The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is currently leading the 4.0 conversation in Africa. One of the ways in which UJ brings 4.0 and the implications it has for society into public discourse is through UJ Cloudebates™. They are “designed to bring together experts from: business, academic faculties, legal practice, the arts and technology together to engage in thought provoking and insightful discussion about how our world is changing and what part we all have to play in this future.” The debates were initiated last year and take a 4.0 topic and unpack it for virtual audiences through experts who participate in the discussion. I am honoured to have been formally invited to be one of the experts for the next theme – “Obsolete or absolute? The Academic Thesis in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” The Cloudebate™ will take place on Wednesday, 10 April 2019 from 18:00 – 19:00 and you will … Read More
Educating Citizen Designers In South Africa
Another book in which I have a co-authored a chapter, this time with Ivan Leroy Brown, has just been released! The chapter, no. 5 in the book, explores “A Potential Difference Model for Educating Critical Citizen Designers: The Case Study of the Beegin Appropriate Technology Beekeeping System” (pp. 89-108) and features Ivan’s incredible Beegin beehive. “Educating Citizen Designers in South Africa is the first book of its kind to appear in postapartheid South Africa and it is therefore both overdue and extremely welcome. The book aims at sharing critical citizenship design teaching and learning pedagogies by including contributions from a range of design educators, and one student, who work in different design disciplines, such as architecture, graphic and product design. Critical citizenship education is explicated in relation to a range of theories and new and existing models. Numerous contemporary case studies and examples of design projects from a range of South African Higher … Read More