Inaugural lecture by Professor McKinney and other updates

Dear colleagues and students

Professor Carolyn McKinney will, on Wednesday, 14 August 2024, present the first of five lectures scheduled for August in the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Inaugural Lecture series. Read more about this and other recent developments on campus.

1. Inaugural lecture by Professor Carolyn McKinney

Professor McKinney will deliver her lecture titled “How are we failing our children? Language and exclusion in schooling” in the Neville Alexander Building on lower campus at 17:30 SAST.

She is a professor of language education in the School of Education and a stream leader in applied language and literacy studies. Her research and teaching focus on language in education policy, language and literacy ideologies, and the use of languaging-for-learning in multilingual education contexts of the Global South.

Professor McKinney will present her research based on fieldwork in both well-resourced and under-resourced schools, highlighting issues of linguistic discrimination and exclusion. She will contrast these findings with her studies on the informal yet effective use of bi/multilingualism by children and teachers, offering hope for inclusive learning opportunities. She will conclude her lecture with an urgent appeal to the new Minister of Basic Education to prioritise language and literacy as foundational elements for successful learning and to implement mother-tongue-based bilingual education.

The rest of the inaugural lectures scheduled for August will be presented by Professors Catherine Orrell (22 August), Sa’diyya Shaikh (23 August), Dizu Plaatjies (28 August), and Ameeta Jaga (29 August).

• RSVP to attend the lecture by Professor McKinney.
• Read the full VC Desk: UCT Inaugural Lectures for August 2024.

2. VC’s Open Lecture by Professor Frank

The first Vice-Chancellor’s Open Lecture of the year is scheduled for Tuesday, 20 August 2024. Professor Joachim Frank will present it under the title “Cryo-electron microscopy, a new foundation for molecular medicine and drug design”.

The lecture will take place in the New Lecture Theatre on upper campus at 18:00 SAST.

Professor Frank is a German-born American biochemist who won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on image-processing techniques that proved essential to the development of cryo-electron microscopy.

• RSVP to attend the lecture.
• Read the full VC Desk: VC’s Open Lecture by Nobel Laureate, Professor Joachim Frank.

3. First provisional timetable for year-end exams published

The UCT Examinations Office has published the first provisional timetable for the year-end examination cycle. Students can view their timetable on the exams page. Any requests for amendments must be sent to the relevant academic department for consideration by the HoD. UCT wishes students all the best ahead of the exams!

• View the timetable.

4. Join the UMF anti-GBVF walk

The Office for Inclusivity and Change (OIC), in partnership with the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation (UMF), will co-host the annual walk against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) on Saturday, 24 August 2024.

Members of the UCT community are invited to participate in this crucial and impactful event. This year, the UMF aims to shine a spotlight on eliminating the fear factor that women, youth and children feel due to the lack of safety and security in the country.

Through this walk, the OIC and UMF hope to create safe spaces for honest conversations that will shift everyone's mindset to make safety and security for all women, youth and children a priority.

The walk is also a call to the country’s leadership to put safety and security at the top of the national agenda.

The walk, under the theme “Eliminating the Fear: Prioritising Safety and Security”, will start from 10 Darling Street at 08:30, then proceed to Parliament.

• Register for the walk.

5. Invitation to participate in anti-racism policy review

The UCT’s Policy on Anti-Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Racial Harassment is due for review.

As a member of the university, you are invited to participate in several ways. Firstly, you are encouraged to complete the electronic survey or choose from the following dates to attend a stakeholder engagement session: 12–16 August, 19–23 August, and 26–30 August. You can also attend an open consultation session in the Mafeje Room, Bremner Building, from 09:00 to 11:00 on 10 September 2024.

• Read the full DVC Desk: Invitation to participate in Anti-Racism Policy review.

6. DSA’s Empowered Skills Development Series

The Department of Student Affairs (DSA), under its UCT Lead Programme, will continue with its Empowered Skills Development Series workshops. On Wednesday, 14 August 2024, DSA will host the third workshop, which will focus on personal values and authenticity. The sessions are held online every Wednesday from 17:15 to 18:30.

The next workshops will take place as follows:

• Public Speaking: 21 August 2024
• Managing Social Media: 28 August 2024

The workshops are open to all students. Experts from Student Wellness Services, the Graduate School of Business, the Faculty of Commerce and the Communication and Marketing Department will present.

• Sign up for the sessions.

7. ICTS scheduled maintenance on Sunday, 18 August

The UCT community is advised that Sunday, 18 August 2024, will be an ICTS scheduled maintenance slot from 09:00 to 17:00. Unless advised to the contrary, do not expect any on-premise ICT services to be available for the duration of the maintenance slot. Cloud-based services (including Amathuba, email, Microsoft 365 services, and ServiceNow) are not impacted and can still be accessed.

Please remember to consult the scheduled ICTS maintenance slots page before planning any teaching, conferences, meetings, etc. that require ICT services.

For more information, see the article on why ICTS schedules regular monthly maintenance slots.

Communication and Marketing Department

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements