KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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Unsuspicious reception of Biblical discourse in Africa and its implications for polygamy
Get PDFThe Bible has been conceived and received as a neutral book, as the Word of God, or as containing the Word of God. This understanding and perception enabled missionaries to interpret the Bible in such a way that it disadvantaged and oppressed the “converts”. It should be clear that theology is a form of rational discourse, with consequences for the recipient. As a result, the Bible has destroyed the sociocultural world of Africa. The article aims to narrow down the discussion and focus on the issue of polygamy in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). The Church Order is used as a point of argument to clarify the URCSA’s position. The article argues that the unsuspicious reception of the Bible in Africa and the “interpretation” by missionarieshas created a cultural bipolarity for African Christians and demonised polygamy. 
Systemic reviews: Financing of higher education internationalisation
Get PDFThe global higher education landscape has witnessed an increasing trend towards internationalisation in recent years; hence the demand for funding such endeavours has grown significantly. However, funding internationalisation efforts can be a challenging task for institutions. This review discusses various funding models for higher education internationalisation and the challenges posed by insufficient funding. This will be followed by a discussion on the following models: government funding, private philanthropy, corporate sponsorship, and partnerships with foreign universities, the role of tuition fees in funding internationalisation, and the challenges posed. Ultimately, this paper will propose a framework for funding that is based on an analysis of successful internationalisation strategies from around the world and intends to guide various funding bodies on how to best allocate resources for this purpose. By implementing this framework, countries shall overcome financial constraints that limit the extent to which internationalisation can be pursued, while also ensuring that the benefits of such efforts are shared equitably across their populations. This paper also explores the challenges facing the higher education internationalisation and the hurdles present in the funding process. A successful example in China has been studied thoroughly. This paper argues that while there is no one-size-fits-all approach to funding internationalisation efforts, a diversified funding approach that leverages various funding models can help institutions overcome funding challenges and achieve their internationalisation goals
This is Undignified! Comparing the Representation of Human Dignity on Cheaters and Uyajola 9/9
Get PDFCalls have resonated within media scholarship and practice for more ethical oversight in the production and distribution of media content by producers through ethical frameworks. This article intervenes in the literature on the global debate around media ethics frameworks by focusing on the underexploredvalue of human dignity in the context of television reality shows. The article makes two interventions in relation to the value of dignity, one theoretical and another applied. The theoretical intervention, contrary to the tendency to rely on Western cultures and theories to conceptualise human dignity, draws from a Global South perspective, specifically from the African ethical idea of Ubuntu that proffers a relational (as opposed to an individualist) conception of human dignity. The applied ethics intervention responds to the scant literature focusing on the representation of human dignity in media ethics. The article uses Ubuntu’s theory of human dignity to compare the representation of participants on similar factual television shows from the United States of America (USA) and South Africa depicting relational infidelity. Multimodal critical discourse analysis from three episodes of Cheaters and three episodes of South Africa’s Uyajola 9/9 (n=6) reveal that human dignity in the representation of the participants in these two shows is often neglected in the media production process, leaving many questions about the global and local media ethics of these two reality shows
Resilient religion: What good is religion for?
Get PDFGood refers to the intrinsic value or telos (purpose) of religion. The author starts with the claim that religion keeps alive, in thinking, the awareness of ultimate meaning (“truth”); in actions, the focus on human dignity and the common good, and, in the heart of man, the longing for fulfilling happiness, peace of heart, and love. As spiritual beings, human beings transcend the given towards the telos or purpose of life. At the same time, human beings experience being thrown in the limits of time and space. When the synthesis between the self as open to the ultimate and the self as limited is not realised, human beings experience a heartbreaking adversity. The intrinsic value of religion is the promotion of this synthesis. The author analyses three mediating processes of resilience that promote the possibility of a synthesis: the recognition of contingency, the experience of fulfilling happiness, and the wonder of possibilisation (new beginnings). Finally, the author links resilience to the concept of God as creator
A post-colonial political theology of care and praxis in Ethiopia’s era of identity politics: Reframing hegemonic and fragmented identities through subjective in-betweenness
Get PDFThis book is a revised version of the author’s PhD thesis that was submitted to Denver University and the Iliff School of Theology. In the introductory section, the author discusses how her social location motivated her to research the topic of identity politics in Ethiopia. She argues that identity politics has been a major factor in Ethiopia’s political instability and violence. Ethiopia experiences frequent identity-based violence. Molla indicates that identity politics has divided Ethiopian society and eliminated in-between spaces where people can coexist in equality, solidarity, and justice. She proposes a post-colonial political theology of care and practice to reframe hegemonic and fragmented identities and create new in-between spaces for dialogue and cooperation. She contends that post-colonial discourse and the praxis of in between pastoral care can disrupt and challenge hegemonic definitions of culture, identity, home, and subjectivity
Daar is méér. ’n Outobiografiese reisverhaal deur Amper-Stamperland en Metaversum
Get PDFDie eeue-oue menslike vraag – Wat is die sin van die lewe? Wat is die sin in lyding? Daniël Louw gaan op ’n reis om hierdie vrae vanuit Amper-Stamperland en die “nuwe wêreld”, die Metaversum, te belig. Die boek wil nie kitsantwoorde gee nie – daarvoor is dit te lywig. Op hierdie vrae is daar immers nie vinnige antwoorde nie. ’n Pragtige voorblad wat herinner aan iets uit die (’n) ruimte met die uitdagende woorde in groot rooi letters: “Daar is méér”. Die taalgebruik is kreatief – keurig deur ’n kunstenaar aangewend vanaf ’n palet van Afrikaanse teologiese en filosofiese taal. Konsepte soos “Wat en waar is die middel C van die Christelike geloof?”; “Die misterie van verwondering: ’n Libretto met die titel ‘Daar is méér!’”; “Klopdisselboom met ’n pedonkiekar in Amper-Stamperland”; “Pikkewouters: Amperkaraktertjies in die Wilde Weste van stamper”; “bewolkte rekenarisering” (“computer clouding”); “blokkettings” (“block chains”). Die boek is deurspek met illustrasies en verduidelikings van dit wat in die teks bespreek word. Dit skep die indruk van ’n reis oppad iewers heen, maar langs die pad is allerlei ter saaklike “afdraaipaadjies” wat die reis letterlik en figuurlik inkleur
