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23 July 2018 Photo Johan Roux
Pilot exchange programme between UFS and University of Wisconsin
Dionne van Reenen, JC van der Merwe, and Prof John Grider from the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse.

The Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS) partnered with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the United States of America (USA) to pilot the first Global Education student-staff exchange. 

The pilot project hosted seven students from the USA and five students from the UFS in a joint tour. The group delved into the political histories of South Africa, visiting among others Freedom Park, the Voortrekker Museum, the Apartheid Museum, and Mandela House during the first leg of the tour in Johannesburg. Before departing from Johannesburg, they had enriching, thought-provoking round-table sessions with Sello Hatang, Leon Wessels, and some of the staff from the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

En route to Pilanesberg in North-West, the tour visited the Sterkfontein Caves and the Cradle of Humankind at Marupeng. Interactive days at the Mphebatho Cultural Museum and Pilanesberg National Park as well as an excursion to Korannaberg to view some San paintings, provided an opportunity to further survey the place of natural, environmental, and cultural heritage in a globalising, modern world.

JC van der Merwe and Dionne van Reenen were joined by Shirley du Plooy and Matau Setshase, together with La Crosse History Chair, Prof John Grider.

Insightful engagements on diverse issues
In Bloemfontein, the lecturing staff facilitated several full-day classes and dialogues at the UFS, after which students offered enlightening presentations on their insights, and showed some serious and deep engagement with legacies of segregation in many different contexts. 

During the closing evening’s discussions with Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, staff conveyed that, while they usually expect personally transformative moments during such engagements, there is always hope for real critical developments and deepened understandings of how we see and are seen – students on the tour exceeded this hope by seriously grappling with a large array of social and political challenges and initiating lively, inclusive discussions, debating in their own time and spaces.  
“Education, in all its facets, flourished beyond the classroom for staff, students, hosts, and visitors alike, and both institutions look forward to further collaborations in what promises to be a really productive model for international higher-education exchange programmes,” Van der Merwe said.

News Archive

New developments in the Faculty of Theology and Religion
2017-08-30

Description: Theology read more Tags: Faculty of Theology and Religion, name change, Prof Fanie Snyman, restructuring, teaching and research 

Bishop JM Khumalo, Apostolic Church of
Christ; Prof Fanie Snyman, Dean of the
Faculty of Theology and Religion; and
Rev Simon Galada, Wesleyan Church,
at the faculty’s official opening in
February 2017. 
Photo: Eugene Seegers



At a meeting of the UFS Council last year, a name change was accepted for the Faculty of Theology, renaming it to the Faculty of Theology and Religion. This change signals openness in approach to other religions, in addition to those of Christian denominations. This is a development that took root in Europe a few years ago. Furthermore, a growing field of interest is the study of the impact religion has had and still has, even in highly secularised societies. This name change is the first of its kind in South Africa, which means that the faculty will lead the way in transformation and impact-based religious studies.

Exciting times lie ahead
Prof Fanie Snyman, Dean of the faculty, says of these refinements: “The new name and restructuring of departments will lead to a new synergy that will have an impact on our teaching and research in the faculty. Exciting times lie ahead for the Faculty of Theology and Religion!”

Apart from the change in the name of the faculty, departments within the faculty were also regrouped, with new names. The Departments of Old Testament and New Testament merged to become the Department of Old and New Testament Studies, while the Departments of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology merged and will now be known as the Department of Historical and Constructive Theology. The former Departments of Practical Theology and Missiology became the Department of Practical and Missional Theology. The Department of Religion Studies remained unchanged to emphasise the importance of religion in South Africa and the world at large.
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Distinction of theological disciplines
The rationale for these groupings is the distinction of theological disciplines in terms of the study of texts (Old and New Testament), sources (Systematic Theology and Church History), and practices (Practical Theology and Missiology). One benefit of these newly-constructed departments is that they will be more cost-effective, but the more important advantage is that this will stimulate discussion and research across the various theological disciplines.


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