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06 November 2023
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Story MBALI MABOEA
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Photo SUPPLIED
The Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus recently played host to the Society of South African Geographers Conference (SSAG 2023), which gathered more than 100 students over three days.
Fostering academic growth, collaboration, and inspiration among students and researchers in the field of geography, the Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus recently played host to the Society of South African Geographers Conference (SSAG 2023), which gathered more than 100 students over three days.
Following a five-year hiatus, the three-day conference comprised student proposal presentations in different fields: human geography, environment geography, geoinformatics, and physical geography, divided into breakaway sessions over two days. Furthermore, day three of the annual conference included an excursion to the Basotho Cultural Village and Clarens.
The three-day annual student conference focused on different themes presented by two main speakers. The topic of the first keynote speaker, Dr Mahlomola Daemane, General Manager of the SANParks Arid Research Unit, focused on the contemporary conservation, transition, and relevance of science in policy and decision making.
The second keynote speaker was Dr Felicia Akinyemi, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow affiliated with the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Her work focuses on the intersection of geoinformatics, global change, and sustainability. Dr Akinyemi focused her talk on the integrative geospatial methods and metrics for sustainable land use. She introduced different techniques and metrics and gave students insight in early-career African research.
Speaking about the success of the conference, Nthebohiseng Sekhele, Geography Lecturer on the Qwaqwa Campus and chair of the organising committee, said, “The local organising committee was also very impressed with the quality of presentations from our postgraduate students in Geography, as well as the robust discussions that happened during the parallel sessions in the two days of the conference. We had a positive response of physical and online participation from many universities across South Africa. We are pleased that we have achieved our goal with this conference, which is to inspire the next generation of geographers.”
International legal jurisprudent talks at the UFS
2009-09-01
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The Department of Roman Law, History of Law and Comparative Law recently hosted Prof. Harry Rajak as part of the Iurisprudentia 100 celebrations of the Faculty of Law of the University of the Free State (UFS). Prof. Rajak, Emeritus Professor and Dean in the Faculty of Law at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, delivered a public lecture as visiting professor on the subject: A virile living system of law: An exploration of the South African legal system. Prof. Rajak delivered a very extensive lecture about the sources, nature, resilience and uniqueness of South African law. Amongst others, he convincingly pointed out that, for quite some time already, the common law of South Africa can no longer simply be equated to the Roman Dutch Law of the 17th and 18th century. South African law has been influenced by other law systems, amongst others, the English law, and developed by the judicature to such an extent that it is more correct to describe it as South African Common Law. Here are Prof. Rajak (left) and Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS, in conversation.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs |