Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
14 February 2018 Photo Xolisa Mnukwa
Kovsie donates text books to needy first-year student
Kovsie student Lebohang Ntoli has donated her books to a first-year student
Kovsies BAcc student; Lebohang Ntoli understands the complex domain students step into when they kick off at university.

Faced with a number of challenges that include adjusting to freedom, stepping up academically, and being able to navigate and prioritise your social life with your emotional and mental health, students are at risk of feeling discouraged, confused and fearful. However, being afflicted by financial constraints where tuition fees and study material are concerned is undoubtedly one of the most disheartening feelings a first-year student is forced to deal with - and Lebohang understands this.

She says: “Everyone deserves at least one shot at life,” and has taken it upon herself to donate all her first-year textbooks to a student who she felt was deserving.

Lebohang explains that her actions were sparked by her encounter with a female student in December 2017 who had opened up to her about not being able to meet the financial demands that awaited her in January 2018.

This motivated Lebohang to want to help as many students as she could. She then took to social media to express her concerns for first-year students. At the time the topic of first-years had accumulated a lot of momentum because of their concerns regarding university and how to prepare for it. Through this Lebohang was able to attract attention to her tweets which enabled her to find the deserving candidate for her textbooks.

Students who are interested in textbook donations can contact Elizabeth Msadu, who is in charge of the Hand-to-Hand Foundation at the UFS Health and Wellness Centre on +27 51 401 9600.

News Archive

Ecofeminism a possibe solution to impending famine
2016-05-12

Description: Ecofeminism Tags: Ecofeminism

Dr Inge Konik (right) is pictured with her postdoctoral supervisor, Prof Bert Olivier, Senior Research Professor at the Department of Philosophy.
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

In view of the environmental and social problems faced in South Africa today, researchers such as Dr Inge Konik are hard at work mapping these issues and seeking long-term solutions. Dr Konik,  a lecturer in the Department of Journalism, Media and Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) shared her views in a presentation on 6 May 2016. She spoke about revaluing indigenous ways of life and subsistence-focused lifeways, linking this to materialist ecological feminism, or ecofeminism for short.

Dr. Konik’s presentation, hosted by the Department of Philosophy at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), was entitled: “Transversal reflections on ecological feminism and ubuntu.” The research underpinning the presentation derived from Dr Konik’s doctoral thesis which was supervised by Ariel Salleh (University of Sydney) and Andrea Hurst (NMMU).

Dr Konik’s research suggests that ecofeminism - which is a convergence between environmentalism and feminism - may hold the answers to the question of how we may work against environmental and social injustices. She also proposed that society look back toward subsistence communities of the past, and those currently being marginalized in our industrial societies, and linked the values evidenced in the practices of these communities to the African philosophty of ubuntu. In order to solve  complex contemporary challenges Dr Konik suggests that we combine these seemingly disparate theoretical frames - ubuntu and ecofeminism - by applying a transversal approach, which involves openness to dialogue  between traditions.

“My focus was on ecological feminism and critical theory and very specifically on South Africa, given the challeges South Africa faces - the environmental and social challenges and what kind of frameworks would be helpful,” said Dr Konik, who will officially become a postdoctoral research fellow at the department as of July 2016.

Prof Pieter Duvenage, Head of the Departement, stated that compelling research outputs are anticipated from Dr Konik as a fellow.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept