One of the first Stellenbosch academics to have been invited to join Clubhouse is professor Dion Forster of the university’s theology department. Forster credits the app as a good place to engage on geo-political topics that transcend geographical boundaries. PHOTO: Kimberley Schoeman
A number of Stellenbosch University (SU) academics have recently been looking to Clubhouse, an audio-only social media platform, as a contemporary means to engage with students and wider communities.
One of these academics is professor Dion Foster, a member of SU’s theology faculty. Using Clubhouse to connect with an audience is useful to his research on public theology and the intersection between faith and public life, according to Forster.
“Clubhouse is a great platform for conversations, to talk to people that transgress geographical boundaries,” said Forster.
A person can only access Clubhouse if they secure an invite from a current user, according to Clubhouse’s current guidelines.
Engaging with others on Clubhouse is more of a “loose engagement”, according to Aydin Inal, director of Turquoise Harmony Institute and post-doctoral fellow of the education department at SU.
“You won’t go, sit, and listen to someone speak for two hours and then leave. You enter the room, ask to speak, and express your views,” said Inal.
Clubhouse is still in beta, which means it is being tested by its users. As such, most users are focused on exploring the app and figuring out which club they feel most comfortable in, said Inal.
A Clubhouse user can explore conversations around “contemporary news and philosophy”, according to Inal. Forster said he explores “geopolitics and general political discussion”.
“Clubhouse is a really powerful way to bring together a community on a global scale, hold really effective, inclusive dialogue,” explained Guy Dalamakis, an MPhil student in sustainable development at the SU Sustainability Institute. Dalamakis also uses Clubhouse.
Clubhouse facilitates conversations around business, academics and informal topics. It shows the “importance of informal dialogue between people who get into a room with each other and discuss what they don’t know about each other and what they want to know about each other”, according to Inal.
Clubhouse is a good place to attend “political discussions, events and discuss geopolitics”, according to professor Dion Forster of the Stellenbosch University (SU) theology department. INFOGRAPHIC: Kimberley Schoeman