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Celebrating the university’s intercultural diversity at the annual International Diversity Festival

23 September 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo UFS Photo Archive

Intercultural competencies encompass the ability to effectively interact within different cultural settings, create awareness of the interconnectedness of global issues, consider different perspectives, and understand the dynamics of multicultural settings to work and communicate more effectively.

With great fanfare, colour, song, and spoken word, the UFS Office for International Affairs celebrated Heritage Month with its annual International Diversity Festival, focusing on cultural competencies in higher education institutions.

Two festival dialogues took place on the Qwaqwa and Bloemfontein Campuses – also marking a first-of-its-kind for the former.

The 2022 UFS Sing-Off winners BEYKGISTA serenaded the audience with artistic renditions, and the International Offices’ Simba Matema closed the festival off with a solo performance to remember.

Creating rich spaces for intercultural competency development

The first leg of the festival took place on the Qwaqwa Campus on 19 September 2022, with the dialogue addressing the principles of intercultural education in higher education institutions and the importance of driving the understanding and teaching of intercultural skills and competencies in institutions of higher learning.

Bringing a student perspective, two Qwaqwa-based students also shared their thoughts on the significance of intercultural education on our campuses.

The audience was treated to the lovely traditional sounds of the Qwaqwa Campus gospel and diversity choir.

The second leg took place on the Bloemfontein Campus on 22 September 2022, where the focus was on key drivers of cultural awareness at an institution of higher learning, as well as intercultural competencies as key enablers for growth and success in society.

Wrapping up the festival, Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier, Director of the International Office, said it was crucial for staff and students to work towards creating opportunities for intercultural competency and exposure.

“We have opportunities to learn inside and outside the classroom, but it is our choice whether we take that up. We need to be intentional about creating opportunities and building rich spaces for intercultural exchanges on campuses, but it is for every student and colleague to decide to take this initiative and participate.”

To catch the festivals, follow this link for the Qwaqwa Campus:

For the Bloemfontein Campus click here.

News Archive

Kovsies in top four in Global Business Challenge

2015-05-06

Photo: Mark Steenbok (Bloemfontein Courant)

Christiaan Paulsen (team leader), Sias Conradie, Jannie de Wet and Frikkie Jacobs.

Four Kovsies in the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Sciences are one of the top four teams in the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants’ (CIMA) Global Business Challenge. 178 teams registered to participate in the competition.

Team Bernoulli from the UFS will compete against two teams: one from the University of Pretoria and one from the Chartered Accountant Training Institute in Sandton. The winning team will win a trip to Poland, Europe to represent their university and country at the 2015 global final.

This international business competition is for undergraduates around the world, designed to bring out the best in the young business leaders of tomorrow.

Team leader, Christiaan Paulsen, said: “We are overjoyed to be in the final. However, our true success is in what we learned along the way”.

The team has to present a business case study, showcasing their talent in business management. During this competition, the team has

learned to analyse and solve a real-life business case study;
-obtained first-hand experience of the skills required to be a business leader;
enhanced their team building skills; and
developed their presentation skills.

Students from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Ireland, GCC, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Phillipines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Zambia are taking part in the competition.

This competition is organised by CIMA in conjunction with Barclays.

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