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With the University of the Free State (UFS) academic programme suspended and following guidelines by the UFS Coronavirus (COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2) Task Team to minimise the gathering of people in one place, all UFS libraries will be closed from Friday 20 March to Monday 13 April 2020.
During this time, staff and students will not have any access to the following campus and branch libraries of the UFS Library and Information Services:
• Sasol Library (Bloemfontein Campus)
• Neville Alexander Library (South Campus)
• TK Mopeli Library (Qwaqwa Campus)
• Frik Scott Medical Library (Bloemfontein Campus)
• Music Library (Bloemfontein Campus)
The university community is advised as follows:
• Use Wednesday (18 March) and Thursday (19 March) to borrow books you might need during the long recess. During these two days, students are advised to take precautionary measures and avoid sitting in groups that might compromise their health.
• During this time, all due dates for borrowed material will be automatically extended, no late fines will be charged, and patrons can return material when libraries reopen.
• Please make use of the ‘Ask-a-Librarian’ service for any assistance you might require (go to the UFS Library and Information Services website – click Library Services – click Ask-a-Librarian); OR use the UFS Library social media.
• The UFS Library and Information Services will also be available on a new ‘LiveChat’ service accessible here (listed under Resources – LibGuides). With this service, you can connect ‘live’ with your information librarian.
• All planned activities for the South African Library Week are postponed until further notice.
Ecofeminism a possibe solution to impending famine
2016-05-12
Dr Inge Konik (right) is pictured with her postdoctoral supervisor, Prof Bert Olivier, Senior Research Professor at the Department of Philosophy.
Photo: Valentino Ndaba |
In view of the environmental and social problems faced in South Africa today, researchers such as Dr Inge Konik are hard at work mapping these issues and seeking long-term solutions. Dr Konik, a lecturer in the Department of Journalism, Media and Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) shared her views in a presentation on 6 May 2016. She spoke about revaluing indigenous ways of life and subsistence-focused lifeways, linking this to materialist ecological feminism, or ecofeminism for short.
Dr. Konik’s presentation, hosted by the Department of Philosophy at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), was entitled: “Transversal reflections on ecological feminism and ubuntu.” The research underpinning the presentation derived from Dr Konik’s doctoral thesis which was supervised by Ariel Salleh (University of Sydney) and Andrea Hurst (NMMU).
Dr Konik’s research suggests that ecofeminism - which is a convergence between environmentalism and feminism - may hold the answers to the question of how we may work against environmental and social injustices. She also proposed that society look back toward subsistence communities of the past, and those currently being marginalized in our industrial societies, and linked the values evidenced in the practices of these communities to the African philosophty of ubuntu. In order to solve complex contemporary challenges Dr Konik suggests that we combine these seemingly disparate theoretical frames - ubuntu and ecofeminism - by applying a transversal approach, which involves openness to dialogue between traditions.
“My focus was on ecological feminism and critical theory and very specifically on South Africa, given the challeges South Africa faces - the environmental and social challenges and what kind of frameworks would be helpful,” said Dr Konik, who will officially become a postdoctoral research fellow at the department as of July 2016.
Prof Pieter Duvenage, Head of the Departement, stated that compelling research outputs are anticipated from Dr Konik as a fellow.