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A glimpse into the future through the Creative Clubs Programme Lens

28 November 2022 | Story Edzani Nephalela | Photo Edzani Nephalela

UFS Creative Clubs — Joleen Hamilton assists learners with their activities.

In an ever-changing, increasingly complicated world, the youth must be prepared to bring knowledge and skills to solve issues, make sense of information, and know how to acquire and analyse evidence to make judgements. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education encourages discussions and problem-solving among students, developing practical skills and an appreciation for collaborations.

The Social Responsibility Projects department on the UFS South Campus is running a Creative Clubs programme that speaks to STEM education and collaboration.

Opening opportunities

The primary goal of Creatives Clubs, a MerSETA-funded programme, is to open opportunities to develop problem-solving, critical thinking, and reasoning skills. One aspect Creative Clubs focuses on is identifying potential in the pupil and supporting them in participating in the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists. Learners participate in mathematics, science, and coding activities at the club.

According to Joleen Hamilton, the coordinator and founder of Creatives Clubs, they currently host top-achieving learners in maths from eight schools from Grades 8–12 in Bloemfontein. These schools are split into two groups, which meet at the South Campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. “We need maths daily, since it stimulates the intellect and aids problem-solving. That’s why, no matter how complicated the sum looks, keep trying and do not give up,” Hamilton said at one of the maths sessions.

Enhancing critical thinking

Matheko Thamae, also a coordinator, mentioned that this programme significantly improves maths and science outcomes for high school learners. “With a dynamic world of innovation and the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), the club also assists learners with critical thinking and in solving their communities’ socio-economic issues,” Thamae said.

“Attending these sessions assists me in thinking out of the box and realising that every problem has a solution. I will continue to attend the programme so that I can find solutions to unresolved problems,” Sechaba Ramakatsa, a Grade 9 learner from Lekhulong Secondary School, said. Ramakatsa, who enjoys assisting others, aspires to be a medical doctor so that people might have better healthcare experiences.

News Archive

Emmy Award nominee to disrupt the silence in second Vice-Chancellor’s lecture

2015-04-24

Philip Miller

The second instalment of the Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series is about to take place on the Bloemfontein Campus. The lecture series – launched in March 2015 by Constitutional Court Judge Albie Sachs – forms part of a five-year research project led by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and funded by the Mellon Foundation.

Disrupting the Silence: The Past and Transnational Memory

Internationally-acclaimed composer and sound artist, Philip Miller, will deliver the next lecture in this series on Wednesday 29 April 2015. Miller is currently an honorary fellow at APC (Archive and Public Culture) at the University of Cape Town. His discussion will centre on the topic of ‘Disrupting the Silence: The Past and Transnational Memory’. This will expand on the research project’s overarching theme of Trauma, Memory and Representations of the Past.

The details of the event are:
Date: 29 April 2015
Time: 12:30
Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus
RSVP: Jo-Anne Naidoo at NaidooJA@ufs.ac.za

Compositions and productions

In one of his compositions, ‘REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape and Testimony’ Miller incorporates actual testimonies recorded during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings. Through combining the audio of these testimonies with vocal soloists, chorus, a string octet and powerful projected images, the boundaries between victims, perpetrators and listeners blur.

Miller has been nominated for an Emmy Award in 2013 for his soundtrack to HBO’s film ‘The Girl’. Miller’s other works include the soundtrack for the film ‘Black Butterflies’, which won him best film score at the South African Film and Television Awards in 2012. He also composed the film score for the ‘Bang Bang Club’, which was nominated for a Genie Award in Canada, as well as for Rehad Desai’s Marikana investigation, ‘Miners Shot Down’.

He also has a long-standing collaboration with internationally-renown visual artist William Kentridge. Their most recent collaboration is the five-screen multimedia installation with a moving sculpture and immersive soundscape ‘The Refusal of Time’. His latest work, ‘Extracts from the Underground’, explores the subterranean sound world of miners in South Africa.

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