Aspiring academic lecturer at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) from the Department of Hospitality and Tourism, Siphiwe William shares all about his recent trip to Greece to attend the prestigious Athens Institute for Education and Research Conference.
William explained that Athens was chosen as the meeting place for the Athens Institute for Education and Research Conference due to its rich history and culture. He indicated that Athens Institute’s mission was to serve as a conference where academics and researchers from around the world can come together to exchange ideas on their research and discuss the future developments in their respective fields.
When asked how he obtained the opportunity to go to the conference in Greece, William commented that it all started with a call for abstract submissions, which was shared his Departmental Research Chair. Due to being very inquisitive in nature, he decided to submit an abstract on the last day of the call. “I was not even looking forward to a positive response because my submission was very rushed , however, two weeks later I received an acceptance letter,” he expressed.
However, through all the minor administration hiccups, William was very ecstatic to travel to a different country, not just any country but Greece because he was looking forward to experiencing the culture, the food and everything ‘Greece’. “It actually dawned on me that is happening when I got a call from the embassy to come collect my passport as my visa was approved just a day before my planned departure. I had nothing prepared including the presentation because I thought I will never get my visa on time therefore I had already given up. On the day of the presentation, that is when reality struck in because I saw my name on the programme and the fact that I was the only black South African amongst the conference attendees. I thought to myself, give it your best shot and I did exactly that. I have never walked into a room with so much confidence and my head held high, I meant business and I was there for business,” he chuckled.
William presented his findings from his masters research. “I believe my findings from my masters is valuable and there was a need to reach relevant stakeholders,” he added.
William shared further on his experience being in Greece, the academic colleagues, the ambiance and the food. “If I had my way, I would still be in Greece even now. My newly found academic friends and colleagues were so kind and have opened up the door for collaborations, quite a few of them were very interested in my presentation and the current focus on smart tourism development for my Doctoral studies. The Greek are unmatched when it comes to cuisine, I am sure I had gained a couple of kilograms. It was such a beautiful experience and the ambience was so positive, inviting and it cultivated lifelong networks,” he professed.
The vital lesson William had learnt from this whole experience was for one to be quite open minded about their field and the opportunities that exists out there about the different collaborations, “No academic is an island, collaboration is the way to go in academia and to build networks and relationships that might even benefit the students too in terms of exchange programmes and co-supervising with leading experts and international authors in respective fields of study,” he explained.
For William, he strongly believes that each academic person, if given the opportunity, should embark on such a journey. “It is important to embark on such journeys to broaden horizons and also learn about the different pedagogies and trajectories that different academics are following to become best researchers and academics. Most importantly, one gets to learn and understand how to mentor students by applying different teaching philosophies,” said.
Going forward, William is all set to attend more conferences, both local and international, put more effort into publications as he had come back highly motivated to publish and to create more academic friends. “Collaboration is the way to go,” he stressed. William also took the opportunity to give special thanks to Dr Vaneshree Govender from Research Postgraduate Studies for making this trip possible.
Pictured: DUT lecturer, Siphiwe William, sightseeing in Greece.
Waheeda Peters
