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Johann Rossouw: “The soul of academy is at stake”

22 March 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Stephen Collett

Prof Johann Rossouw Inaugural lecture — Prof Heidi Hudson, Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities; Prof Fani de Beer, Prof Rossouw’s mentor; Prof Johann Rossouw; and Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic.

For Prof Johann Rossouw from the Department of Philosophy, the Naval Hill Planetarium – a digital planetarium on a hill in the centre of a modern city, was the perfect place to deliver his inaugural lecture titled, The soul of the academy.

The message of his inaugural lecture was on “the form adopted by the contemporary university, which is so focused on the quantitative that the qualitative is neglected. The focus on training is so strong that the university no longer pays attention to the education of students”.

Prof Rossouw referred to the soul of the academy as the highest in humanity, especially the part which cannot be counted. He also referred to the words of Blaise Pascal in the 17th century: “The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing”.

“Do we understand any of this in the contemporary university? And do we still remember the earliest origins from which the academy originated; that Philosophy is the mother discipline of all other disciplines, and how all contemporary disciplines form part of a bigger, coherent entity?” he asked.

The inaugural lecture took place on 28 February 2019. Prof Rossouw has a C2-rating from the National Research Foundation, and it is thanks to him, among other things, that the Department of Philosophy is the only South African Philosophy department with modernity studies as its main focus.

At the end of 2018, he was promoted to Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Free State (UFS), and currently he serves as acting Head of Department. “Due to Prof Rossouw’s involvement, among other things, research on African philosophy, critical theory, postcolonial thinking, and tradition and modernity is conducted in the department,” Prof Heidi Hudson (Dean: the Humanities) said.

Prof Rossouw started his formal training in Philosophy at the age of 12, and in 1991 he obtained a BA degree majoring in Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Pretoria, with distinction. He obtained his MA degree, a critical study of apartheid on the basis of Michel Foucault’s thinking, at Unisa in 1998. In 2002, he obtained his DEA in Philosophy at the University of Lyon 3 under the leadership of Régis Debray, and in 2013 his PHD on the theological trail in Bernard Stiegler’s thinking at Monsh University (Melbourne), under Michael Janover.

In 2016, he won a prize from the South African Academy for Science and Culture for one of the best Afrikaans humanity articles published in 2015.

News Archive

UFS launches a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Observatory, first of its kind in South Africa

2013-12-04

In cooperation with its partners, the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State (UFS), launched the SME Observatory at a function on the Bloemfontein Campus. This initiative is the first of its kind in South Africa.

According to Willem Ellis, Director of the Centre for Development Support, this is a public-private partnership between the UFS, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (detea), which aims to gather information for research on small and medium enterprises. “With this research we will endeavour to empower policy formulators to make the right decisions in terms of development on a local, provincial and national level,” Ellis said.

Presentations and the panel discussion at the launch covered topics such as:

How many enterprises can survive in a town?
Are entrepreneurs being set up for failure?
Is SMEs the answer to the unemployment question?
The cost of red tape: is SMEs being tied down?

To demonstrate the applicability of the enterprise architect for issues relating to enterprise policy, as well as entrepreneurship strategies, it was decided to focus the pilot phase of the observatory on towns in the Free State. Dr Daan Toerien, research associate at the Centre for Development Support, and Johannes Wessels, Project Manager of the SME Observatory, compiled the report: “50 Towns in the Free State: What the Enterprise Architecture of these towns is telling us about Entrepreneurial Space.”

In his presentation at the launch, Dr Toerien said: “The Enterprise Observatory’s prime goal is to present valuable facts and insights about enterprises in the domains it is observing.” He has developed a database that contains information on a large number of South African towns. He said that studying the enterprise architecture of towns will contribute significantly to inform the policy and strategy debate on LED and enterprise development. “These activities will add valuable data and insights to approach entrepreneurship in the Free State and, after the pilot phase, also in other provinces in South Africa. The Free State government, district and local municipalities, and the consultant fraternity serving them, should find the SME observatory’s activities of value,” he said.

Wessels said that the SME Observatory of South Africa is dedicated to base its arguments on sound theory, science and applied research; to engage policy and decision makers on an evidence-based approach; operate in a politically non-aligned mode in order to mirror truthfully the impact of policies and decisions and to partner with policy makers, entrepreneurs, public administration, think tanks, research institutions, business representatives and NGOs on building networks and alliances to promote an open and competitive enterprise environment.

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