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15 June 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath

Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Free State, South Africa, invites us to rethink our relationship with the world in a series of ‘Courageous Conversations’ on the theme of ‘The Global Citizen’.

Prof Petersen argues that COVID-19 has been a powerful ‘disruptor’ - it has given us a stark reminder of the need to rethink our identity, of where we belong, our ‘normative’ view of citizenship – if we want to secure long-term survival of our civilisation and the environments which support it.

Powerful voices from public life, intellectuals, public interest and business leaders, academics, naturalists, religious leaders, astrophysicists, economists, and ecologists, and others, will be invited to share and debate their views.

Global Citizen courageous conversation launch
In partnership with the South African Chamber of Commerce based in the United Kingdom, the series launched on 26 May 2021, in a discussion with Prof Petersen on the concept and context of his thinking and how the series will roll out.

If you were unable to join the webinar you can watch the replay on YouTube, or visit the South African Chamber of Commerce website where you'll find recordings of previous webinars.

Join our next Global Citizen conversation on 17 June 2021 with a discussion led by the Chancellor of the University of Free State, Prof Bonang Francis Mohale, a published author and respected business leader who has held chairmanships and directorships at some of South Africa’s top companies, on how we educate for Global Citizenship.

Educating a ‘Global Citizen’ – June 17, 2021 15:00 SAST
We have pleasure in inviting you to the United Kingdom - South African Chamber of Commerce’s next ‘courageous conversation’ with University of Free State Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Francis Petersen in his series debating ‘The Global Citizen’.  

Eminent South African business leader and UFS Chancellor, Prof Bonang Mohale, will join Prof Petersen to unwrap the role universities can play in creating a ‘Global Citizen’ mindset to effect material change in a constantly evolving and turbulent international world.  

How do universities produce research, and graduate alumni who go out into the  world, to drive and reflect the bedrock value of Global Citizenship namely that of mutual respect, for others, for all creatures, and the environment which sustains us all?

A university education can be a powerful way to push the ‘reset’ button on the baggage of upbringing and our histories - personal, cultural, national, racial – which shape our world view.  

Universities can promote informed self-reflection, curiosity, and tolerance as a driving force in how we shape our realities, understand our prejudices, promote tolerance, and animate life in a better world.  Prof Petersen and Prof Mohale will reflect on how universities can accelerate and respond with greater agility to this challenge.

Kindly RSVP for the event.

 

 

News Archive

Student leaders reflect on post-Holocaust Germany and make connections to post-apartheid SA in study tour
2015-12-08

Njabulo Mabaso
Photo: Sam Styrax

“Our beloved South Africa (SA) has done quite a lot insofar as policy formulation to address the past imbalances is concerned. However, implementation has proven to be the biggest challenge.”

This is the view held by Nkosinathi Tshabalala, former Student Representative Council (SRC): Religious Affairs at Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), who was part of the Global Leadership Study Tour.

From 14 - 22 November 2015, a cohort of 37 outgoing SRC members studied through tours and seminars in Germany and Poland. The historical education trip was organised jointly by UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Jonathan Jansen, and the Student Affairs office. The study tour was supported and facilitated by the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre.

Tshabalala added: “We know the thinking behind the likes of Reconstruction and Development Programme and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to mention only two. But what have these done to close the gap between the rich and the poor? What have they done to encourage proper and complete reconciliation? Germany paid for the damages which came as a result of the Holocaust, and it is time that we do the same.”

Mosa Leteane, former SRC President of the Bloemfontein Campus, echoed Tshabalala’s sentiments as they relate to the SA experience. “In light of the Rhodes Must Fall movement, one of the things that the youth was looking at were the symbols, what symbols mean, how symbols works as part of reparation and redress in a country that has come from a tragic past,” she said.

Leteane identified similarities between how our country and the two European nations have confronted the issue of trans-generational trauma and the reconciliation process, albeit in significantly differing circumstances.

“Within the first 20 years or so, it was almost like SA. Nobody wanted to talk about it, people just wanted to build the country.” Nonetheless, “the memorialisation and commemoration happened only for the last 20 years or so,” added Leteane.

Transformation of the European political, environmental, and social landscape took place only when students and the second generation began to challenge the status quo, and to lobby for transformation through the erection of memorials and monuments. Owing to the courage of the young generation, those countries were able to take meaningful steps towards transformation through an accurate narration and commemoration of history, which is a key factor in reconciliation.

Our students had the opportunity to conduct a comparative study of post-Holocaust Germany and post-apartheid South Africa in terms of how government and universities dealt with trans-generational trauma.

By being exposed to remnants of what used to be sites such as the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial in Poland, the young leaders were encouraged to continue their attempt at nation building and advance transformation and reconciliation.


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