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05 May 2023 | Story EDZANI NEPHALELA | Photo Supplied

The University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and Universities South Africa (USAf), will be conducting its Language Resource Audit for the UFS on 2 June 2023. 

This audit process will assess the resources available and required for the implementation of a Language policy framework for higher education (2020) – such as the development of multilingual terminologies, translation services for teaching and learning materials, campus signage, as well as various multimedia collateral – including their quality and relevance to the needs of the students and faculty. The audit will include an assessment of existing resources and whether they are furthering implementation goals, and may also include the gathering of feedback from students and faculty to identify improvement areas.

Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, Director of the UFS Academy for Multilingualism, said the process will help the UFS identify the essential languages resources that are available for the successful implementation of the 2020 Language Policy for Higher Education framework (LPHE). “The audit will identify how much has been done at the UFS and which institutions we can collaborate with, for example, in the development of Sesotho, so that we do not reinvent the wheel, but we close the gaps.” 

Once the audit is completed, the institution will develop a plan for resource allocation to address the identified gaps. This may involve acquiring new resources, upgrading existing ones, or reallocating existing resources better to meet the needs of students, staff, and faculties.

Due to the impact this audit will have on various stakeholders, all staff and students are encouraged to participate. To attend the audit, please RSVP here by 30 May 2023.

News Archive

Arts and Science collaborate in creating sustainable futures
2016-03-16

Description: Dr Keith Armstrong Tags: Dr Keith Armstrong

Creating a future where living green is the status quo: Dr Keith Armstrong
Photo: Lihlumelo Toyana

In creating partnerships across disciplines, mankind gains a deeper understanding of how to create the future. This is the premise upon which Dr Keith Armstrong bases his research and experimental art. Dr Armstrong is an Australian Hybrid Media artist and a Senior Research Fellow at Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

Artists that make things happen

“My journey has shifted from an artist that makes things to an artist that makes things happen,” he said at the New Futures: Innovations in Arts and Science public talk recently at Oliewenhuis Art Museum. The talk, organised by the Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery, was part of a series of artistic projects presented by the Programme for Innovation in Arts and Development (PIAD). This initiative is spearheaded by the UFS and Vrystaat Arts Festival, kindly supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Dr Angus Hervey – an Australian writer, technologist and science communicator– was also a speaker at the event. Dr Hervey is a co-founder of Future Crunch, a platform for intelligent, optimistic thinking about the future. He strongly shares Dr Armstrong’s passion and viewpoints.

Dr Armstrong’s work is motivated by social and ecological justice. His non-traditional research and more than 60 artworks serve to evoke audiences to create sustainable futures.

Building the future

Dr Armstrong is in the process of making “things happen” in informal settlements across the Free State by means of his Re-Future project. The project brings together sustainability, community development, and creative action. It moves away from conventional art practices and instead offer a platform to rethink and therefore re-future our practices of sustainability.

The Re-Future project has been initiated through a collaboration between the Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery, the UFS Centre for Development Support (CDS) and Qala Phelang Tala (QPT) and the Vrystaat Art Festival.

According to Anita Venter, a lecturer at CDS and founder of QPT, empowerment is at the centre of the artist-initiated, yet community-controlled project. “It gives a new direction and new hope to the community,” she said.

For more information
Angela de Jesus, dejesusav@ufs.ac.za or +27(0)51 401 2706

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