Times Higher Education ranks UKZN in the Top 400 Page 3

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8YOUR MONTHLY CAMPUS NEWSPAPER • VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 9 • SEPTEMBER 2012US Fulbright Scholar reflects onexperiential learning at UKZNLUNGA MEMELAROFESSOR Neil Prose,Fulbright Scholar andPPaediatric Dermatologist fromDuke University in the UnitedStates, spent six weeks in KwaZulu-Natal hosted by UKZN’s Disciplineof Rural Health to assist withintegrating teaching aroundcommunication.Passionate and committed toteaching empathic communicationbetween healthcare providers andpatients, Prose helped educators inthe College of Health Sciences(CHS) develop sustainable curriculaand explore communication skillsliterature to determine whatfindings and suggestions wereapplicable in different cultures andcountries.After marrying a Durban womanin 2001 and visiting the provinceannually after that, Prose developedan interest in interacting withdiverse groups and individuals. ‘Istarted to wonder if the work I haddone teaching empathiccommunication skills to medicalstudents and registrars in the USAmight have an application at theMedical School at UKZN.’Prose said communicationbetween doctor and patient in SouthAfrica’s multicultural society wasparticularly challenging butpresented wonderful opportunitiesfor teaching and learning. Thismade UKZN his institution ofchoice for the Fulbright Scholarship.At UKZN, Prose tutoredcommunication skills, also lecturingfifth-year medical students duringtheir Family Medicine elective.Prose led a group of 13 medicalstudents on a half-day culturalexperience at the Muthi market,Professor Neil Prose (right) with his wife and mother-in-law during a public lecture in the College of Health Sciences.food market and a mosque atWarwick Triangle in Durban.The students had theopportunity to visit parts of Durbanthey had never seen, and to confronttheir own beliefs and prejudices.‘The following week, we met as agroup to discuss our ownstereotypes and prejudices, and howthey had been affected by theexperience.’Prose said he identified twoparticular challenges facing medicaleducators in South Africa.‘The first is to develop acurriculum and a set of teachingskills that meet the needs ofstudents who come from a verybroad range of cultural andeducational backgrounds. Thesecond is to train a generation ofhealthcare providers whose skill setand career aspirations allow them tomeet the enormous health needs inEdgewood Research Commons officially openedMELISSA MUNGROOUKZN staff and students descendedon the Edgewood campus recentlyto witness the official opening ofthe Research Commons - a state ofthe art facility designed to servemasters and doctoral students aswell as academics and researchers.The Research Commons is alarge, dedicated space with physicalresources including 30 thin-clientcomputer workstations, runningup-to-date software such as wordprocessors, bibliographic software,browsers, and e-mail clients. Thefacility also provides access toextensive online resources, wirelessconnections, an electronicclassroom, a conference room,printing and scanning equipment,and areas for discussion andrelaxation.Access is gained through aswipe card and the area will bemonitored by closed circuitcameras.The project was headed by theformer Deputy Dean ofPostgraduate Studies in the Schoolof Education, Professor DeeviaBhana, with funding provided bythe School.Officially opening theCommons, Deputy Vice-Chancellorfor the College of Humanities,Professor Joseph Ayee, said theSchool of Education had thehighest enrolment of postgraduatestudents. ‘The Research Commonswill help train young researchers aswell as nurture the culture ofresearch and research outputs.’Dean and Head of the School ofEducation, Professor GregoryKamwendo, said the facility wouldensure staff and students were ableto finish their theses on timehopefully leading to more proposals,project grants and postgraduateinitiatives being developed.According to campus Librarian,Ms Roshini Pather, the ResearchCommons will be staffed by adedicated IT specialist andspecially-trained librarians,offering services which directlysupport research endeavours.‘The Commons is not only aboutsupporting research but also aboutshowcasing research done atUKZN,’ said Pather.‘There’s still some way to gobefore realising the full vision ofthe Commons. More conferenceroom furniture and technology willbe added to the space this month.The ICS will later install an AVsystem in the electronic classroomand conference room that will allowfor technology-enhancedpresentations and workshops.’ TheCommons is located adjacent to theEdminson Library with operatinghours similar to those of theLibrary.South Africa.’Dr Paula Diab from the Disciplineof Rural Health said they welcomedthe kind gesture from ProfessorRichard Hift, Dean and Head: Schoolof Clinical Medicine, who is willingto fund Prose’s return next year tobuild on the work already begun.Deputy Vice-Chancellor for the College of Humanities Professor Joseph Ayee officially opens the EdgewoodResearch Commons.
