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UFS, UCLA, and VUA put fragility in higher education under microscope

28 January 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Pexels

Conference — At the meet-and-greet last night, were from left Prof Ruad Ganzevoort, Diversity Officer and Dean of Theology and Religion at VUA, Prof Francis Petersen and Dr Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA.

The Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS) is hosting a colloquium on Fragility and Resilience: Facets, Features and Transformation in Higher Education which started on 29 January, with the official progamme concluding on 30 January 2020.

The colloquium is a annual collaborative partnership between the UFS, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA).

Apart from the overarching themes the colloquium also placed some focus on mental health, within this context as all three regions are witnessing a spike in mental health issues among students and staff as well as a deficit in terms of being able to sufficiently address the crisis.

“All three universities are committed to discussing global developments in diversity and transformation in higher education to discussing global developments in diversity and transformation as it may constitute itself in higher education circles around the globe,” says Dr Dionne van Reenen, convener of the 2020 colloquium and research fellow at the unit.

The idea is to discuss what has and has not worked and, hopefully, access best practices in a variety of contexts. The partnership between the three universities spans over six years starting in 2014 when the UFS first hosted the research colloquium. It is the third time the UFS has hosted the colloquium.

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, along with other members of the UFS Rectorate, attended a meet-and-greet on Monday 28 January 2020, and was joined by Dr Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA, Vice Provosts Cindy Fan, Patricia Turner, Charles Alexander, Professors Abel Valenzuela, John Hamilton and Dr Shalom Staub, director of Community Learning, as well as Prof Ruard Ganzevoort, Chief Diversity Officer and Dean of Theology and Religion at VUA

Fragility and Resilience Colloquium meet-and-greet on Tuesday 28 January 2020

Fragility and Resilience Meet-and-greet on Tuesday 28 January 2020

At the meet-and-greet on Monday are from left; Prof Ruad Ganzevoort, Prof Francis Pietersen and Dr Gene Block

News Archive

‘Africa’s Many Liberations’ seminar series launched

2016-05-11

The Africa’s Many Liberations seminar series, presented on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), is a direct response to some of the demands made by the #MustFall campaigns during the past year. A constant refrain among activists has been that the curriculum must be ‘decolonised’, and that it should have stronger foundations in African experiences. This seminar series aims to deepen understanding of histories and anti-colonial struggles, including those waged worldwide today.

It was conceived to deepen students’ knowledge of African and South African history, and to help them to engage with ideas from the diaspora and anti-colonial struggles elsewhere. It was planned as a popular seminar for students across faculties. For this reason, the series strives to avoid language or literature that might exclude students from disciplines outside of historical, sociological, political, and cultural studies.

The series is convened by the International Studies Group (ISG), in association with the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ). The coordinator is Prof Neil Roos (associate professor of history in the International Studies Group, and co-director of the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme).

Prof Roos presented the first seminar, entitled Du Bois and the ‘Problem of the Colour Line’ on Thursday 28 April 2016. The next theme under discussion will be Fanon and the Relevance of Personal and Collective Decolonisation in Today’s South Africa, which will be presented by Dr Tinashe Nyamunda.

The remainder of the eight-part series will be presented by Dr Rachel Hatcher (postdoc in the IRSJ), Dr Sahar Sattarzadeh (postdoc in the IRSJ ), Dr Ivo Mhike (postdoc in ISG), Busi Ntsele (lecturer in sociology), Leigh-Ann Naidoo (doctoral student and activist, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa), and Prof Richard Pithouse (associate professor in politics, Rhodes University, South Africa).

Date: Thursday 12 May 2016
Time: 16:30
Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus
Entrance is free
RSVP: sattarzadehsd@ufs.ac.za

Seminar series programme

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