Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
23 September 2020
|
Story Nitha Ramnath
|
Photo Supplied
UFS students will be performing at the virtual ICDF on 24 September 2020.
On 24 September 2020, South Africa will be celebrating Heritage Day. For the 25th anniversary of this celebration, South Africans are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions in the wider context of a country that belongs to all its people. Dr Chitja Twala, Vice-Dean: Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS, says: “The importance of the day is that we must celebrate who we are and learn from each other.” The University of the Free
State (UFS) has a long tradition of commemorating Heritage Day and the ideas underpinning it. One way in which the UFS celebrates and recognises the tapestry of diverse cultures represented on its campuses is through its International Cultural Diversity
Festival hosted by the Office for International Affairs. The purpose of the event is to highlight on Heritage Day that international cultural diversity is a central tenet of the UFS community.
Pursuant to the tremendous challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic globally, the International Cultural Diversity Festival will this year be celebrated in a virtual format. Even during this uncertain time, it is important to find time to celebrate
our uniqueness and to appreciate one another’s heritage and culture in the spirit of our humanity.
Date: 24 September 2020
Time: 10:00
No registration is required!
For the 2020 Heritage Month celebrations, let us share elements about ourselves that make us proud of who we are! The diverse contributions to the 2020 virtual International Cultural Diversity Festival activities will highlight the university’s commitment towards creating a diverse, challenging intellectual environment. As a research-led university, the UFS strives to provide an environment in which new ideas are incubated and debated, contributing to its transformation process and African unity.
For more information contact Bulelwa Moikwatlhai on MaloB@ufs.ac.za
Chitja Twala: leading ANC historian
2017-12-25
Dr Chitja Twala is a leading historian on ANC history in the
Free State. Photo: Sonia Small
Dr Chitja Twala is a senior lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein Campus. Dr Twala has a substantial publication record on the history of the liberation movements, with special reference to the African National Congress in the Free State. He is the author of six chapters and has co-authored two in The Road to Democracy in South Africa: Vol. 4 (1970-1990) and The Road to Democracy in South Africa: Vol. 6 (1990-1996), published in 2010 and 2013 respectively. Dr Twala has a PhD in History from the UFS.
Dr Twala was part of the first group of the UFS Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme (PSP). He is currently collaborating with Prof Peter Limb from the Michigan State University in the United States of America on a book project on the history of the ANC in the Free State. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in local and international journals. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal for Contemporary History, Yesterday and Today Journal, and South African Journal of Cultural Studies.
Awards received by Dr Twala:
The National Research Foundation
New frontier in Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development Funding
Recipient of the Graduate School for Arts and Sciences at the University of Harvard
US Recipient of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences Grant
Awarded the Mellon Foundation Scholarship 2016-2018