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17 August 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Pierce van Heerden
Burneline Kaars says the annual Women’s Breakfast event will honour all the remarkable women who are working from home while managing added family responsibilities.

Women of the UFS, and now also elsewhere in South Africa, can look forward to yet another Women’s Breakfast event to commemorate National Women’s Day. The event will be coordinated by the Division of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness. 

Burneline Kaars, Head of the division, says this year’s event will look a bit different from past events, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual event will be interactive and engaging, with a balance of serious topics and light-hearted humour. 

The theme of the event is ‘From surviving to thriving’. Kaars says they will be honouring all the remarkable women for their ability to thrive despite ongoing difficulties. 

And with guest speaker duo, Shaleen Surtie-Richards and Hannes van Wyk – who will charm and dazzle attendees – this is definitely an event not to be missed.

“We will also relate experiences of strength and resilience that every woman can draw upon, as well as provide additional entertainment with musical productions performed by local Bloemfontein artists,” adds Kaars.

Not only UFS women, but women across South Africa are invited to join the Division of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness for this year’s UFS Women’s Breakfast on:

Date: 20 August 2020
Time: 09:00-11:00

The event is free of charge, but the audience will have the opportunity to pledge any amount towards the fight against gender-based violence.

Any interested parties can register via this link. The Organisational Development and Employee Wellness team is looking forward to seeing you online


Inspiration integral part of Kaars’ life …

Kaars, who is married with two children, says her family are her biggest fans. “They are my strength in pursuing my goals and dreams and they inspire me to be bold.” Meditation, ambition, and music also serves as inspiration for Kaars, a dynamic woman who leads the Division of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness with a smile in her eyes. “My quiet time in the early mornings brings me to a place of being totally present and of dependence. It is during this time that I can just slow down and get new perspective on things.”

Kaars adds that ambition also keeps her going, even during bad days. For her, it means being eager to accomplish something, striving to reach her goals, and being determined to achieve what she set out to do and to do it enthusiastically.

But she believes the perspectives of others such as her family, close friends, and team members are important. “Their different perspectives, amount of energy, and their support of my ideas inspire me immensely,” she says.

On a creative level, Kaars says: “Music speaks to me in unique ways, and the ability to express yourself is very inspiring. The creativity it takes to make music amazes me in a wonderful way. I’ve been listening and enjoying music for as long as I can remember.”

 

News Archive

UFS Music rises to academic prominence
2007-10-18

 

From the left are: Ronella Jansen van Rensburg, Hanna van Schalkwyk, Elene Coetzer en Lizabé Lambrechts

Four postgraduate students gave prominence to the Music Department of the University of the Free State by having four academic articles published by accredited journals, and a fifth published in an international online journal.

It is the first time that a tertiary music institution in South Africa has had so many postgraduate studies published in one year, says Prof Martina Viljoen.

The students who worked under Prof Viljoen's supervision are Hanna van Schalkwyk, senior lecturer in singing at UFS; Ronella Jansen van Rensburg, part-time music lecturer and founder of the Sentraal-Kultuurakademie (Central Culture Academy); Elene Coetzer, also a part-time lecturer and involved in the Mangaung String Project; and Lizabé Lambrechts, who is still studying full-time.

Hanna and Ronella attained their master's degrees and Lizabé honours.

Hanna's research on the unique and at times unorthodox philosophy in singing and method of the pedagogue in singing Sarie Lamprecht (1923-2005) is published in the Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe (Journal for the Humanities).

The study documents interviews held with Lamprecht over more than two years as well as conversations with her most prominent students.

Ronella's study on the relationship between emotional intelligence and musical performance anxiety is divided into two successive articles in the journal Musicus.

Dr Adelene Grobler, Epog director at UFS, was Ronella's co-supervisor.

Elene conducted a qualitative investigation into the Mangaung String Programme in which the social value of this teaching programme is emphasised.

She documented the responses of learners, parents and teachers who are involved in the project. Her article is published in the Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa.

Lizebé reached out to pop culture for her research and wrote about no less a person than the controversial shock-rock-icon Marilyn Manson.

Her study serves as a model analysis for educational work that focuses on popular culture as a didactic instrument.

In this respect Manson's music, which is frequently slated as vulgar or disturbing, is shown as aggressive social comment.

Lizabé's article, which throws light on Manson's bisexual identity, was published as a full-length monograph in the first edition of the overseas online noncejournal.

In 2005 the Department of Music also excelled when it was the first academic music institution in South Africa that published international congress proceedings as a subsidised collection.

The collection contained eminent international authors and was published under the guest editorship of Viljoen.

Die Volksblad – 1.10.07

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