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30 April 2020 | Story Baptiste Becret | Photo Supplied
Baptiste Becret.

Since the approval of the University of the Free State (UFS) internationalisation strategy for 2018-2022, the UFS community and staff members of the Office for International Affairs (OIA) have been working hard to try and realise the goals stated in the strategy. The policy states “the university's’ commitment to developing curricula that are locally relevant, globally competitive and connect to multiple knowledge paradigms”. Furthermore, “We expect that the new internationalisation strategy will advance the international positioning of the university, and synergise the existing rich international activities into intentional, comprehensive internationalisation processes”.

In an effort to realise the said expectations through the university’s inbound mobility programme, the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French in the Faculty of the Humanities has hired Baptiste Becret, an exchange student from French partner university, Science PO Bordeaux, as French tutor for the first semester of 2020. This collaboration by the two departments endeavours to achieve the university’s vision of developing its students’ international and intercultural competencies through internationalisation at home. Equally, this initiative speaks to a critical aspect of internationalisation, the “purposeful integration of international and intercultural dimensions into the formal curriculum for the UFS students within the domestic learning environment”.

Being the only Frenchman on campus

“I was the only Frenchman on campus and at the university, which I rather enjoyed. I learned at the beginning of this year, in January, that I could share my culture and language by helping students participating in the first- and second-year French courses at the university. For my part, I was attached to the Faculty of the Humanities. I've already had experience as a tutor in France, so I wasn't very stressed at the idea of being in front of a class. I enjoyed trying to teach my mother tongue. My contact with the French teacher was good. He gave me a lot of freedom to do the activities I wanted to do.

I didn't think that passing on my knowledge to the first-year class would be so difficult. Indeed, for some of them, they have never spoken a word of French. But the atmosphere improved from class to class after a shy start. I hope I was able to help them as best I could. In any case, I was very happy to teach them and to assist them in their various difficulties with the language. For the second-year class, the atmosphere was a little different. The class was smaller, the students already knew each other well, and they were pretty close. Additionally, their language level was already good. 

All this to say that being a French tutor was a great experience. It was enriching for both parties (students and me). Of course, I tried to do the best I could, and I took advantage of the free time my schedule gave me to share a little bit of my home country. So, I advise future international students – if they feel comfortable with that – to give it a try. It's only two hours a week with a little bit of extra money. Finally, I would like to thank the International Office for informing me of this opportunity, the people involved in the programme, including my coordinator, the French teacher, and especially the students who have been super cool to me.” 

News Archive

UFS hosts YSI for first conference of its kind in Africa
2017-06-13

Description: UFS hosts YSI  Tags: UFS hosts YSI

From the left: Bryson Nkhoma, a doctoral student from
the International Studies Group, Prof Francis Petersen,
Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, and
Dr Tinashe Nyamunda, a postdoctoral fellow from the
International Studies Group.
Photo: Siobhan Canavan

In the first conference of its kind on the African continent, the University of the Free State’s Bloemfontein Campus was privileged to host the Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) conference.

Reflecting on the African experience

A total of 65 young and senior scholars from five continents attended the conference Decolonising Africa? The Economic History of Development, hosted by the YSI in partnership with the International Studies Group at the UFS.

The conference, held on 8 and 9 June 2017, provided an opportunity to reflect on the African experience from an historical perspective and to assess the current position of the continent in the global economy. It discussed new themes in development, such as the role of women, minorities and entrepreneurs.

The conference focused on how the business community has operated in an Africa that still faces inequalities and unfair terms of trade and lacks a unified political will.

Keynote speakers at conference

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, said decolonisation was not self-explanatory. “In its radical form, decolonisation presents two polar opposites. On the one side is white privilege and on the other is black pain.”

Prof Ian Phimister, Senior Research Professor at the Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS presented the opening keynote address entitled International Imperialism: The Violent Making of Southern Africa, 1884-1914.

Other keynote speakers included Prof Sabelo Ndlovu Gatsheni from the University of Pretoria, Prof Gareth Austin from the University of Cambridge, and the closing keynote by Prof Alois Mlambo from the University of Pretoria.

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