A threshold has been crossed, with a pessimistic outlook becoming more dominant than an optimistic one.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
University of the Free State
The University of the Free State (UFS) is increasingly being seen as an exciting scholarship destination, as evidenced by an unprecedented level of interest by academics and students from around the world. The changes taking place at the university continue to capture the imagination of people everywhere, including the international media and our growing base of international universities.
One of the reasons for the broader interest in the UFS is our very public commitment to the highest academic standards. In doing so, the university pursues a vision of uplifting standards for students and academics alike despite the challenges young people encounter in the school system. We believe strongly that given the opportunity, all young people can achieve the high standards set by our university. This is our academic project.
The UFS remains conscious, however, of its responsibility for public scholarship, for turning ideas into action, for making research count in the lives of ordinary people and for developing a spirit of service through scholarship among our students. These students are the next generation of leaders in South Africa, on our continent, and in this global, interconnected world. In these pursuits, the university seeks to distinguish itself from its competitors. Few universities, for example, make human reconciliation one of the foundations of its mission. This is our human project.
With its central campus situated in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State province, the UFS is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in South Africa. It opened its doors in 1904 with a mere six students in the Humanities and has since grown to more than 30 000 students spread across seven faculties. Besides the Bloemfontein Campus, the university also has a South Campus in Bloemfontein.
Bloemfontein is not only the birthplace of major political parties that shaped the political landscape in South Africa. The city has also produced some of the leading minds in teaching, medicine, agriculture, science, theology, economics, management and many other fields. We are particularly proud of the legal minds cultivated in the university and in the city, the home of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The UFS also has a vibrant Qwaqwa Campus in the Eastern Free State serving rural students from the immediate area and surrounding provinces, and a smaller South Campus in Bloemfontein that provides alternative access to higher education for promising students who obtained poor marks in their final school examinations.
The university’s seven faculties with more than 130 departments and/or schools are served by more than 1692 academic staff members, supported by a strong administrative and support staff.
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Displaying 21 - 40 of 132 articles
Debt forgiveness isn’t the answer. History is replete with examples of countries that are serial defaulters.
Criminalisation of medical judgment may interfere with appropriate medical decision making.
In his music, he positions himself within the people’s struggles and identifies with them.
In being grey listed South Africa joins a list of countries with poor governance. Others are war zones or countries with jihadist terror groupings operating on their land.
The pressure on Tanzanian students to rank higher has encouraged unhealthy competition among schools
Simply put, southern Africans are experiencing heat stress more often than in 1979.
South Africa has long been seen as deficient in dealing with terrorism financing.
Regulating the sex work industry is the only way to protect sex workers from abuse and violence.
South Africa’s foreign policy is supposed to be guided by the principle of ubuntu (humanness), so a visit to an aggressor is hard to explain.
New regulations for protecting water resources during oil exploration are inadequate and should be reviewed.
The number and value of medico-legal claims has increased.
Five essential reads on Russia’s relationship with Africa.
Fanon left a remarkable imprint, his views influencing many in the field of mental illness as well as pan-Africanist and anti-colonialism thinkers.
Buys, the award-winning novel by Willem Anker, uses lines without credit from the Irish writer - not the first such literary controversy it has raised.
South Africans are increasingly dissatisfied with democracy because of its failure to address inequality.
Most citizens feel that it is pointless to vote because it won’t change anything.
Parties must forego ideological rigidity and compromise for the common good, says Mpho Phalatse about making coalitions work.
Southern Africa’s current above-average rainfall is a climate variability signal - a short-term fluctuation in average wet-season conditions.
As a disease progresses, so too must the underlying data and reporting improve to manage the progression of the outbreak.
Authors
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Senior Lecturer of Physical Geography and GIS, University of the Free State
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Research Associate, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State
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Senior Professor (Emeritus) and Research Fellow, Department of History, University of the Free State
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Lecturer, University of the Free State
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Senior lecturer in Economics, University of the Free State
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Lecturer, University of the Free State
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Lecturer, University of the Free State
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Associate Professor, University of the Free State
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Senior lecturer in law, University of the Free State
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Associate Professor, Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of the Free State
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Lecturer in Communication Science, University of the Free State
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Research Professor, UFS History Department, University of the Free State
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Senior Lecturer Centre for Environmental Management, University of the Free State
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Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Studies and Governance, University of the Free State
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Professor Emeritus, University of the Free State
