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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.”
Pat Fahrenfort throws a spanner in the works
2013-08-24
23 August 2013
Pat Fahrenfort had the audience in stiches while discussing her book, Spanner in the Work: One Woman’s Journey from Factory Floor to Corridors of Power. In addition to her wit being razor-sharp, so was her insight.
The author narrated her winding journey from cold factory floors to the passages of parliament during an event hosted by Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, at the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice. Fahrenfort left school at the age of 15 and started her employment as a factory worker in Cape Town. Through sheer strength of will, she completed a university degree later in her life and went on to work alongside some of our leading political figures and as part of South Africa’s Constitutional Assembly.
Fahrenfort imparted her struggles in the workplace for democracy, justice and equality. Against this background, though, she expressed her disillusionment regarding some aspects of the current political environment in South Africa.
She also regaled the crowd with her ‘stalking’ tactics – back when she was still a fledgling writer – to grab the attention of author Antjie Krog. Fahrenfort attended quite a few functions where the famous author appeared – seemingly by chance – until she got her opportunity.The end result? Krog assisted Fahrenfort to write her own book. And the rest, as they say, is history.