Cllr Bernedette Muthien is a Research Fellow in the Office of International Affairs, University of Free State, Bernedette has worked in academia, civil society and government in South Africa and abroad. She is an accomplished facilitator, researcher and poet who designs, implements and evaluates projects for diverse institutions locally and internationally. She has over 200 publications and conference presentations, with several translated from English into at least 17 other languages. She was the first Fulbright-Amy Biehl fellow at Stanford University, and holds postgraduate degrees in Political Science from the Universities of Cape Town, and Stellenbosch.

Among others, she serves on the international advisory boards of the international Journal of Human Security, as well as the International Institute on Peace Education. She has served on the Executive Council of the International Peace Research Association, and is Co-Founder of the African Peace Research and Education Association.

Her 2021 book project, Rethinking Africa: Indigenous Women Reinterpret Southern Africa’s Pasts was nominated for the National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences Book Award. She won the Western Cape Cultural Affairs Awards 2022 for Best Researcher Contributing to Archival Heritage.

She serves on the Western Cape Cultural Commission, and the National Arts Council.