Looking into the issue of universities as a tool of transformation and the theory and practice of education at these institutions formed part of the discussion delivered by Dr Anthony Collins, from the Department of Media, Language and Communication, at DUT’s City Campus, recently.
Dr Collins – who has an interdisciplinary critical social sciences background which includes cultural studies, psychology and media studies – joined DUT recently. He has an interdisciplinary Social Sciences background which includes cultural studies, psychology and media studies. He holds a PhD degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has worked at Rhodes University, Wits and UKZN. Much of his academic work has entailed developing new South African curriculum by applying critical theoretical frameworks to current social problems for which he was awarded a UKZN Distinguished Teacher Award and a HELTASA National Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award.
His presentation Transformations and transformative pedagogies:Universities as a site and weapon of struggle explored various eruptions of protest which had occurred in March this year (2015) at UCT, Rhodes and UKZN concerning the legacy of Cecil John Rhodes and colonialism and how social media acted as a vector of popular rebellion.
“These (protests) are less about race and condition and colonialism and more about neoliberal capitalism and managerialism. Universities need to have demographic transformation against apartheid education. Universities must represent demographics of society, not old racial elites. There should be a national transformation towards democracy, equality, human rights and universal quality of life,” said Dr Collins.
He added that there needs to be a transformative pedagogy to move away from fear of crime to understanding of structural violence, examining personal normalisation of violence, develop critical theoretical account of all these elements and explore how this shifts personal identity and social practicals.
– Waheeda Peters
Pictured: Dr Anthony Collins gives an insight into the university as a site and weapon of struggle at his presentation.
