“We need to focus on the present, but also where we want to be going in the future.”
This was one of the key points made by Prof Anthony Leysens, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in his opening address at the faculty’s 100th anniversary event on 23 October.
The celebration saw staff, students and alumni gather to attend panel discussions and commemorate the faculty’s history and academic legacy.
Guests mingle outside the Arts and Social Sciences building in anticipation of the evening’s programme. The event formed part of Stellenbosch University’s (SU) wider centenary calendar, which has been filled with special events throughout 2018. PHOTO: Nell Hofmeyr
Now, with a century of teaching and research under its belt, the question is: what lies ahead for the humanities at SU?
“As we look towards the future, I believe that firstly a wide-ranging renewal of our academic offering is absolutely essential,” said Leysens.
Scroll: The festivities began outside with light refreshments and some musical entertainment courtesy of the Ecclesia jazz group, which is made up of students from the Music Department’s Certificate Programme. PHOTOS: Nell Hofmeyr
Among his hopes is that the humanities will confront the realities of the fourth industrial revolution, keep in tune with the rapidly changing world of work and equip students with basic literacy in fields like data science.
At the same time, he said the faculty must continue to strive for excellence whilst maintaining a strong sense of place.
“Our identity must be shaped by where we are: locally, nationally and continentally. Not I think therefore I am, but I think where I am. And we must face the challenges of where we are,” he said.
Marketing Officer, Ms Lynne Rippenaar-Moses (left), and Dean of the Arts Faculty, Prof Anthony Leysens (right) during his welcoming speech. PHOTO: Nell Hofmeyr
Part of his vision is also for the faculty to return to a broad-based and interdisciplinary approach to education that allows graduates to “go anywhere and do anything”.
Prof Bruce Watson, Chair of the Information Science Department and a panelist for the evening, expressed a similar desire to see more multi-disciplinary work being done.
“If you look historically at the old universities of the world, the humanities faculty was a container in which people moved at will. But nowadays faculties have departments. And I think that’s detrimental. People sit in sociology and they don’t necessarily talk to information science or music. Melting away the borders would be a very healthy thing,” he said.
Prof Anthony Leysens (left) poses for a picture with the speakers appearing on the panel: “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the future of jobs, ethics, and machines taking over” – one of three on offer that evening. Next to him is Marc Tison, a Matie alumnus and Chief Operating Officer at Zing Holdings, Dr Martin Berglund, a postdoctoral fellow at SU from Umeå University in Sweden, and Prof Bruce Watson, the Chair of the Information Science Department in the faculty (right). PHOTO: Nell Hofmeyr
For Stella Viljoen, Associate Professor in Visual Studies, the hope is for the faculty to eventually become a much more equal place.
“I think my primary hope would that be that the inequalities and historical heritage of hierarchies, even one could go so far as to say, hegemonies, would be curbed and we would find that the Arts and Social Sciences would be a space of radical democratisation and radical equality – both in the literal sense of who our students and lecturers are and in the more abstract sense of our ideas and ideologies,” she said.
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Like the university, the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty has a long and colourful history. Here are a few milestones from its earliest beginnings to the present, 100 years later. INFOGRAPHIC: Nell Hofmeyr
Moving forward, Leysens aims to “aggressively embrace” grant funding opportunities and double the intake of doctoral candidates in 2019 from 23 to 40+ students.
“We are at a point where we can’t wait for the next 100 years and to see what happens,” he said. “We have to be masters of our own future”.
What is the appeal of a humanities degree? Find out from the students themselves. VIDEO: Nell Hofmeyr