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08 July 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied
For Prof Anthea van Jaarsveld, the balance between science, theoretical and practical experience is important for a balanced industry.

Her unique approach to Drama and Theatre Arts makes Prof Anthea van Jaarsveld the most suitable person to take over the reins as Head of the UFS Department of Drama and Theatre Arts. Prof Van Jaarsveld was officially appointed as head of this special department this year. 

The Department of Drama at the UFS is one of the biggest in the country, and according to Prof Van Jaarsveld it is also the best, because the department produces some of the finest in the industry. Her main goal as head of department is to bring about a subtle change in emphasis that will ultimately make a real contribution to employability, a greater variety of job opportunities, and practice-orientated research. “My ultimate goal is therefore an approach within which academy and practice will find each other for the benefit of both,” says Prof Van Jaarsveld.

Science, theatre and drama collide 

Prof Van Jaarsveld has a scientific approach to drama and theatre arts. She never acted professionally. It is precisely from a scientific perspective that her knowledge of the theorising and contextualisation of drama text, theatre concepts, and the film industry is applied in order to maintain a balance in a profession where the emphasis on practical experience is overwhelming.  

She studied Drama at the UFS and was also employed as Drama teacher at Eunice Girls’ School. Following this, she started working as lecturer in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch. “There I focused on the Drama genre in Afrikaans; therefore, I never actually left drama and theatre,” says Prof Van Jaarsveld. In 2018, she returned to the Department of Drama. 

Upon her return to the department where she started her studies, her aim is to ensure that the department again complies with the total package of the UFS and to make sure “that our students are prepared for a multifaceted and dynamic industry on a practical level”. 

Prof Van Jaarsveld took over from Prof Nico Luwes who retired in 2019. 

News Archive

Core herd established on the UFS Experimental Farm
2006-05-24

Seven of the foremost stud-farmers of the Afrikaner Cattle Breeders Society of South Africa, in cooperation with the University of the Free State (UFS), established a core herd on the UFS Paradys Experimental Farm outside Bloemfontein.

Each stud-farmer donated five heifers to the project.  In return, each farmer will annually receive a performance tested bull or semen of a performance tested bull out of the core herd.

With the establishment of the herd, the UFS wants to create a genetically outstanding herd to be used for the training of students, research as well as information sessions for farmers.  All the animals that cannot be used by the herd or the stud-farmers will be made available for auctioning at the UFS Paradys Experimental Farm.  

The herd will be kept under commercial conditions to ensure that only those animals who have adapted can be made available to the industry.  For more information Prof Frikkie Neser can be contacted at (051) 401-9595.

In front from the left are Mr Julian Balt (stud-farmer from  Carletonville), Prof Johan Greyling (Departmental Chairperson: Department of Animal- and Wildlife- and Grassland Sciences), Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences) and Mr Neels van Rooyen (stud-farmer  from Zastron). At the back from the left are Mr Willem Kooij (stud-farmer  from  Potchefstroom), Messrs Johan and Estian Cronjé (stud-farmers from  Winburg), Mr Willie Cloete (stud-farmer from Vryburg), Prof Frikkie Neser (lecturer at the UFS Department of Animal and Wildlife and Grassland Sciences) and Mr Schalk de Jager (stud-farmer from  Vryburg).

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