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New levels of understanding emerge when seemingly unrelated fields of interest intersect

25 November 2020 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath

Interdisciplinarity in Action

Lunchtime learning webinar on

The Intersection between Science and Visual Arts

In this webinar, Prof Willem Boshoff and Prof Louis Scott, both from the University of the Free State, will discuss the intersection between science and the visual arts. The webinar will explore how new levels of understanding may emerge when seemingly unrelated fields of interest intersect, supported by the ideas we may find in the endless diversity of nature.

This webinar is part of a series of three webinars on Interdisciplinarity presented from November to December 2020 via Microsoft Teams for a duration of 45 minutes each. The webinar topics in the series explore the intersection between Neuroscience and Music, between Science and Entrepreneurship, and between Science and Visual Arts.

Date: Tuesday 8 December 2020

Topic: The intersection between science and visual arts

Time: 13:00-13:45 (SAST)

RSVP: Alicia Pienaar, pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za by 7 December 2020

Platform: Microsoft Teams

Introduction and welcome

Prof Corli Witthuhn – Vice-Rector: Research at the University of the Free State

Presenters

Prof Willem Boshoff

Willem Boshoff is a Senior Professor in Fine Arts at the University of the Free State. As a conceptual artist, he engages primarily with language. Notably, his works have included the writing of several themed dictionaries, most often made accessible to a broad audience in the form of large art installations. His broad interdisciplinary interests, including the fields of botany, music, and lexicography, have over the years led to the development of a digital research archive, which he recently donated to the University of the Free State. Prof Boshoff’s work is exhibited extensively, both locally and abroad, and has been included in major private collections and museums. Recently, he became the first South African artist to be awarded an A2 rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Prof Louis Scott

Prof Louis Scott is a retired professor and mentor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the UFS, with an interest in visual arts. He studies fossil pollen in natural lake, cave, swamp, and fossil dung deposits. He attempts to reconstruct our heritage associated with African prehistory through environmental history, including natural long-term processes of change. Prof Scott is widely published in this field, serves on the editorial boards of international journals, and has a B-rating with the National Research Foundation.

News Archive

UFS seals cooperation with National Institute for Higher Education

2006-03-20

At the signing of the agreement were seated from the left Prof Magda Fourie (Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS) and Dr Pearl Nkosi (Head: Academic Planning at the NIHE). Standing from the left were Dr Kopano Taole (acting head of the NIHE) and Mr Vernon Collett (Registrar: Academic Student Services at the UFS).
Photo: Stephen Collett

UFS seals cooperation with National Institute for Higher Education

A formal memorandum of understanding was recently signed between the University of the Free State (UFS) and the National Institute for Higher Education in the Northern Cape (NIHE).

The memorandum was signed to give both institutions a clear understanding of the way in which collaborative programmes should be implemented.

“Although the UFS has been presenting two bachelors degree courses (i.e. B Soc Sc in Human and Societal Dynamics and B Com in General Management) and the Career Preparation Programme at the NIHE since 2003, the cooperative agreement was never formalised,” explained Prof Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS, during the signing ceremony.

These academic programmes, presented by facilitators living in Kimberley and lecturers from the UFS, serve 270 students and the entry requirements of the programmes are determined by the UFS.

Prof Fourie said the UFS had a history of a relationship with the NIHE. The partnership should be seen as an example of how two institutions of higher learning can work together to serve the needs of the students in the region.

“The memorandum of understanding is part of the UFS’s commitment to and engagement with the central region. As the NIHE is currently operating in a policy vacuum, the memorandum is underpinned by certain principles aimed at providing some parameters within which the relationship is established and developed,” she said.

Dr Kopano Taole, acting head of the NIHE, added to this by saying that the understanding of where the NIHE wants to take the partnership is now reflected in the memorandum of understanding.

“The memorandum is the culmination of many years of hard work and of helping the people of the region. The continued input and guidance of the UFS is of tremendous help to us and through this we gained a greater sense of what the NIHE can grow to be,” he said.

The NIHE is a joint initiative of the BHP Billiton Development Trust (BBDT) and the Northern Cape Provincial Government and was established in June 2004. The National Plan for Higher Eduation (NPHE 2001) proposed the establishment of the NIHE in the Northern Cape to serve as the administrative and governance hub for ensuring the coherent provision of higher education through programme collaboration between the higher education institutions operating in the Northern Cape.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
20 March 2006

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