Prof Ciraj Rassool is in the History Department at the University of the Western Cape and directs the African Programme in Museum and Heritage Studies which UWC offers in partnership with the Robben Island Museum and the University of Cape Town. He teaches courses on Cultures of Colonialism, Tourism and Public History, Museum and Heritage Studies, and Public and Visual History.

His Ph.D examined auto/biographical approaches in South African resistance history in the academy and the public domain.

He has written widely on South African public history, visual history and resistance historiography. His co-authored book (with Martin Legassick) Skeletons in the Cupboard: South African museums and the trade in human remains 1907-1917 was published in 2000. In 2001, his co-edited book, Recalling Community in Cape Town: Creating and Curating the District Six Museum was published by the District Six Museum. Another co- edited book, Museum Frictions: Global Transformations/Public Cultures is due out by Duke University Press in 2006 (with Ivan Karp, Corinne A. Kratz, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett and Gustavo Buntinx).

Ciraj is a trustee of the District Six Museum in Cape Town, a councillor of the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) and a board member of the South African History Archive (SAHA) and South African History Online (SAHO). He is a member of the Heritage Transformation Charter Task Team of the National Heritage Council. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the South African Historical Journal and serves on the International Advisory Board of the Journal of Southern African Studies. Ciraj is presently acting co-director of the Centre for Humanities Research at UWC.