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17 September 2021 | Story 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 was 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 that support it.

Global Citizen and the role of Digital Futures – Monday, 27 September - 13:30 SAST / 12:30 BST 

How we turn information into intelligence is the subject of SACC’s next ‘Courageous Conversation’ with University of the Free State Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, in his series debating ‘The Global Citizen’.  “I believe the world needs multi-disciplinary solutions to its global problems.  For this reason, I established the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures at the University of the Free State as part of my vision to infuse the natural and social sciences and the humanities with everything that digital brings to a multi-disciplinary approach in order to solve real-world problems through the power of big-data analysis,” says Prof Petersen.

Prof Philippe Burger, the UFS Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Poverty, Inequality, and Economic Development, together with Prof Katinka de Wet and Herkulaas Combrink, the interim co-directors of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures, will join Prof Petersen to discuss the value that such an approach can bring to finding solutions to real-world problems. They will also share information on some of the exciting projects of international relevance that they are working on. Agriculture and food security, medicine, and attitudes to issues such as, for example, vaccination, education, governance, and ethics are key foci of the centre.

Join us to find out how big-data analysis and a multi-disciplinary approach can transform understanding and deliver solutions to some of the challenges we face as citizens of the world.  

To RSVP click here 


The Global Citizen Courageous Conversations series

In partnership with the South African Chamber of Commerce based in the United Kingdom, the Global Citizen Courageous Conversations series that was launched on 26 May 2021, brings together powerful voices from public life, intellectuals, public interest and business leaders, academics, naturalists, religious leaders, astrophysicists, economists, ecologists, and others.

If you missed our previous Global Citizen Courageous Conversations, you can watch the replay on YouTube, or visit the South African Chamber of Commerce website for the recordings. 


News Archive

Call for campus review and participation into renaming and renewal of statues, signs, and symbols on UFS campuses
2016-08-25

 

The leadership of the University of the Free State (UFS) is issuing a Call for the renaming and renewal of statues, signs, and symbols on the three campuses to staff, students, and alumni.

In line with the founding statement and guidelines of the Naming Committee of Council, The Call will seek to retain the best representations of the history and identity of the UFS over more than a century, while committing to the transformation imperatives of our new democracy so that the totality of statues, signs, and symbols give credence to both the past and the future, all in line with the values of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Submissions should be made to the
SSSC between 21 July 2016 and 31 August 2016.
Proposals can be delivered to the
office of the Director: Communication and
Brand Management at Room 49,
Main Building, Bloemfontein Campus, or
via email to sssc@ufs.ac.za.

The ‘Guiding Principles’ of the Naming Committee, approved by Council on 8 March 2013, are transformation, reconciliation, excellence, distinctiveness, leadership, comprehensiveness, balance and sensitivity. The Policy of the UFS on Naming and Renaming is available here: http://bit.ly/2aeTLUz; and the Remit of the Naming Committee of the UFS is available here: http://bit.ly/29NXESC.

The Call will give special attention to creative submissions from staff, students, and alumni, such as signs and symbols that reflect our entangled past and place rival memories in critical conversation. Whatever is proposed, our commitment to the Academic Project and the Human Project remain foundations on which inspirational proposals could be based. In the end, a campus that is richly diverse, inclusive, and just in its symbolic infrastructure, would give visible meaning to the university’s commitment to social justice and reconciliation.

All submissions should be made to the Statues, Signs, and Symbols Committee (SSSC) between 21 July 2016 and 31 August 2016. Proposals could be delivered in hard copy to the office of the Director: Communication and Brand Management at Room 49, Main Building, Bloemfontein Campus or via email to sssc@ufs.ac.za.

Proposals will be reviewed by the SSSC, which is a subcommittee of the Naming Committee.

Final proposals will be submitted to Council for consideration at its final meeting of the 2016 academic year. In other words, new statues, symbols and signs – those approved by Council – will be implemented from January 2017.

Submissions could include, but are not limited to, the following: the renaming of streets and buildings; the proposal of new statues and other symbols on campus; the renewal of artwork collections; the reconfiguration of existing statues and symbols; the introduction of memorial gardens; the instatement of new galleries, sculptures, and literary collections; the establishment of prominent academic chairs or annual academic lectures in the name of illustrious figures, etc. Particular attention should be given to new buildings in the process of being built, such as residences.

Finally, it is important that the views and recommendations of all staff, students, and alumni be considered in submissions and that every campus citizen, past and present, has a sense of being able to participate fully and freely in the process.

Released by: Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Tel: +27 51 401 3422/2707 or +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

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