Emerging response-abilities: a reflection on the 2019 SOTL in the South conference
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36615/sotls.v4i1.135Keywords:
SOTL in the South, research in teaching and learning, Global South, north-south, decolonisation, 4IR, fourth industrial revolution, response-abilityAbstract
The second biennial ‘SOTL in the South’ conference was held at the Central University of Technology (CUT) in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in October 2019. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) is gaining increasing traction in South African universities, and this conference was a collaboration between the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at CUT, and SOTL in the South. The theme of this conference was ‘Creating space for Southern narratives on Teaching and Learning’ and the keynote speakers were Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Joanne Vorster, Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni and Catherine Manathunga. In this piece I reflect on the conference and identify some of the narratives that emerged from it. I share some of the discussions by keynote speakers and presenters which help to expand discourses on the interconnectedness of decolonisation, and economic, social and environmental justice, and I explain why I look to ‘Southern SOTL’ for guidance in negotiating contradictions in my teaching and learning context. In this piece I consider the response-abilities of higher educators to contribute to these urgent matters.
Key words: SOTL in the South, research in teaching and learning, global South, north-south, decolonisation, 4IR, fourth industrial revolution, response-ability
How to cite this article:
Cullinan Cook, S. 2020. Emerging response-abilities: a reflection on the 2019 SOTL in the South conference. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South. v. 4, n. 1, p. 69-85. April 2020. Available at: https://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=135
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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https://www.itweb.co.za/content/dgp45MaGaQ1vX9l8
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=721JQZw6Spg
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Accessed 23 February 2020.
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hooks, b. 1997. Cultural criticism and transformation [transcript]. Media Education Foundation. [O]. Available:
http://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/Bell- Hooks-Transcript.pdf.
Accessed 7 September 2016.
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https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2019/10/10/jair-bolsonaro-amazon-fires-indigenous/
Accessed 14 February 2020.
Kizito, R & Clarence-Fincham, J. 2017. A possible SoTL Lens for illuminating the role of reflective tasks in changing academic staff perceptions and practices in teaching. In Proceedings of the 2017 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) in the South Conference, 24-27 July, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, edited by B Leibowitz. Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg, 11-22.
Leibowitz, B. (ed). 2017. Proceedings of the 2017 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) in the South Conference, 24-27 July, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Manathunga, C. 2018. Decolonising the curriculum: Southern interrogations of time, place and knowledge. SOTL in the South 2(1): 95-111, Apr. 2018. Available:
http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=23
Accessed 23 February 2020.
Marwala, T. 2020. Let’s not fear artificial intelligence, let’s embrace it. Daily Maverick 18 Feb. [O]. Available:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-02-18-lets-not-fear-artificial-intelligence-lets-embrace-it/
Accessed 10 March 2020.
Mignolo, W. 2009. Epistemic disobedience, independent thought and de-colonial freedom. Theory, Culture & Society 26(7-8):1-23.
Milton, M & McKay, T. 2019. Marginalisation of ‘global South’ epistemics: the case of a soil science textbook. SOTL in the South 3(2):31-48. [O]. Available:
https://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=93.
Accessed 14 February 2020.
Miriam Rose Foundation. 2020. [O]. Available:
https://www.miriamrosefoundation.org.au
Accessed 24 February 2020.
Nazier, F. 2020. Interview at the University of Johannesburg [Recording]. 10 February.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. 2017. Foreword: the case for a decolonised/Africanised Africa. In Decolonising knowledge for Africa’s Renewal: examining African perspectives and philosophies, edited by V Msila. KR Publishing. ProQuest Ebook Central. [O]. Available:
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ujlink-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4857359 Accessed 7 October 2018.
Ndzendze, B. & Marwala, T. 2020. Global inequality and opportunity in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Daily Maverick 5 March. [O]. Available:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-03-05-global-inequality-and-opportunity-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/
Accessed 10 March 2020.
Ng, E. & Walsh, Z. 2019. Vulnerability, response-Ability, and the promise of making refuge. Religions, 10(2):80.
Nyamnjoh, F. 2015. Incompleteness: frontier Africa and the currency of conviviality. Journal of Asian and African studies, 52(3):253-270.
Nyamnjoh, F. 2016. #RhodesMustFall: nibbling at resilient colonialism in South Africa. Bamenda, Cameroon: Langaa.
Ramos Castillo, A. 2009. Sea Level Rise in Kowanyama. Our World 19 January. [O]. Available:
https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/sea-level-rise-in-kowanyama
Accessed 14 February 2020.
Santana, M. 2019. PhD in Setswana: a first for NWU’s campus in Mahikeng. [O]. Available: http://news.nwu.ac.za/phd-setswana-first-nwu%E2%80%99s-campus-mahikeng?fbclid=IwAR1wVto1vVvWha5E_hi0YHoLdBB5WsoOep3WnivHBpJ84TuzPEC0pePtIFo
Accessed 23 February 2020.
Schneider, K. 2016. Special report: Murder on SA’s Wild Coast escalates conflict over water, land, mining. EE Publishers 2 April. [O]. Available:
https://www.ee.co.za/article/murder-south-africa-wild-coast-escalates-conflict-water-land-mining.html
Accessed 14 February 2020.
Scholarship of teaching and learning. 2020. [O]. Available:
https://www.cut.ac.za/sotlu
Accessed 14 February 2020.
Schweimler, D. 2019. Amazon fire: Indigenous communities under threat. Aljazeera 26 Aug. [O]. Available:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/amazon-fire-indigenous-communities-threat-190826072748298.html
Accessed 14 February 2020.
Sigam, C & Garcia, L. 2012. Extractive industries: optimizing value retention in host countries. New York/Geneva: United Nations.
https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/suc2012d1_en.pdf
Accessed 23 February 2020.
Simón, Y. 2018. Roxana Quispe Collante makes history by defending her PhD Dissertation in Quechua. [O]. Remezcla 2 May. Available: https://remezcla.com/culture/roxana-quispe-collante-quechua-phd/
Accessed 23 February 2020.
Sole, S. 2019. Xolobeni – the mine, the murder and the DG. News24 30 June. [O]. Available:
https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/amabhungane-xolobeni-the-mine-the-murder-and-the-dg-20190627
Accessed 14 February 2020.
SOTL in the South. 2020. Aim and Scope. [O]. Available:
https://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=aimAndScope
Accessed 23 February 2020.
Vidal, J. 2020. The plastic polluters won 2019 – and we're running out of time to stop them. The Guardian 2 January [O]. Available:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/02/year-plastic-pollution-clean-beaches-seas
Accessed 14 February 2020.
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2020-04-28
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Cullinan Cook, S. (2020). Emerging response-abilities: a reflection on the 2019 SOTL in the South conference. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, 4(1), 69–85. https://doi.org/10.36615/sotls.v4i1.135
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
