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iCAN Vol 2 strengthens CTL’s bid to decolonise

28 November 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Dr Peet van Aardt

iCAN read more — The book was launched during the Student Arts and Life Dialogues Festival on the Bloemfontein Campus in October.

In its continued bid to decolonise the academic curriculum at the University of the Free State (UFS) the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) published the second volume of Creative African Narratives (iCAN) short stories written by UFS students.

iCAN Volume 2 comes after extensive creative writing workshops were presented on all three campuses during the year. The project is coordinated by Dr Peet van Aardt from CTL and is funded by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation.

Through the iCAN project, CTL plans to incorporate the students’ written texts as part of the extensive reading component of the first-year academic literacy courses across all faculties. “We are teaching and motivating our students to read, but we cannot keep relying on a curriculum that is foreign to them,” said Dr Van Aardt.

The volume comprises 55 short stories with topics ranging from the Struggle, to campus life, mental illness, family affairs and love, with the students’ lived experiences also a main theme throughout the anthology. The stories are written in Sepedi, isiZulu, Setswana, English, Afrikaans and Sesotho. Some were also performed at the recent Multilingual Mokete, held on the Bloemfontein campus in September.

“We are really proud of this year’s publication, and the project as a whole,” says Dr Van Aardt. “This year we were able to include more student contributions than last year.”

News Archive

Kovsie champ makes SA Paralympic swimmers team

2015-06-05

Johann van Heerden
Photo: Supplied

Johann van Heerden will fly the Kovsie flag high in this year’s International Paralympic Committee (lPC) Swimming Championships in Glasgow. The University of the Free State first-year BEd student is one of 10 South Africans representing our country.

According to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, 640 swimmers from about 50 countries are to plunge and stroke their way to the touch plates from 13-19 July.

“I first started swimming because I had a fit when I was born and it caused me to have Cerebral Palsy. My parents thought that, because my right-hand-side functioning was not good, swimming might help strengthen my muscles,” said Johann.

His parents played a major role in influencing the beginning of his professional swimming career.

Lauren van Heerden, Johann’s father, said, “I am so excited for him, and I am proud that he will be representing our country overseas. It is a big competition so it is a good experience for him.”

Qualifying for the IPC championships has proved that hard work pays off. As his coach, Mark Markgraaff, puts it: “Johann must go out there and have fun, most importantly; he will reap the benefits of his hard work.”

It is not only his parents and coach that Johann has made proud; Hetsie Veitch, Assistant Director of the Unit for Students with Disabilities, also expressed how proud she is.

“Since I’ve known him, he has been a very determined young man who is dedicated to his sport.”

The Rio Paralympics is where Johann envisions being next year.

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