Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
21 November 2024
|
Story Jacky Tshokwe
|
Photo Supplied
Prof Mogomme Masoga, Dean: Faculty of the Humanities.
On 8 November 2024, the South African Humanities Deans Association (SAHUDA) elected Prof Mogomme Masoga, Dean of the Faculty of The Humanities at the University of the Free State (UFS), as its new President. This appointment marks a pivotal moment for SAHUDA, which represents a diverse network of deans who champion the prominence and future of humanities, social sciences, and the arts in South Africa and beyond. Prof Masoga, who has served as Vice-President of SAHUDA for the past year, brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to advocating for the role of humanities in addressing the challenges of our contemporary world.
As President, Prof Masoga envisions broadening the influence of what he terms ‘public and applied humanities.’ His aim is to advance a humanities framework that not only enriches academic discourse, but also engages with critical global and local issues. This approach, rooted in socially responsive scholarship, will prioritise areas such as computational and digital humanities, environmental humanities, and other interdisciplinary fields that intersect with the pressing concerns of our time.
“The humanities are more relevant than ever to understanding complex societal issues,” Prof Masoga explained. “Through public and applied humanities, we can bring the critical perspectives of our field into active dialogue with the challenges of a digital and ecologically threatened world.”
His election underscores the University of the Free State's growing influence in national and international conversations about the future of the humanities. For the UFS, this leadership role enhances its reputation as an institution deeply invested in fostering meaningful contributions to society. Prof Masoga’s presidency is set to amplify the university’s voice and perspectives in SAHUDA’s mission to fortify the role of humanities in education and public life.
Over the next two years, Prof Masoga’s tenure will include a focus on initiatives that strengthen the relevance of humanities scholarship, encourage interdisciplinary research, and cultivate public engagement. He will also prioritise fostering collaboration across higher education institutions in South Africa and internationally to ensure that humanities disciplines are equipped to address the diverse needs of our rapidly evolving world.
Prof Masoga’s commitment to SAHUDA’s mission reflects the values and aspirations of the UFS Faculty of The Humanities. His presidency is an invaluable opportunity for the university to contribute to the national agenda of reinforcing the humanities as a field essential to a healthy, critically informed, and culturally aware society. This achievement serves as a proud moment for the UFS and a beacon for the potential of the humanities to drive societal progress in South Africa and beyond.
Universities join hands in developing literacy tests
2010-03-19
 |
At the signing ceremony, from the left, are: Prof. Driekie Hay (Vice-Rector: Teaching and Learning), Prof. Albert Weideman (Head: Department of English) and Prof. Lucius Botes (Dean: Faculty of the Humanities).
Photo: Supplied |
The development of academic literacy tests recently took a step into the future with the formal establishment of the Inter-institutional Centre for Language Development and Assessment (ICELDA).
ICELDA, under its first executive head, Prof. Albert Weideman, Head of the Department of English at the University of the Free State (UFS), is a cooperative venture between the multilingual Universities of Pretoria, North-West, Stellenbosch and the Free State.
It is dedicated to the development of reliable state-of-the-art academic literacy tests and currently makes 32 000 tests available to partnering universities annually.
Most notably, it has produced three of the most reliable academic literacy tests in the country. These include an Academic Listening Test and the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL) for undergraduate students, with reliability levels that are more than 20% above international benchmarks.
“We are even more excited about our Test of Academic Literacy for Postgraduate Students (TALPS), which is already a crucial instrument in determining the literacy levels of postgraduate students at the Universities of the Free State, Pretoria and North-West,” said Prof. Weideman.
In addition, ICELDA is currently piloting studies for language tests for financial advisors, nurses, students of disaster management, as well as police studies at Unisa.
ICELDA will also collaborate with the Centre for English Language Communication (CELC) at the National University of Singapore.
“One of the undertakings I made on my visit to Singapore a year ago was that I would assist in every way I could with the building of joint expertise with CELC in language testing,” said Prof. Weideman.
“However, our focus will remain firmly on research.”
He said his goal was to employ the surpluses generated by selling tests to provide promising students with bursaries to stimulate further study and design of academic literacy and other language tests.
By drawing more researchers into the field, Weideman said, ICELDA could provide the capacity for developing reliable language tests that South Africa had always lacked.
Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za
19 March 2010