Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
22 September 2021 | Story Michelle Nöthling | Photo Supplied
Simoné du Preez


“A community needs a culture, and a culture needs a language.” Pause a moment and consider these words of Simoné du Preez. 

How do we express our beliefs, values, customs, and norms, if not through language? The same is true for the Deaf – who are a minority cultural group in its own right. “Sign Language is the language in which the Deaf community laughs, cries, learns, and loves,” Simoné, a South African Sign Language (SASL) interpreter at the University of the Free State (UFS), points out. “Without it, no expression – and no cultural expression – can take place.”

Simoné’s passion for SASL was ignited while studying BA Language Practice at the UFS. Taking SASL as a main subject, she fell in love with the language, the culture, the history, and its people. Simoné then went on to do her honour’s degree in Language Practice, with specialisation in SASL Interpreting, and she never looked back. During her seven years as an interpreter at the UFS, Simoné still feels humbled by the student community she serves. “I get to learn so much from students from every walk of life, studying anything from Education to the Arts to Actuarial Sciences.” She enjoys seeing what Deaf students are capable of and is also “proud to be a part of their success stories.”

She not only has a soft spot for our students, but also for the Department of SASL and Deaf Studies that has helped shape her into the interpreter she is today. Simoné adds that she loves working with the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS). “It’s amazing to see what lengths Martie Miranda and her team are willing to go through in order to achieve equity and equality for our students with disabilities. I am humbled and honoured to be able to play a small role in their big plan.”

Always pushing herself to improve, Simoné has now set herself the goal of becoming a SASL interpreter accredited by the South African Translators’ Institute (SATI). It is immensely important for Simoné that the Deaf community has access to all information at all times – equal to that of a hearing person. The recognition of SASL as an official language in South Africa is vital to actualising this. Simoné underscores the fact that without this recognition, the Deaf are being silenced. “Their voices are just as important as every other person’s. It is time that we listen to what the Deaf community has to say.”


News Archive

Senior professor launches new book in London
2013-05-13

 

Alejandra Boni (left) is an associate professor at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain and Melanie Walker is a Senior Research Professor and Director of the Centre for Higher Education and Capabilities Research (CHECaR) at UFS.
13 May 2013

Melanie Walker and Alejandra Boni (Eds.) were hosted by the Institute of Education at the University of London, in April to launch the publication of their new book, titled: Human Development and Capabilities: Re-imagining the university of the twenty-first century (Routlege).

In the face of reductionist and “thin” human capital approaches to higher education globally, the book imaginatively applies a theoretical framework to universities as institutions and social practices from human development and the capability approach. The book attempts to show how universities might advance equalities rather than necessarily widen them, and how they can contribute to a sustainable and democratic society.

Picking through the capability approach for human development, in relation to universities, this book highlights and explores three main ideas:

  • theoretical insights to advance thinking about human development and higher education
  • policy implications for the responsibilities and potential contributions of universities in a period of significant global change and
  • operationalising a New Imaginary

The book is available for purchase online and will be added to the library collection soon.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept