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From left: Professor Dasarath Chetty, Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Corporate Relations; The Most Rev Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa; Vice-Chancellor, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba and Her Excellency Ms Joan Thomas, Acting High Commissioner of Jamaica |
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UKZN's International
Day an opportunity for students from other countries to share
their diverse cultures with the university
community.
Hundreds gathered on the Westville campus
quad for the function: 'World at UKZN - Celebrating
International Day', which saw students from
more than 15 countries create awareness of
their heritage through a display of cultural
symbols, traditional dress and literature.
UKZN is home to more than 2 000 students and
200 staff from 80 other countries. The day's events included
traditional dance, music by the South African
Military Band, information stalls and addresses
by several speakers.
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With only 37 percent of instructional staff at Higher Education Institutions (HEI) across South Africa holding Doctor of Philosophy degrees, the importance of the degree was re-emphasised - this time by the National Research Foundation (NRF) President and CEO, Professor Mzamo Mangaliso, during a recent presentation at UKZN.
Professor Mangaliso addressed academic staff and students on the Westville campus at a presentation titled "The PhD as a Driver", which outlined the importance of research ratings and the NRF's plan of action to produce more PhD graduates.
The NRF supports research through funding in the disciplines of Natural Science, Technology, Engineering, Social Sciences and Humanities.
Describing the PhD as a qualification that "broadened the frontiers of education", Professor Mangaliso who is also a member of the UKZN Council, indicated the need to dispel the myth which exists among students that the PhD is a degree to be undertaken at an older age.
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| Professor Lesley Stainbank, Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies. |
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Professor
Lesley Stainbank has been appointed Dean of
the Faculty of Management Studies. Professor
Stainbank takes charge of six Schools and
two Centres - a task she describes as "overwhelming"
but a challenge she's looking forward to.
"I
take it as a compliment that UKZN has confidence
in me and my ability to be Dean of the Faculty.
With the complexities of Management Studies
I've had to get a lid on everything - so this
is a huge task. However, I'm sure I will settle
into this post in a short while," said Professor
Stainbank.
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A
design by M Arch student Mr Ryan Harborth
has won the 2008 Innovation in Social Housing
competition sponsored by the Social Housing
Focus Trust (SHiFT). Mr Harborth wins a
two-week excursion to Holland where he will
be a guest of that country's social housing
authorities.
All
universities offering Architecture were
invited to participate and the outcome was
announced at the national Architectural
Students' Conference hosted by the University
of the Free State in Bloemfontein towards
the end of last month.
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The choir's artistic director, Mr Gerard'd du Toit with the choir after a performance in the Czech Republic. |
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The recently launched UKZN Bel Canto Chamber
Choir is back home after winning gold at the
IFAS International Choir Competition in Pardubice
in the Czech Republic.
The
choir, a segment of the KZN Youth Choir, comprises
students taking tuition, some in classical
but most in popular voice at the School of
Music's Opera Studio and Choral Academy (OSCA).
The
choir won four awards: a gold, a silver and
two bronzes. The silver was for second place
in the chamber category and the gold for top
honours in the folklore category.
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The
Classics Department on the Pietermaritzburg
campus is developing an isiZulu version of
its new website. This is in keeping with the
language policy of UKZN and because a large
proportion of students are mother-tongue isiZulu
speakers.
The
isiZulu version is in its infancy and many
of the crucial documents are still to be translated
but the Department's vision is to be able
to provide both English-speaking and isiZulu-speaking
students and visitors with everything they
need to know in a language of their choice.
The
URL for the website is http://classicspmb.ukzn.ac.za,
or it can be accessed through the site index.
Comments, queries, or criticisms
of the new endeavour can be e-mailed to Cullen
Mackenzie at mackenzie@ukzn.ac.za.
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From
left: Professor Dasarath Chetty,
Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Corporate
Relations; Mr Mark Pillay,
overall winner and Mr Anthony
Thunstrom, KPMG Managing Partner,
KZN. |
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UKZN's 5th Golf Tournament not only enabled
116 avid golfers the opportunity to play the
game they love, it also provided bursaries
valued at R60 000 to six students.
The
students were awarded their bursaries of
R10 000 each at a dinner which followed
the Golf Day on August 28 at the Zimbali
Country Club on the North Coast.
The
bursary recipients were: third year Electronic
Engineering student Mr Joash Singh and first-year
students Mr Jerry Majoro of the Faculty of
Science and Agriculture, Mr VM Mpanza of the
Faculty of Health Sciences, Mr Andre Pillay
of the Faculty of Management Studies, Miss
NKG Gazu of the Faculty of Humanities, and
Mr Amod Tariq of the Faculty of Law.
Winners on the golf course were Mr Mark Pillay
in the Guest category and Dr Babs Jugmohan in
the Staff and Convocation category. Mr
Sifiso Ndimande scooped first prize for students.
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Mr Ephraim Bonginkosi Pad at Earth University in Costa Rica. |
A
UKZN Science Access Programme student, who
is studying Entrepreneurial Agriculture at
the prestigious Earth University in Costa
Rica after being awarded a scholarship, says
South Africa needs more people to fight the
food crisis currently ravaging the African
continent.
Mr
Ephraim Bonginkosi Pad, in Costa Rica since
September 2007, said his experience at Earth
University had been exceptional and he hoped
more UKZN students would get the opportunity
to study there.
