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10 July 2018 Photo Supplied
Inaugural lecture focuses on understanding society
Dr Kristina Riedel, Head of the UFS Department of Linguistics and Language Practice with Prof Kobus Marais at his inaugural lecture in May.
Understanding what the terms ‘social’ and ‘cultural’ mean and where they come from is important for Prof Kobus Marais. “If one thinks about it carefully, there was a time in the history of the universe and Earth that terms like ‘social’ and ‘cultural’ did not exist. So, if they did not exist from the very beginning, they must have emerged through some process,” he said at his inaugural lecture held earlier this year.

Prof Marais is a senior lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Language Practice at the University of the Free State (UFS). His interest is in translation studies, but he is conceptualising translation as a technical term that refers to the semiotic process   in other words, the process through which living organisms create meaningful responses to an environment. 

Semiotics entails the study of signs, and it holds that anything in the universe can act as a sign or be interpreted as one. “A tune can be a sign of resistance against political domination, such as Give me hope, Jo’anna, a song by Eddie Grant, and smoke can be a sign of fire, just as the word ‘rose’ could be a sign of a sweet-smelling flower of any colour,” Prof Marais said. 

The universe is perfused by signs, and we are constantly interpreting them, from traffic signs to buildings to agricultural practices to more abstract things like ‘the law’, ‘politics’, ‘economics’ or ‘religion’. All of these things mean something to us and were made as meaningful responses to an environment.

Inaugural lectures vital part of any university
“Inaugural lectures afford professors the opportunity to table a broader research agenda as well as the opportunity to reflect on meta-disciplinary concerns,” Prof Marais said.

He said during the lecture, he had worked out “a theory of translation that explains some aspects of where social/cultural things come from and how they come to be”. An idea that society, and or culture, are a result of translation processes, that is, “processes in which organisms (human beings in this case) respond to an environment in a meaningful way by creating social relationships and cultural phenomena”. 
“Social and cultural phenomena thus all have a meaningful (semiotic) dimension or aspect that I would like to study,” he said.

News Archive

B. Iur. programme in Occupational Risk Law first of its kind in the country
2010-11-26

The University of the Free State (UFS) will offer a B.Iur. degree programme in Occupational Risk Law from 2011.

This programme of the Faculty of Law is the first of its kind to be offered in South Africa and positions the UFS in the forefront of this field of study.

The programme is designed to develop and qualify professionals, knowledgeable in the field of occupational risk law as prescribed by South African legislation and international best practices. It further offers a qualification based on a well-researched basis of applicable legal principles, combined with safety, health, environmental and quality risk management principles applicable to employers and employees in a specialised industry.

The B.Iur. (Occupational Risk Law) has been developed by experts within the parameters of international comparability, according to research-based identification of career demands and requirements in the fields mentioned.

By introducing this programmesignificant progress will be made towards achieving the nationally stated objective of legal safety, health and environmental quality assurance in the workplace and within the broader community. The programme will also encompass the values and standards prescribed by the Institute of Safety Managers. This will provide them with a further step towards the regulation of the professional en ethical standards in the field of legal safety, health and environmental quality assurance.

With the programme, the UFS not only creates a unique opportunity for stakeholders and learners to add meaningful value to their careers, but also exerts a meaningful influence on the industry and society in terms of the acquisition of a most appropriate type of qualification. The B.Iur. (Occupational Risk Law)degree therefore offers a meaningful contribution towards the industry through addressing the increasing demand for career opportunities in the field of legal safety, health and environmental quality compliance.

The new programme is the result of an agreement between the faculty and its partner, IRCA Global. The university officially launched its partnership with IRCA Global, an international supplier of risk management solutions pertaining to safety, health, the environment and quality in 2008. As part of the agreement, the UFS will offer short learning programme, a diploma and a degree in Risk Management.

IRCA Global is a South African company in the international risk control and SHEQ environments with filials in Africa, Australia, India, Eastern Europe, and South America.

In the interim IRCA Global has continued with the marketing of the programme, with the result that hundreds of potential students are waiting for the launching of the programme. The faculty is geared towards offering the programme in e-learning. New modules will also be offered with the help of IRCA’s trained and skilled facilitators. The faculty also utilises the partnerships entered into with IRCA to appoint practising specialists as part-time lecturers for the occupational risk law component of the programme as well as to develop a new specialist component amongst the permanent staff.

The programme is already active and students can register for the first semester 2011 (study code 3324, programme code M3000). Direct your enquiries to Cora-Mari de Vos at 051 401 3532 or devosc@ufs.ac.za.

The programme consists of fundamental modules of the LL.B. and B.Iur., as well as short learning programmes in the Faculty of Law and specially developed core modules in occupational risk law. The B.Iur.in Occupational Risk Law enables successful candidates to enrol for applicable Post Graduate Diplomas or a cognate Honours Degree. Obtaining one of these qualifications provides the platform to articulate to Magister degrees. Horizontal articulation possibilities exist with the accredited Baccalaureus of Law (LL.B.) which is presented by several institutions in the country.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
26 November 2010

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