The social uses of the online chatroom as a boundary object for the acquisition of academic literacy in pandemic times
Get PDFThe Covid-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for ongoing pedagogic changes in the higher education landscape, especially with the use of online modes of delivery. The digital shift triggered questions around student engagement and the need to ensure that, despite physical distancing, students did not feel alienated from online learning spaces. This was part and parcel of our ethics of care prerogative. In the context of teaching academic literacy online, our teaching experiences have prompted us to interrogate how we understand student participation and sense-making in online spaces during the pandemic. This is particularly important for us, as we view academic literacy as a set of socially embedded practices rather than decontextualised skills (Street, 1983). We argue that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the online chatroom as a boundary object (Bowker & Star, 2000) was recruited as a proxy for the traditional classroom. We focus on how this boundary object was recruited by us as academic literacy lecturers in our first-year academic literacy course to realise certain features of our pedagogy of discomfort. Through a critical discourse analysis of written interactions in the chatroom, we explore how we as lecturers constrained the multiple social uses of the chatroom in order to imbue it with a particular function, a sense-making space for the acquisition of academic literacy in the context of ‘Emergency Remote Teaching’
Ubuntu in the Academic Literacy class: establishing a sense of community for inclusivity and effective learning : establishing a sense of community for inclusivity and effective learning
No full textResearch conducted on online learning during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, clearly showed that a sense of community plays an integral part in creating a conducive learning environment. This has consequently influenced current perspectives on teaching practice and learning climate. From an African perspective, this is noteworthy as it simulates an environment where Ubuntu is possible. This is especially true for Academic Literacy (AL) classes on an Access Programme where the teaching approach typically stems from social constructivism. This approach enhances classroom participation by fostering peer-to-peer relationships, and teacher-to-peer relationships, which form an integral part of this teaching approach. For instance, students are motivated to share ideas and responsibility through peer or group work, as well as through teacher guidance and feedback. Thus, grounded in shared power and respect, a community underpinned by Ubuntu – ‘‘I am, because we are; and since we are, therefore I am’’ (Mbiti, 1989: 106), is ideally created. Through assessing students’ experience of the AL classroom environment, this study sets out to determine if the aim of creating a sense of community and inclusivity is present. Hence, the study focuses on improving the quality of teaching practice by establishing classroom community through analysis of Access students’ perspectives obtained from quantitative and qualitative data. Findings show positive results, implying that teaching and learning are improved if a sense of community and Ubuntu in the classroom is established. Therefore, the study aims to improve AL skills by ensuring that students feel a sense of community and Ubuntu in the classroom, and furthermore to recognize our students’ diversity through inclusivity. This aids learning in the AL class through socially just teaching practices, which will ultimately assist in student success at university. 
Setting the Bar Behind Bars: Prisoner Interpreting in Nigeria and South Africa
Get PDFAs a continent with over 2 000 indigenous languages, Africa is complex regarding linguistic diversity. Whereas fluency in a major language is vital for communication in most bureaucratic, legislative and governmental environments, this skill is sometimes lacking in certain sensitive areas in Africa, such as prison facilities and courts. The term prisoner interpreting refers to the facilitation of communication by an interpreter between a prisoner or detainee and another party who do not share a common language; however, research regarding prisoner interpreting is currently marked by a huge hiatus. The aim of this study was to describe what prisoner interpreting in Nigeria and South Africa may entail; it was undertaken due to the lack of research in this domain. The setting is contextualised by providing background on community interpreting for prisoners and the substandard prison environment, and the necessary communicative competence required of interpreters is investigated. It was found that cultural considerations and dialectal differences are prominent factors to keep in mind when interpreting for prisoners. Power dynamics are examined, the first finding being that language status is problematic if a major language – in this case, English – is privileged above others. Moreover, it was determined that there are often large power gaps between parties. Regarding responsibility and role, it was established that parties in the interaction often have conflicting goals and the interpreter is tasked with deciding whether to comply with norms, or to challenge them. It can be deduced that prisoner interpreting in both Nigeria and in South Africa constitute unique challenges and require the community interpreter to meet a significantly high standard of expectations
Factors that kept first-year students motivated at a university in Johannesburg during lockdown
Get PDFThe academic achievement of first-year university students continues to be a concern and priority for higher education institutions in South Africa. The mandated lockdown in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, compelled first-year students to adapt from face-to-face lecturers to emergency remote teaching. This study explored what has kept first-year students motivated to succeed at a university in Johannesburg during the lockdown period. Self-determination theory was used as the theoretical lens and analytical tool in this research. One hundred and seventy-five first-year students were selected using a purposeful sampling method to participate in this study. Data were collected using openended questionnaires. Responses were categorised by means of an emergent and a priori thematic analysis. The findings indicated that first-year students were internally motivated to succeed at university on the basis of attitude, competence and achievement based motivations. The findings also reported that reward, fear, power-based and affiliation motivations were important external motivators in making first-year students succeed. We recommend that universities continue to provide the various forms of additional support students have received during the lockdown period in order to enable students to remain motivated to succeed.