News & Media
Unisa hosts a rich dialogue on the different hues of cultural colours
On 27 June 2023, the Tirisano Project collaborated with the Research Integrity Unit, the Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair, and the Gauteng Regional Career and Counselling Unit, in presenting a dialogue on indigenous knowledge ethics.
The day kicked off with a warm welcome from the Head of Student Career and Development and Counselling, Dr Bunki Pitsoane. The aim of the event was to create an atmosphere of learning through a lens of colonial deconstruction of knowledge systems as we have come to know them through education.
Attendees reflected on and exchanged experiences from every cultural aspect
All the stakeholders at the event were encouraged to peel back the boundaries that stifle creative thinking, thereby allowing for ideas to be generated. The dialogue took the format of an imbizo – a traditional way of many tribes to sit and share knowledge.
The keynote speaker, Prof Ike Iyioke from the University of Michigan in the United States of America, opened up the dialogue on African philosophy and how we can generate our identity through the development of indigenous knowledge ethics in collaboration with the indigenous communities where this knowledge exists.
Keynote speaker, Prof Ike Iyioke, and Dr Bunki Pitsoane, Head of Student Counselling and Career Development, Gauteng Region
The dialogue was then open to the various stakeholders to reflect and to exchange experiences from every cultural aspect – this was such a rich and deep experience of appreciating the different hues of cultural colours. This event is still but an embryo. The ultimate aim is to commit to creating an opportunity for further learning by engaging in research, in a way that is African; that appreciates all the aspects of cultures and values lived experiences through our own lens. The stakeholders committed to seeing the project through and will reconvene at a later stage to reflect on their progress.
The general feedback indicates that the event was well received, with many attendees expressing positivity, as this was a monumental learning experience imprinted in their hearts and minds.
Unisa thanks the various stakeholders for their invaluable role in making this event a success, as well as the Directorate of Counselling and Career Development for hosting such a fantastic dialogue.
#Unisa150
* By Tash-Lynne Duimpies, Student Counselling and Career Development, Unisa
Publish date: 2023/08/31
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