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30 October 2018
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Story Rulanzen Martin
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Photo Peet van Aardt
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.
Incidents of intimidation on the UFS Main Campus
2008-03-05
There have been a few incidents of intimidation this morning (4 March 2008) on the Main Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.
At least 28 students were arrested. These students’ actions were in contravention of the court interdict that is in force on the Main Campus and that applies to all students of the UFS who are registered at the Main Campus for 2008.
The management of the UFS condemns these attacks on students and staff and the perpetrators will be dealt with.
The university management also decided today to appoint extra security guards across the campus with immediate effect. This includes the test and lecture halls.
Enquiries can also be directed to:
Lacea Loader Mangaliso Radebe
Tel: 051 401 2584 Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 083 645 2454 Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
Media Release
Issued by: Mr Anton Fisher
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 3422
Cell: 072 207 8334
E-mail: fishera.stg@ufs.ac.za
4 March 2008