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18 November 2020 | Story Eugene Seegers
Prof Daniel Green - Guest speaker at UICSJ webinar
Prof Daniel Green is the guest speaker at the UICSJ webinar.

Signs, symbolism, and statues at universities often recall colonial and apartheid legacies. In South Africa – since students at the University of Cape Town marched to topple a statue of Cecil John Rhodes – a so-called ‘Fallist Movement’ emerged that aims to decolonise universities. In 2020, catalysed by the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter Movement has emerged, with a strong emphasis on removing symbols and practices that perpetuate segregationist legacies and harms of slavery, apartheid, and colonialism. Fallist and Black Lives Matter protests are against injustice and for dignity, equality, freedom, peace, and justice in society. As with other South African and global universities, the University of the Free State is a site of slow, complicated, and often conflict-ridden struggles for transformation. 

The Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice (UICSJ) will be hosting a webinar with the theme (Re)moving, (Re)naming, (Re)forming, and (Re)presenting: Towards Dignity, Care, and Social Cohesion in Higher Education, on 24 November 2020.

This webinar will ask pluriversal questions with the aim of restoring dignity within new, dense notions of communities that are capable of the kinds of care that grant dignity and worth to all. In particular, this virtual conference will speak to experiences and struggles related to changing how spaces, symbols, artefacts and other oppressive accoutrements endure at universities, conveying meanings, narratives, and cultures that must be overcome. The webinar will (re)centre critical and creative voices. Local and international participants will present multiple dimensions on the struggles involving naming and renaming, as well as the removal, recontextualisation, or replacement of statues and memorabilia, within a broader effort towards social justice.  

What the webinar seeks to address

  1. How do we address signs, symbolism, and statues in public spaces that misrepresent or degrade an individual/group with a view to restoring (collective) dignity?
  2. How do we address signs, symbolism, and statues that memorialise/celebrate people or representations of history that are controversial?
  3. How do we deal with the strong emotive/affective aspects of history and heritage, culture, and the loss thereof, in a way that enhances dignity and justice?
  4. What are the best processes for reconstructing public spaces and who should be involved in broad-based consultations?

Speakers and panel experts

Speaker: Prof Daniel Green (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)

For an interesting background, please feel free to access and watch Prof Green’s YouTube video titled Racism and Native American Statuary, which you can find at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k70-xc811Po.

Panellists:

Facilitated by Dr Dionne van Reenen (Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice, UFS).

 

Hosted by: The Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice, University of the Free State

24 November 2020 at 16:00 (CAT; UTC + 02:00)

Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to RSVP
Learn More | Meeting options
 Enquiries to: SizepheXK@ufs.ac.za

 

Format of webinar

  • Facilitators and speakers sign on at 15:45; participants to join.
  • Dr Dionne van Reenen (from the Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice) opens the session and introduces the guest speaker and panellists (five minutes).
  • Prof Green presents (for 20 minutes).
  • The four panel members respond to the theme for five minutes each (for a total of 20 minutes) in the following order: Dr Tumubweinee, Prof Legêne, Mr Magume, Prof Steyn.
  • Facilitated questions and comments will be fielded from the live chat (about 30 minutes).
  • Closure at 17:20.

A student gazes up at the statue of President MT Steyn during the Vryfees
held on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus in 2014, during which this and other
statues on campus and in the city were wrapped in plastic.
Photo: Image sourced from Cigdem Aydemir (Plastic Histories)

News Archive

UFS professor addresses genetically modified food in South Africa in inaugural lecture
2016-09-23

Description: Chris Viljoen inaugural lecture Tags: Chris Viljoen inaugural lecture

At the inaugural lecture were, from the left front,
Prof Lis Lange, Vice Rector: Academic;
Prof Chris Viljoen; Prof Gert van Zyl,
Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences; back: Prof Marius Coetzee,
Head of Department of Haematology and Cell Biology;
and Dr Lynette van der Merwe, Undergraduate
Programme Director.
Photo: Stephen Collett

The first genetically modified (GM) crops in South Africa were planted in 1998. Eighteen years later, the country is one of the largest producers of GM food in the world. Those in support of genetically modified crops say this process is the only way to feed a rapidly growing world population. But those who criticise GM food describe it as a threat to the environment and safety of the population. Who is right? According to Prof Chris Viljoen of the Department of Haematology and Cell Biology at the University of the Free State, neither position is well-founded.

GM crops play a vital role in food security
While GM crops have an important role to play in increasing food production, the technology is only part of the solution to providing sufficient food for a growing world population. The major genetically modified crops produced in the world include soybean, cotton, maize and canola. However, the authenticity of food labelling and the long-term safety of GM food are issues that consumers are concerned about.

Safety and labelling of GM food important in South Africa
In his inaugural lecture on the subject “Are you really going to eat that?” Prof Viljoen addressed the importance of the safety and labelling of GM food in the country. “In order for food to be sustainable, production needs to be economically and environmentally sustainable. On the other hand, food integrity, including food quality, authenticity and safety need to be ensured,” Prof Viljoen said. 

Labelling of food products for genetic modification was mandatory in South Africa, he went on to say. “It allows consumers the right of choice whether to eat genetically modified foods or not.” The Consumer Protection Act of 2008 requires food ingredients containing more than 5% of GM content to be labelled. 

GMO Testing Facility world leader in food diagnostic testing
In 1999, Prof Viljoen spearheaded research in developing a GM diagnostic testing platform, and in 2003, a commercial diagnostic platform for GM status certification, called the GMO Testing Facility, was founded. The facility is a licensed Eurofins GeneScan laboratory   a world leader in food diagnostic testing   and provides diagnostic detection and quantification of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in grain and processed foods for the local and international market.

Molecular diagnostic technology the future of food integrity, authenticity and safety
With GM labelling now well-established in South Africa, the next challenge is to establish the use of molecular diagnostic technology to ensure that food integrity, including food authenticity and safety is maintained, said Prof Viljoen.

“To the question ‘Are you really going to eat that?’ the answer is ‘yes’, but let’s continue doing research to make sure that what we eat is safe and authentic.”

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