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The University of the Free State (UFS) has joined The Conversation Africa (TCA) as a funding partner.  TCA, a not-for-profit media initiative, is part of a global platform that publishes articles written by academics and researchers.  The platform’s objective is to make the knowledge produced in the academy accessible, easy to understand, and freely available to the general public. Articles are published daily on the TC-Africa website - https://theconversation.com/africa. 

The platform uses a Creative Commons republishing model. This means articles can be republished by other media on the continent and internationally, ensuring even greater reach to audiences including academics, policy makers, funders, and the general public. 

To date, more than 55 UFS researchers and academics have published with TCA, and their articles have garnered more than 1,3 million readers globally. UFS researchers and academics are encouraged to publish with The Conversation. 

As part of the partnership, TCA will run writing workshops for UFS academics and researchers who want to enhance their writing and science communication skills. Dates for these will be announced soon.

How you can publish with The Conversation Africa

• Engage with The Conversation Africa editors when they contact you directly to write about your research area and expertise. The articles are short, ± 800 to 1 000 words.

• Pitch your idea for an article directly to The Conversation Africa here   

• Register as an author, and set up a profile

• Engage with the Communication and Research offices. Every week, The Conversation Africa sends an expert request for expert authors on topical issues to the Communication and Research offices, which can identify researchers. 
- Interested researchers are put into contact with the relevant editor at The Conversation to discuss the potential article

Why should you get published on The Conversation Africa?

Benefits for researchers and academics:

• Articles on the platform help to raise the profile of academics, often leading to policy engagement with governments, businesses, industry or professional bodies, conference invitations, academic collaborations, and further media exposure. 
• In the course of writing, academics get bespoke editorial assistance from the team working in consultation with them. 
• The opportunity to take part in a hands-on science communication writing workshop.
• Readership and republication metrics for each published article.
• A global readership with up to 1,2 million readers monthly.

Benefits for Communication and Marketing and the Research office:

• Provides well-curated, ready-to-use communication material for websites and social media. 
• Helps to profile the work of the university for marketing, communication, and awareness.
• Provides media exposure to the talent pool of UFS academics and researchers. 

Benefits for and across the university:

• Shines a spotlight on the excellent research and innovation at the UFS.
• Demonstrates the UFS’ commitment to facilitating greater engagement with society and promoting interdisciplinary communications.
• Visibility for the institution and researchers nationally and globally.
• Access to institutional analytics, including detailed data on the content published by UFS researchers.

Contact The Conversation Africa:

To arrange departmental meetings and introductory sessions to The Conversation Africa team, contact: Pfungwa Nyamukachi, Strategic Partnerships and Stakeholder Relations Manager: pfungwa.nyamukachi@theconversation.com 

News Archive

UCT scholar in Philosophical Psychology of Black Existence to join Judge Albie Sachs on stage
2015-03-23

Dr Buhle Zuma, listed as one of the 2011 Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans, is coming to the Bloemfontein Campus. He will share a stage with civil rights activist and former Constitutional Court, Judge Albie Sachs, on Thursday 26 March 2015 in the Albert Wessels Auditorium at 12:30.

Respondent to Judge Sachs

A former Mandela Rhodes scholar, and currently a young lecturer at the University of Cape Town's Psychology Department, Dr Zuma is particularly interested in issues at the heart of our rainbow nation . His research asks the question: What does it mean to be human for black people after centuries of dehumanisation? Dr Zuma also looks at the role of desire and fantasy in the political imagination of post-apartheid South Africa. He describes his developing thought and work as the Philosophical Psychology of Black Existence.

Dr Zuma will act as respondent to Judge Sachs’ public lecture, ‘Sites of memory, sites of conscience’ [Hannes, please link to the article on the main website]. This lecture will form part of a series that focuses on how the creative arts represent trauma and memory – and how these representations may ultimately pave the way to healing historical wounds.

Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series on Trauma, Memory, and Representations of the Past

This lecture will launch of the Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series on Trauma, Memory, and Representations of the Past. It forms part of a five-year research project led by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela [], funded by the Mellon Foundation []. The event is hosted by the UFS Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation Studies [].

Dr Zuma lives by the belief that, if he imparts what he learns and knows lovingly and creatively, the world will be the better for it.

Details of the event:

Date: Thursday 26 March 2015
Time: 12:30
Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus
RSVP: Jo-Anne Naidoo at Naidooja@ufs.ac.za

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