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Research positions universities as powerful sites for achieving human development

28 November 2022 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Anja Aucamp

The Higher Education and Human Development (HEHD) research group under the leadership of Prof Melanie Walker has grown to become a pocket of academic excellence and innovation at the UFS. “The group’s research positions universities (if ‘reimagined’) as potentially powerful sites for achieving human development by challenging the status quo and entrenched interests and inequalities,” Prof Walker notes.

HEHD researchers draw substantially on the capability approach, which offers a contribution to higher education in South Africa, primarily because it derives from a normative framework that places human flourishing as its primary goal, chiming with the country’s transformation goals.

Prof Walker is an internationally acclaimed researcher and academic and one of three A-rated National Research Foundation (NRF) scholars at the UFS. In 2021, she was elected as the first president of the international Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) from the Global South. Back then, Prof Walker said the UFS already had a strong research presence within the HDCA, and her group was known for its work in African higher education. The HDCA brings together academics who generate ideas and research on human development.

The research group, which was founded by Prof Walker, is an embodiment of the quality and of the impact elements of the institutional narrative of the UFS. The HEHD is now happily based in the Centre for Development Support within the UFS Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Top-tier research outputs from HEHD

The outputs of the HEHD research group have a far-reaching impact, given the nature of its national and international affiliated researchers, students, and collaborators. Members of the group have published 19 peer-reviewed books since 2013, and since 2016, the HEHD has graduated 20 PhDs whose research focuses on diverse aspects of higher education and capabilities across the sub- Saharan region. A range of international examiners in the USA, the UK and Europe attest to the quality of the HEHD’s doctoral graduates.

“I am immensely proud of the quality of the research and collective ethos of our graduate students and our researchers and, as importantly, the substantive focus on human development and social justice in and through higher education in Africa,” Prof Walker says. “As Professor Tristan McCowan and others have noted, this group is quite unique internationally,” she continues.

Projects and research collaborations

The numerous institutional and national and international research collaborations are also testament to the interdisciplinarity of Prof Walker’s academic approach. Various recent and current projects attest to this, for example, the recently completed Miratho project on inclusive higher education learning outcomes for low-income rural youth with Birmingham and Nottingham.

Some of the the book titles that have been published by HEHD members past and present, on display on the wall in the Benito Khotseng Building on the Bloemfontein Campus. (Photo: Anja Aucamp)

A further current example is the project under the Transforming Education for Sustainable Futures (TESF) with Bristol and Rhodes led by Dr Mikateko Mathebula, and a new edited book underway with Alejandra Boni and Diana Velasco (Spain) on higher education and reparative futures.

Furthermore, national collaborations such as the project with colleagues in the Centre for Development Support at the UFS and the University of Pretoria, which will be investigating the sustainable (ecologically and socially), developmental South African university and justice facing university futures from a variety of stakeholder

perspectives.

This research project is informed by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, because achieving them cannot be done without the contributions of higher education institutions.

It is thus evident that under the leadership of Prof Walker, the HEHD research group is now established as one of the finest research groups at the UFS and contributes actively to the research and academic excellence at the university.

News Archive

King Moshoeshoe comes alive on national television

2004-11-02

Honourable Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili, Prime Minister of Lesotho, and his wife; King Letsie III of Lesotho and Dr Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: Student Affairs at the UFS during the première of the film at the Royal Palace in Lesotho

The ground-breaking documentary film on the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe, the founder of the Basotho nation, will come alive on Thursday 4 November 2004 when it is screened on SABC2 at 21:00

The film, called Moshoeshoe: The Renaissance King, forms part of a larger project by the University of the Free State (UFS) to honour the Moshoeshoe legacy of nation-building and reconciliation and to explore his role as a model of African leadership. It was produced by the well-known journalist Mr Max du Preez and commissioned by the UFS as part of its centenary celebrations.

The SABC2 screening was preceded by a première in Bloemfontein last month, and was attended by provincial political leaders.

This past weekend there was a première at the Royal Palace in Lesotho, which was attended by King Letsie III, the prime minister, the chief justice, judges, the president of the senate, cabinet ministers and directors-general.

“Through this documentary film the UFS commits itself to developing a shared appreciation of the history of this country and to the establishment of the Free State Province as a model of reconciliation and nation-building. King Moshoeshoe is also a strong common element, and binding factor, in the relationship between South Africa/the Free State, and its neighbour, Lesotho,” said Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

“Not all people in South Africa know the history of Moshoeshoe. Many Basotho – but not all – are well versed in the history of Moshoeshoe, and his name is honoured in many a street, town and township. Many white people know little of him, or have a very constrained or even biased view of his role and legacy. In Africa and the world, he is much less known than, for instance, Shaka,” said Prof Fourie.

“King Moshoeshoe did a remarkable thing in forging a new nation out of a fragmented society. He also created a remarkable spirit of reconciliation and a remarkable spirit of leadership,” said Prof Fourie.

According to Prof Fourie we already benefit from his legacy: the people of the Free State share a tradition of moderation and reconciliation rather than one of aggression and domination. “For the UFS this is also part of real transformation – of creating a new unity amidst our diversity,” said Prof Fourie.

“We also find in the legacy of King Moshoeshoe the possibility of a “founding philosophy”, or “defining philosophy”, for the African renaissance. To develop this philosophy, we must gain a deeper understanding of what really happened there, of his role, of his leadership. Therefore the UFS will encourage and support further research into the history, politics and sociology of the Moshoeshoe period, including his leadership style,” said Prof Fourie.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
2 November 2004

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