Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

ISG researcher awarded prestigious Colin Murray Prize

13 November 2020 | Story Charlene Stanley | Photo Supplied

Dr Innocent Dande_web read more — Dr Innocent Dande, UFS ISG scholar, has been named the 2021 winner of the JSAS Colin Murray Prize for his research on food politics in Zimbabwe.

Dr Innocent’s Dande’s research on the everyday food struggles experienced by residents of poor suburbs in Harare, Zimbabwe, has earned him a coveted research prize from the London-based Journal of Southern African Studies (JSAS) – the leading international journal in its field.

Start of extended book project

“Winning this award means a great deal for my career plans, especially as I am planning to come up with an extended book project that looks at working classes’ eating habits and foodscapes, or the geographies of food, cooking and eating in lower class suburbs,” says an excited Dr Dande. His aim is to write a sensorial history of how the working classes ate and enjoyed food in Zimbabwean cities between 1980 and 2019.

“One advantage is that this prize provides me with funding to carry out research. If the JSAS is satisfied with the outcome, their tradition is to publish it,” he says.

Not deterred by lockdown

Dr Dande arrived at the UFS at the same time the COVID-19 lockdown was announced, which saw many of his colleagues hastily returning to their home countries. His decision to stay indirectly led to his application.

“I was spending so much of my time in my room at Kovsie Inn during Level one of the lockdown. Applying for this grant was a way of dealing with the boredom that comes with locking oneself in for too long,” he explains.

His application was titled, Cooking, the crisis and cuisines: household economies and food politics in Harare (Zimbabwe), 1997-2020, with much of his research focusing on everyday issues affecting ordinary people, in contrast to “high politics and many other topics that ordinarily shout for more attention.” His aim is to write a social history of the Zimbabwean crisis, focusing on “mundane issues such as the cooking and eating of food.”

Colin Murray Prize background

Colin Murray was a sociologist, anthropologist, and political economist who passed away in October 2013. He taught at various universities in the UK and South Africa and had a special interest in family histories. Carrying a purse of £2 500, the Colin Murray Prize is awarded to an applicant who is within two years of completing his or her PhD, and is meant to assist the winner in engaging in original research in Murray’s fields of interest.

ISG an intellectually enriching environment

The COVID-19 pandemic may have restricted physical interactions with colleagues, but Dr Dande says he still found the International Studies Group (ISG) an intellectually enriching place.

“The ISG continued to hold regular and interesting Zoom seminars. Many of my colleagues have also won very prestigious prizes and are in different stages of completing their various projects. Many others have also published in the same journal (JSAS) and many other high-impact journals.”

He highly values the generous professional advice from his fellow researchers, as well as the input and feedback of ISG Head, Prof Ian Phimister.

“The ISG has shown me that it is possible to dream big and to even contemplate applying for jobs anywhere in the world and not just in Southern Africa,” says Dr Dande.

News Archive

B. Iur. programme in Occupational Risk Law first of its kind in the country

2010-11-26

The University of the Free State (UFS) will offer a B.Iur. degree programme in Occupational Risk Law from 2011.

This programme of the Faculty of Law is the first of its kind to be offered in South Africa and positions the UFS in the forefront of this field of study.

The programme is designed to develop and qualify professionals, knowledgeable in the field of occupational risk law as prescribed by South African legislation and international best practices. It further offers a qualification based on a well-researched basis of applicable legal principles, combined with safety, health, environmental and quality risk management principles applicable to employers and employees in a specialised industry.

The B.Iur. (Occupational Risk Law) has been developed by experts within the parameters of international comparability, according to research-based identification of career demands and requirements in the fields mentioned.

By introducing this programmesignificant progress will be made towards achieving the nationally stated objective of legal safety, health and environmental quality assurance in the workplace and within the broader community. The programme will also encompass the values and standards prescribed by the Institute of Safety Managers. This will provide them with a further step towards the regulation of the professional en ethical standards in the field of legal safety, health and environmental quality assurance.

With the programme, the UFS not only creates a unique opportunity for stakeholders and learners to add meaningful value to their careers, but also exerts a meaningful influence on the industry and society in terms of the acquisition of a most appropriate type of qualification. The B.Iur. (Occupational Risk Law)degree therefore offers a meaningful contribution towards the industry through addressing the increasing demand for career opportunities in the field of legal safety, health and environmental quality compliance.

The new programme is the result of an agreement between the faculty and its partner, IRCA Global. The university officially launched its partnership with IRCA Global, an international supplier of risk management solutions pertaining to safety, health, the environment and quality in 2008. As part of the agreement, the UFS will offer short learning programme, a diploma and a degree in Risk Management.

IRCA Global is a South African company in the international risk control and SHEQ environments with filials in Africa, Australia, India, Eastern Europe, and South America.

In the interim IRCA Global has continued with the marketing of the programme, with the result that hundreds of potential students are waiting for the launching of the programme. The faculty is geared towards offering the programme in e-learning. New modules will also be offered with the help of IRCA’s trained and skilled facilitators. The faculty also utilises the partnerships entered into with IRCA to appoint practising specialists as part-time lecturers for the occupational risk law component of the programme as well as to develop a new specialist component amongst the permanent staff.

The programme is already active and students can register for the first semester 2011 (study code 3324, programme code M3000). Direct your enquiries to Cora-Mari de Vos at 051 401 3532 or devosc@ufs.ac.za.

The programme consists of fundamental modules of the LL.B. and B.Iur., as well as short learning programmes in the Faculty of Law and specially developed core modules in occupational risk law. The B.Iur.in Occupational Risk Law enables successful candidates to enrol for applicable Post Graduate Diplomas or a cognate Honours Degree. Obtaining one of these qualifications provides the platform to articulate to Magister degrees. Horizontal articulation possibilities exist with the accredited Baccalaureus of Law (LL.B.) which is presented by several institutions in the country.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
26 November 2010

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept