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20 March 2019 | Story Zama Feni | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Prof Henning Melber
Prof Henning Melber, taking over the editorial-ship of the Acta Academica Journal.

The newly appointed editor of the University of the Free State(UFS) journal for humanities Prof Henning Melber had vowed to give the publication a deeper insight on critical issues ranging from decolonisation of knowledge to knowledge production.

In his first editorial opinion as the new Editor of the Acta Academica journal, Prof Melber said the publication has the declared intention to apply a critical social theory perspective.

“Dedicated to scholarship in the humanities, Acta Academica will henceforth be published annually with a minimum of two issues, plus an optional additional issues per year,” he said. 

Former Editor Professor Lis Lange, previously Vice-Rector: Academic at the University of the Free State (UFS), has moved to the University of Cape Town as Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning.

The journal publishes scholarly articles that examine society, culture and politics from a critical social theory perspective and it is also interested on scholarly work that examines how the humanities in the 21st century are responding to the double imperative of theorising the world and changing it.

Analysis on Africa encouraged for Acta Academica

As a journal promoting humanist values and ethics, Prof Melber stated that he would like to see Acta Academica publishing scholarly analysis and think pieces that engage with such challenges in a critical (and gendered) theoretical perspective. 

“We welcome in particular contributions that link to current themes and processes on the African continent and especially to Southern Africa, without abandoning the global context and the shared perspectives of committed
scholarship elsewhere,” he said.

Decolonisation of knowledge

“We will promote an emphasis on contributions in the fields of post-colonial, development, cultural, gender, international and African Studies aiming to support current efforts towards a decolonisation of knowledge and knowledge production. 
He said the journal will combine an international post-colonial discourse inspired by critical theory and other relevant schools of thought applied to and/or generated in a local and regional (African) context. 

“We also welcome efforts to contribute to the decolonisation of knowledge, which still to a large extent is anchored in the global asymmetries. We cannot pretend these asymmetric power relations and inherited structures do not exist.  “Nor will we be able to avoid their reproduction completely. But we can promote ownership of authors over their intellectual product and will disseminate the work as widely as possible,” he said.

New Editor calls for diversification of knowledge

In another efforts to decolonise, Prof Melber said they would also make special efforts to empower aspiring African scholars. As part of this endeavour, the UFS’s Centre for Gender and Africa Studies has for several years, been the partner institution of Africa Spectrum for the annual Young African Scholars Award. 

“We will try to create similar opportunities, encouraging early career scholars to submit articles. In addition, we would like to expand the character of contributions, by further diversification of forms of knowledge transmission through debate articles, reports, comments, review essays and other thought-provoking interventions. We hope to receive your support, as potential authors or as readers who contribute to or benefit from Acta Academica’s efforts to further a stimulating debate,” he said

News Archive

UFS takes lead in improving quality of training in economics in schools
2006-06-20

The fourth international workshop for trainers in the National Council on Economic Education’s (NCEE) outreach programme for Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East will be presented in Bloemfontein from 18-24 June 2006.

 “Because of the rapid success we achieved in the Free State with similar workshops in Economics education that were presented by the NCEE the past year, we have now invited representatives from education departments and universities of five other provinces to attend the international workshop for trainers,” said Prof Klopper Oosthuizen, lecturer at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Agricultural Economics and initiator of the cooperative agreement with the NCEE.

 The UFS and the Free State Department of Education are the NCEE’s first partners in Africa who received this training.  “The attendance of the five provinces and universities is the first step in the extension of the programme to the rest of the country,” said Prof Oosthuizen. 

 The NCEE is based in the United States of America (USA) and the workshop forms part of the council’s effort to improve the quality of the training of Economics teachers and lecturers across the world. 

 “South Africa is urgently in need of efforts to improve the integration of black people into the market economy.  An understanding of how markets work is one of the pillars of democracy.  Equipping young people with economic understanding and skills will help empower them for responsible roles as individuals and citizens,” said Prof Oosthuizen.

 According to Prof Oosthuizen representatives from the education departments of the Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North West will also be attending the international workshop for trainers.  Representatives from the Universities of Rhodes, of KwaZulu-Natal, North West and the Durban University of Technology as well as the Cape Peninsula University of Technology will also attend the workshop.

 During this workshop teachers and lecturers in Economics will receive certificates. 

 Various subjects will be covered during the workshop such as world trade patterns, cost and benefits of free trade, exchange rates and international finance.  The training will be done by representatives from the NCEE by using methods such as direct instruction and role play.

 The NCEE is also in the process of training teachers and learning facilitators in the Free State in an effort to improve the quality of Economics classes in secondary schools. 

 “A group of 84 teachers and learning facilitators were trained in December 2005, 50 were trained in January 2006 and the last group of 40 will be trained at the UFS Main Campus in Bloemfontein from 26 June - 1 July 2006,” said Prof Oosthuizen.

 During this seminar the teachers will be trained in issues such as broad social goals in an economy, economic decision making, government’s role in a market economy and fiscal policy.  The training will also be done by representatives from the NCEE.

 The NCEE has been working together with international partners since 1992 to strengthen their Economics teaching systems.  They have already succeeded in increasing literacy in Economics at schools in the USA and more than 20 East Block countries.  More than 1,5 million learners in the East Block countries have already been served by this initiative.  Since 2004 the NCEE’s focus has moved away from the East Block countries to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

 “Our future plans include strengthening the growing partnership between the UFS, the Free State Department of Education and the NCEE.  We also want to establish a council and centres for economic education which will serve as an umbrella for our joint efforts,” said Prof Oosthuizen.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za 
20 June 2006

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