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01 April 2024 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Sonia Small
Prof John Klaasen, newly appointed Dean: Theology and Religion at the UFS
Prof John Klaasen, newly appointed Dean: Theology and Religion at the UFS.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has appointed Prof John Klaasen as Dean: Faculty of Theology and Religion from 1 April 2024. 

Prof Klaasen is Professor of Theology and has served two terms as Head of the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape. He also served as Professor in the Kjell Nordstokke Chair in Community Development at VID Specialized University in Norway and is Adjunct Professor at VID Specialized University. 

“With his vast experience and involvement in research projects – nationally as well as internationally – Prof Klaasen will make a significant contribution to the Faculty of Theology and Religion and the university in general. This will also be valuable in support of the university’s Vision 130, which is an expression of our strategic intent to position the institution towards 2034 when the UFS will be 130 years old,” says Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS.

As a practical theologian, the intersection between praxis and theory has occupied Prof Klaasen’s research for the past decade. He has researched and published extensively within theology, community development, and narrative. Aspects such as narrative, embedded knowledge, participation, reconciliation, and the non-rational tradition of knowledge are some of the areas that occupy his research outputs.

He is involved in numerous international research projects, which include a COST project with 17 European institutions, a project on reconciliation processes with institutions in Canada and Nordic countries, an international initiative on community development with various institutions in Europe, and a NORPART initiative with Norway and Malawi.

Community engaged scholarship forms a central part of his research and work at the intersection of religion and social justice. Prof Klaasen is involved in various community development projects, including homes for the aged, lay training, water issues, and lay theological education.

His teaching is situated within a socially just pedagogy, which puts the students at the centre of knowledge production. This innovative way of knowledge production intersects students, teachers, and the lecture room within a dynamic space of contextualisation.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join such a prestigious institution and will endeavour to contribute to Vision 130 through commitment, innovation, trust, and ethical leadership – which represents the university’s commitment to be recognised by our peers and society as a top-tier university in South Africa, ranked among the best in the world,” says Prof Klaasen.

News Archive

OSM Camerata hosts concert as part of International Ictus Music Competition
2017-05-29

 

Description: OSM Camerata Ictus Music Competition Tags: OSM Camerata Ictus Music Competition
In 2015 the Odeion School of Music Camerata premiered the Hendrik Hofmeyr
Double Concerto
for Recorder and Harpsichord with esteemed South African artists
Stefan Temmingh and Erik Dippenaar.
Photo: Supplied

 

The Odeion School of Music Camerata (OSMC) at the University of the Free State (UFS) will be celebrating its fifth birthday in style when it participates in the 2017 International Ictus Music Competition. The competition is an innovative new online competition for ensembles, orchestras and band/wind ensembles (middle school, high school, youth ensemble, community ensemble and college/conservatory/university) that compete through video submission.

Opportunity for fundraising

As part of the competition the OSMC will host a concert that will also serve as a fundraising opportunity. The concert takes place on 31 May 2017 in the Odeion on the Bloemfontein Campus. The OSMC was strategically founded in 2012 by Marius Coetzee as the Odeion School of Music’s flagship chamber ensemble with the main objective of creating a catalyst for excellence.

International exposure at stake
Substantial money prizes are at stake in the International Ictus Music Competition and ensembles will receive written feedback from a jury consisting of renowned maestri including Stilian Kirov, who was awarded 1st Prize in the Debut Berlin Competition on 18 May 2017. Top prize-winners will be interviewed by a representative from the competition. It will be broadcast internationally to enable them to share their hard work and passion for music with the world.

Over the past five years the OSMC has premiered 10 new works by South African composers specially commissioned for them. A highlight remains its participation in the 13th International Conservatory Festival in St Petersburg Russia, where the ensemble received a standing ovation during a gala concert in the Glazunov Concert Hall.

Date: 31 May 2017
Time: 19:30
Place: Odeion (Bloemfontein Campus)
Entry: R20


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