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17 May 2024
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Photo Supplied
Prof Magdalena Sobon from Poland and Michael Jackson Blebo from Ghana shared their expertise with staff and students during their visit to the Department of Fine Arts at the University of the Free State.
In a concerted effort to solidify its identity in South Africa and abroad, the Department of Fine Arts at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently played host to two distinguished artists: Prof Magdalena Sobon from the Wladyslaw Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, and the Ghanaian multidisciplinary artist, Michael Jackson Blebo.
Dr Adelheid Von Maltitz, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Fine Arts at UFS, lauded the visits, held between 19 and 29 March 2024, as an enriching learning experience for the faculty and students within the department.
The visit highlights
During their visit to UFS, Prof Sobon and Blebo actively engaged with the department’s staff and students. Prof Sobon, an acknowledged paper-making artist, conducted a comprehensive two-day workshop, imparting extensive knowledge in this craft. As a direct outcome of this workshop, the department has procured the requisite equipment and materials, enriching the students’ capabilities in this medium. Blebo on the other hand, conducted a demonstration on clay bust modelling and both artists participated in critique sessions with the fourth-year students. Dr Von Maltitz underlined the significance of Blebo’s African heritage, noting, ‘’For our students to interact with a young, accomplished artist of his calibre is of benefit to them in terms of how they may envision their art careers.’’ Of particular note were Prof Sobon’s interactions with the students, wherein she shared her own artistic practices from her student years during her lectures.
In addition to their engagements with the students, Prof Sobon and Blebo also had the opportunity to present their research to second-year sculpture students at the Richmond Land Art Project, an off-campus initiative fostering art creation centred on socio-economic and other pertinent issues.
Future collaborations
Dr Von Maltitz emphasised the importance of maintaining ties with these eminent artists for the department’s growth and global outreach. Prof Sobon’s visit has paved the way for two department members to visit the Wladyslaw Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz in the near future. ‘’These individuals will get an opportunity to learn about studio setups and network with fellow academics, creative researchers, and artists,’’ stated Dr Von Maltitz. She hailed the visit by the two artists as both stimulating and fruitful, particularly for the students.
UFS School of Nursing opens new frontiers at 40
2009-11-16
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The opening of the virtual facility of the School of Nursing at the University of the Free State (UFS) and a gala dinner to celebrate the School’s 40th year of existence took place on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein this week. At the opening were, among others, from the left: Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS; Dr Oluseyi Oyedele and Ms Viona Munjeri, both from The Atlantic Philanthropies; and Prof. Anita van der Merwe, Head of the School of Nursing at the UFS.
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar |
All eyes in the nursing profession in South Africa were turned to the University of the Free State (UFS) when the School of Nursing opened a state-of-the-art virtual health training and learning facility and celebrated its 40th year of existence with a gala dinner on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein this week.
The lustrous events were attended by dignitaries from all spheres of the health-care fraternity in South Africa.
The new virtual facility, The Space, is made possible by a grant of R16 million from The Atlantic Philanthropies and R1 million from the UFS. The Atlantic Philanthropies organisation is an international philanthropic organisation that is going to inject R70 million into nursing in South African over the next four years. The initiative will enhance nursing education and step up the quality of health-care delivery in South Africa. Four major grants were made to universities in South Africa, of which the UFS is one.
With the facility at the UFS School of Nursing, nursing education is propelled into the future. Prof. Anita van der Merwe, Head of the School of Nursing, says, “The virtual learning facility is a very new way of thinking and teaching. At the moment, theory and practice are separated, as theory is often taught in the mornings, followed by practical settings later in the day. Learner nurses then also go to clinical facilities for their practicals where the quality of care is declining and human resources are a problem.
“We believe that with new technologies such as e-learning and high-tech computer-mediated equipment we can use the ‘virtual world’ to bridge the theory-practice gap in the same location.”
Prof. Van der Merwe says the project is essentially about transformation: taking a stand against stagnation in nursing education and practice and daring to be different.
In the new virtual facility nurses will have the best of three worlds – the expertise of the facilitator/educator, simulation technology, and a vast selection of on-line and off-line software, exposing them to blogs, broadcasting and enhancing computer literacy. This will attract both the new “millennial” generation, which tends to be technologically competent, as well as the older learner because of the unthreatening learning environment.
The core space will accommodate 40 to 60 students and is designed to encourage informal, collaborative learning and practice simultaneously. It will have a demarcated area for “patients” (such as advanced adult and baby patient simulators) and a “clinic space” allowing for role play.
At the gala dinner, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS commended nurses in South Africa for their caring role, but also expressed his concern that South African has lost its deep sense of care. South Africa is at a critical point and the country can be changed if a deep sense of care can be embedded again.
About forty nursing educators from all over South Africa attended an exploratory workshop in the facility today and the last meeting of the Forum of University Deans in South Africa (FUNDISA) also coincided with the festivities at the School of Nursing.
Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
13 November 2009