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Dr Fatima Suleman presents King Goodwill Zwelithini with a Gift. |
Staff
from the Faculty of Health Sciences and several
overseas academics attended the 60th birthday
celebrations for the Zulu Monarch, King Goodwill
Zwelithini, at his palace in Nongoma.
They
were UKZN's Dr Fatima Suleman, Dr Robin Joubert
and Mrs Penny Flack together with personnel
from Drake University in the United States,
Professor John Rovers, Professor Debra De
Laet and Dr Jennifer McCrickerd as well as
Dr Mary Hansen of the Medical School at Des
Moines University.
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From left: Head of School of Chemistry, Professor Andrew Kindness; Senior International Co-operation Officer at the OPCW, Dr Boitumelo Kgarebe; Senior Lecturer (Analytical Chemistry), Dr Catherine Ngila and Ambassador Kalimi Mworia, Director of International Co-operation and Assistance Division of the OPCW. |
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Representatives from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have visited UKZN to explore potential collaboration opportunities with the School of Chemistry.
OPCW is an international organisation which bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons and also stipulates their timely destruction.
The organisation recently launched the OPCW Programme to strengthen co-operation with Africa. The Programme, which sets out to strengthen co-operation with Africa in respect of the Chemical Weapons Convention, involves spreading the benefits of the international co-operation programmes to more member states in the African region, and promoting greater South-South co-operation by involving leading institutions in the African region as well as in other developing countries by arranging relevant training programmes.
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From left: Ms Jenny Davies, Professor Peter Tennant, Head of the Classics Department; Ms Marianthe Kaldelis, and Professors Kurt Raaflaub and Deborah Boedeker, visiting Lecturers from Brown University in the USA . |
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Second-year Media Studies and Drama student
on the Pietermaritzburg campus, Ms Marianthe
Kaldelis, has won the Magnus Henderson Prize
for the best average marks for Classical Civilization
at first year level.
Ms
Kaldelis was presented with her prize by Professor
Magnus Henderson's widow, Ms Jenny Davies.
Ms
Kaldelis is a former student of The Wykeham
Collegiate in Pietermaritzburg. She received
her prize at a function which also featured
lectures by two visiting professors from the
United States, Professor Kurt Raaflaub and
Professor Deborah Boedeker, both from Brown
University.
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From left: Professor Nomthandazo Gwele, Durban University of Technology; Professor Ntombifikile Mtshali and Mrs Lungi Mkhize, former staff member of the School of Nursing. |
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Professor
Ntombifikile Mtshali presented her inaugural
lecture on August 27 titled 'Deconstructing
Nursing Leadership: Implications for Nursing
Practice and Education in the 21st Century.'
Attended
by representatives from the nursing fraternity,
family, friends and staff of the Faculty of
Health Sciences, the lecture debated issues
of nursing leadership in the current context
of the health care system in South Africa
and abroad.
According
to Professor Mtshali, there is no widely accepted
definition of leadership as the meaning evolves
according to the political and environmental
context.
She
said leadership required one to be a visionary.
A leader was viewed as a person who could
facilitate the development of nurses in practice,
in education and in research.
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From left: Professor Andre LaPierre, a leading Canadian Toponymist; Professor Adrian Koopman, Dr Nobuhle Hlongwa, Professor Sheila Embleton, Congress Director and Newly Elected President of ICOS, her daughter Ann, and her husband Professor Wolf Ahrens. |
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UKZN academics Dr Nobuhle Hlongwa and Professor
Adrian Koopman, both of the School of isiZulu
Studies, delivered papers at the 23rd Congress
of the International Council of Onomastic
Sciences (ICOS) in Toronto, Canada, last month.
The
ICOS is an international scholarly body which
deals with the study of names, naming and
naming systems.
It
was Dr Hlongwa's first ICOS Congress and her
paper on the nicknames of soccer players and
soccer teams in South Africa was very well
received.
Professor
Koopman gave one of the three keynote papers
at the Congress, speaking on the topic "Onomastic
Research in southern Africa".
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A
musicologist at Utrecht University in
the Netherlands, Dr Barbara Titus, is at UKZN
as a Visiting Scholar in the School of Music
until the end of October.
Funded
by the Research Institute for History and
Culture at Utrecht University, Dr Titus
started a project last year about global
representations of South African maskanda
music.
This
brought her to UKZN where she will continue
with her research as well as contribute
to the Music History and Culture Course and
the On the Offbeat seminar series.
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Mr Mageshen Naidoo, Director of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music. |
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UKZN
guitarist and Director of the Centre for Jazz
and Popular Music, Mr Mageshen Naidoo, joined
the ranks of high-flying internationally acclaimed
artists and tutors when he performed and taught
at the Veracruz International Jazz Festival
in Xalapa, Mexico, recently.
The
festival has the prominence of the
North Sea Jazz Festival, and as with South
Africa's Standard Bank Jazz Festival - which
includes a major jazz education component
- it attracted talented jazz students from
across the region.
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Mr Samuel Seyama from Geography shows learners how to use a stereoscope at ScienceUnlimited. |
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The KwaZulu-Natal ScienceUnlimited Expo provided
the ideal opportunity for the College of Agriculture,
Engineering and Science to open the window on
the exciting and fun-filled world of Science.
The
Expo, which attracted more than 12 000 high
school learners from around the province, was
held at the Royal Agricultural Show grounds
in Pietermaritzburg at the end of August.
Led
by Mr Mark Horan, recipient of the National
Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Science
Communicator award, the College mounted a massive
display at the Expo, taking over a quarter of
the venue for its interactive exhibits.
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