YOUR MONTHLY CAMPUS NEWSPAPER • VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 9 • SEPTEMBER 20129UKZN’s French Departmentdonates poetry tree to Eden CollegeMELISSA MUNGROOhe French Discipline at UKZN and theAssociation for French Studies in SouthernTAfrica (AFSSA) have donated the Arbre àPalabres (palaver tree ) – dubbed the ‘poetry tree’ –to the French Department at Eden College.The hand over was done during anentertaining French ensemble performance bycollege students.The palaver tree was made by the UmceboTrust assisted by refugees from French-speakingcountries in Africa and French students at EdenCollege.This tree was decorated with poetry written byFrench pupils from around the world as part of acompetition organised within the context of the13th World Conference of the InternationalFederation of Teachers of French held in July inDurban and generously supported by UKZN.According to UKZN’s Professor FrancescaBalladon, the tree was conceived to figurativelyemphasise that the conference was being held inAfrica for the first time and also to symbolise theWest African tradition of a community comingtogether, under the Arbre à Palabres, to shareexperiences and views and to connect with eachother.During her address to Eden College, Balladonsaid: ‘I hope that in this wonderful enrichingenvironment that is Eden College this tree willinspire you all to communicate your ideas, yourfeelings, your views and your creativitythroughout your school lives, and also when youget out into the real world.’French Teacher at Eden College, Ms AnnLussi, was grateful to UKZN’s FrenchDepartment and AFSSA for donating the Palavertree. ‘We shall definitely look after this symbolictree as it is quite special to us here. It is indeed aprivilege to work with UKZN and to have thissymbiotic relationship with the University’sFrench Department,’ she said.BERNARD DE MEYERFOR the second year running, aFrench student on thePietermaritzburg campus has won thecreative writing competition organisedby the French Embassy in Pretoria.Victorious in the category ‘Frenchmajor university student’, Ms AmyStimson’s prize was an all-expensespaid11-day stay in Paris.Stimson, who recently returnedfrom the experience, said sheespecially enjoyed visiting themonuments as well as mingling withFrench-speaking people in cafés,bookshops and bakeries. ‘My stay inParis has improved my level ofproficiency and given me an eternallove for the language.’UKZN’s French Discipline isparticularly proud of Stimson’sachievement. French Lecturer MsGhyslaine Dye said the courses atUKZN were geared towards theautonomous use of French enablingstudents to compare favourably withtheir colleagues at other South Africanuniversities.Professor Bernard De Meyer, whoco-ordinates third year French studies,said: ‘We introduce current issuesmainly from France and FrancophoneAfrica, and encourage critical thinkingin the language. Our students areparticularly well equipped to face themultilingual world and its challengesand have an added advantage when itcomes to job opportunities, especiallywith French being a main language ofcommunication in Africa.’Ms Stimson plans to register for anhonours degree in French next year.Last year’s winner was Ms LaraWilliams.French students at Eden College with UKZN’s Professor Francesca Balladon.Two in a row for French studentsMs Amy Stimson.Alumnus Associationgathering in LondonFINN CHRISTENSENTHE annual function of UKZN’sAlumnus Association in Europe –attended by about 75 people – washeld at the bright and convenientlysituated Bankside Galleryoverlooking the River Thames inLondon.Guest speaker Professor BrendaGourley, former Vice-Chancellor ofthe Open University and of theformer University of Natal,delivered an address on: Trends inHigher Education.Ms Nomonde Mbadi, ExecutiveDirector of Corporate Relations,and Mr Fanle Sibisi, President ofConvocation, also spoke at thegathering. Mbadi welcomedeveryone on behalf of UKZN andprovided an update on theUniversity while Mr Fanle Sibisispoke on the importance ofConvocation and outlined the plansthe Executive had for their term ofoffice.South African canapés anddrinks were served after the talksand guests were able to networkand catch-up with fellowgraduates. Folders with the latestUKZN information weredistributed.From Left: Mr Len Mzimela, Director of University Relations andMarketing Support; Professor Brenda Gourley, Ms Nomonde Mbadiand Mr Finn Christensen, Alumni Relations Manager.
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