Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
30 October 2018
|
Story Rulanzen Martin
|
Photo Peet van Aardt
Some of the student writers who contributed to the anthology that tells their stories in Sesotho, isiXhosa, isiZulu, English and Afrikaans.
How do you transform the higher education curriculum? You involve the exact people the curriculum is intended for. The book, Initiative for Creative African Narratives (iCAN,) illustrates how decolonisation can be achieved through literature for students by students.
iCAN is an initiative by the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the University of the Free State (UFS) to mentor students in creative and narrative writing. Under the mentorship of Dr Peet van Aardt, project coordinator, and Ace Moloi, author and UFS alumnus, iCAN Volume 1 was recently launched with 47 short stories written by UFS students.
“The project is a response from the centre for the ever-increasing need for decolonised curricula, steeped in the local cultural perspective of ubuntu,” said Dr Van Aardt.
“This book is an example for how decolonisation can be implemented,” said Prof Francois Stydrom, Senior Director of CTL. The overall aim of the iCAN project is to have the content that materialised from it to be included in the curriculum of first-year students at UFS in the near future.
Book provides multiple voices
Starting in May 2018, CTL presented a series of creative writing workshops on all three of the UFS campuses. “It’s a medium that allows a diverse range of students to express their views and develop their voices as writers,” said Prof Strydom.
It is a form of empowerment, to pass the baton to students to improve the UFS curriculum by writing and publishing their own stories, thereby contributing to larger bodies of knowledge through their lived experiences.
“I believe we as a university need to enable students so that they move away from just being users to becoming contributors to the curriculum,” Dr van Aardt concluded.
UFS urges individuals to come forward with evidence about incidents
2016-03-04
UFS urges individuals to come forward with evidence about incidents on the Bloemfontein Campus last week
The University of the Free State (UFS) condemns in the strongest terms the racist attacks on protestors, the destruction of public property and the intimidation of staff and students, which led to the shutdown of academic and administrative activities on the Bloemfontein Campus from 23 to 26 February 2016. Extensive investigations are underway to identify the perpetrators who took part in all incidents of disruption and criminal conduct, and urgent steps will be taken against such individuals or organisations in due course.
The UFS makes an urgent appeal to:
1. All individuals who are in possession of evidence or knowledge of any crimes; assaults on students, staff, and visitors; the destruction of property; and intimidation that have been committed on the Bloemfontein Campus in the past week, to come forward with such evidence and information.
2. All individuals who are in possession of video footage and photographs of the incidents at Xerox Shimla Park, the Equitas Building (formerly known as the CR Swart Building), Thakaneng Bridge, various residences, the Main Building and the grounds in front of the building, to come forward and provide such evidence in order to assist with the identification of those involved in criminal acts.
Information can be provided by calling +27(0)72 490 6027 or +27(0)51 401 3422. Alternatively, an email can be sent to news@ufs.ac.za. All information will be treated as confidential, unless the individual providing the evidence is not opposed to testifying.