line with social and environmental impact assessment, socio-economic aspects, foresight and scenario building, ethnicity, gender and community participation in health development. She is a member and country representative of the Anthropology Southern Africa and a member of the South African Association for Gender Studies. Also, she is a member of the Global Centre of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability.

Nthabiseng Mokoena teaches courses in the Archaeology, Heritage and Cultural Studies (AHC) and Environmental History (EH) Majors. Her research interests include Palaeontology, Stone Age & San rock art studies, Later Iron Age and contract archaeologies. She is passionate about decolonising the African past and rewriting histories using a combination of historical and scientific methods. Nthabiseng has previously served as the Department’s acting HOD and also as the Faculty of Humanities 2nd Year Tutor.

Mr Ketsi’s main research and teaching interests are on crime, law and society in late colonial Kenya, social and economic history of Lesotho, study and writing of history and the environmental history of Africa. Current pursuits include environmental impact assessment, eco-cultural tourism, agricultural development before and after the Covid-19 pandemic and well as history teaching as a tool for development.

Godfrey Hove is a senior lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies at the National University of Lesotho. He teaches courses in Environmental History and History. He holds a doctoral degree in History from Stellenbosch University, an MA in African Economic History from the University of Zimbabwe and an honors degree in Economic History from the University of Zimbabwe. He has held various research portfolios, and currently holds the following Fellowships: the American Council of Learned Societies (African Humanities Program), a ClimapAfrica Research Fellow with the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), and the Global Research Network. He is also a Research Associate of Stellenbosch University. His research interests are in the environmental and agrarian histories of Southern Africa and the political economy of development in historical perspective. More specifically, he has published widely on the livestock histories of Southern Africa and the nexus between environmental change and agrarian development in Zimbabwe in historical perspective. He recently co-edited a book on the agrarian history of Zimbabwe and also serves as the current President of the Zimbabwe Historical Association.

Noah Echa Attah is a Professor of African Economic History and Development. He holds a PhD and an MA in History Degrees from the University of Ibadan (UI), Nigeria, as well as a BA in History Degree from Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Nigeria. His research focus includes Agrarian Studies, Environmental Studies, Natural Resource Conflicts and Peacebuilding. He has taught in some universities in Nigeria and was at different times a Head of Department, Director of Academic Planning, Dean of a Faculty and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). Noah has also been an external examiner to several Nigerian universities at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels and a resource person to the National Defence College, Abuja, Nigeria. He has also led accreditation teams under the National Universities Commission to several Nigerian universities for programme accreditations. He has published extensively, including co-editing Critical Perspectives on Peace, Conflict and Warfare in Africa and authoring chapters in several books and journal articles in reputable outlets. He is a recipient of several research fellowships, which include the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) Individual Research Grant of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and the African Humanities Program (AHP) of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Postdoctoral Fellowship. Noah is currently a Principal Investigator of a research project entitled Policing and Security Provisioning in Nigeria: Exploring the Policy and Practice of Non-State Actors, supported by the National Research Fund (NRF) of Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).