‘To buttress the ideal of national unity’ : broad South Africanism and higher education in the early twentieth century

Higher education and universities in South Africa underwent a period of significant development and expansion in the period following the South African War (1899 -1902). At the same time, one of the significant facets of this era was the dramatically changing nature of white identities in South Africa. A new unified white identity known as broad South Africanism was promoted in a number of quarters by the successive administrations of the Transvaal and South African Union. For the purposes of this project, institutions for higher learning were viewed by both the public and the country‘s authorities as critical places where the country‘s youth could be welded together into a new broad South African nation, learning tolerance and broad-mindedness. This article considers how these ideals were related to higher education, by looking at the official and public view of the purpose of higher education at this time. It will begin by briefly reflecting on the way these notions were evident in higher education prior to the South African War. Under each administration following the War, the perceived unifying and nationalising function of universities is then explored, paying particular attention to the relationship between broad South Africanism and aspirations regarding South African higher education.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rshj202017-10-31hb2016Historical and Heritage Studie

War, education and identity : discord at the Transvaal University College (1914–1919)

Before the outbreak of World War I (1914–1918), broad South Africanism appeared to have had a tentative but solid beginning at the Transvaal University College (TUC). This international conflict, however, re-ignited tensions among white South Africans, and students at the TUC were no exception. The proximity of these events to the establishment of the College seemed to push the ideal of broad South Africanism at the College beyond reach. This article considers the striking effect of World War I and the 1914 Rebellion on the consciousness of the TUC students as seen in student contributions to The T.U.C. Students’ Magazine and other events at the College. It examines in particular changing and conflicting notions of white identity at the College at this time.Bronwyn Strydom completed a DPhil at the University of Pretoria in 2013 with a thesis entitled “Broad South Africanism and Higher Education: The Transvaal University College (1908–1919)”. This article is based on part of her doctoral thesis. (http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40254)http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_hist.htmltm201

The University of Pretoria archives virtual classroom : connecting the community's past with the virtual future

Recent technological changes, as well as higher expectations from the constituencies they serve, have had major impacts on the realm of museums. The virtual environment and all it has to offer, along with the perception by a more democratic society that museums are community property, have made traditional museums reconsider their positions in order to remain viable. Within the financial and resource constraints of the museum domain, this article will focus on a response to these challenges, which utilises the new technology, works more closely with the broader museum audience and collaborates with other information-related institutions such as archives and libraries. It looks specifically at an exhibition project devised and developed by the University of Pretoria Archives, the "Virtual Classroom", as a practical and viable solution to the challenges posed.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_mousaion.html or http://www.unisa.ac.za/default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=20129am2013cp201

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Experiments in bilingual higher education : an examination of the origins of Afrikaans as a second medium at the Transvaal University College, 1908-1930

In a multilingual society with a complex history of identity politics, language medium in South African higher education is a topic that frequently recurs and remains emotionally charged. As single medium institutions dominated the higher education landscape in the previous century, the history of multilingual educational endeavours has been somewhat neglected. This article considers the way the roles of different languages were negotiated at the Transvaal University College, forerunner of the University of Pretoria. It will examine not only the official life of the institution, but consider the way languages were dealt with in the college’s student life. Motivations behind the introduction of Afrikaans as a second medium of instruction will also be considered. The way these events and circumstances related to notions of broad South Africanism, on the one hand, and growing Afrikaner nationalism on the other, will be highlighted. Some of the complexities which related to the bilingual policy of the college, as well as the defence of the policy by college authorities will be examined. In this way, the pitfalls and motivations behind the relatively short period of official bilingualism at the college will be investigated.In ’n veeltalige samelewing met ’n ingewikkelde geskiedenis van identiteitspolitiek, is die taalbeleid in Suid-Afrikaanse hoër onderwys ’n onderwerp wat gereeld verskyn en wat sterk emosies ontlok. Weens die feit dat in die hoër onderwys omgewing enkelmediuminrigtings dominant is, is die geskiedenis van veeltalige onderwyspogings ietwat versuim. Hierdie artikel beskou hoe die rolle van verskillende tale by die Transvaalse Universiteitskollege, voorloper van die Universiteit van Pretoria, verhandel is. Dit sal nie net die amptelike lewe van die inrigting ondersoek nie, maar ook die manier waarop tale in die kollege se studentelewe gehanteer is. Die motiverings agter die invoer van Afrikaans as ’n tweede medium van onderrig sal ook beskou word. Hoe hierdie gebeurtenisse en omstandighede met ideës van breë Suid-Afrikanisme, aan die een kant, en ’n groeiende Afrikaner nasionalisme aan die ander kant, saamgehang het, sal beklemtoon word. Die kompleksiteite wat verband gehou het met die tweetalige beleid van die kollege, sowel as die verdediging van die beleid deur kollegeverteenwoordigers sal ook in aanmerking geneem word. Op hierdie manier sal die moeilikhede en motiverings agter die betreklike kort tydperk van amptelike tweetaligheid by die kollege ondersoek word.This article was written as part of a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of History at the University of South Africa.https://journals.co.za/content/journal/histam2019Humanities Educatio

Broad South Africanism and higher education : the Transvaal University College (1908-1919)

The establishment of the Transvaal University College (TUC) in Pretoria took place at a very significant historical time in the wake of the South African War and its first decade coincided with the formation of the Union of South Africa and the outbreak of World War I. Furthermore, in this period successive administrations of the Transvaal and of South Africa pursued an ideal of forming a new unified white South African identity known as broad South Africanism. This project was strongly associated with education and found expression in much of the discourse regarding emerging higher education in the country. This study will approach the early history of the TUC from the perspective of broad South Africanism, attempting to shed light on white identity politics and their relationship to higher education in these early decades of the twentieth century. The thesis will begin by examining university history as a genre of historical writing, highlighting various approaches to the writing of university histories. It will then investigate the development of universities in Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in order to point out influential trends and models which can be traced in the establishment of South African universities. This is followed by a brief account of the growth of higher education in South Africa, paying particular attention to its development in the Transvaal which gave rise to the establishment of the TUC, first in Johannesburg and then in Pretoria. The development of the notions of broad South Africanism and conciliation will then be considered followed by an examination of how these notions were related to higher education in this period. The study will then focus specifically on the way in which broad South Africanism was manifested at the TUC. It will highlight official intentions regarding broad South Africanism at the College and the initial responses of the student body to this policy. A second section will discuss the development of broad South Africanism at the TUC after the outbreak of World War I and the ensuing 1914 rebellion. This will also include an investigation of sentiments which opposed broad South Africanism, favouring a more exclusive white identity. Thus, this study will endeavour to demonstrate how an understanding of university history can shed further light on a complex period in South African history and highlight the significant relationship between higher education institutions and the wider historical context.Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2013.gm2014Historical and Heritage Studiesunrestricte

Two pandemics, one hundred years and the University of Pretoria : a brief comparison

The effects of the COVID 19 pandemic on higher education in South Africa and the University of Pretoria inspired this brief investigation into how the university responded to the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. This article looks at some of the traces of the effects of the Spanish Flu found in the University of Pretoria Archives. These include, apart from official documents, a handful of student reminiscences of the times which give some insights into how students in particular experienced the epidemic. These will be contrasted to personal impressions of how COVID 19 has impacted the 2020 class at the University of Pretoria. This brief comparison points to the far reaching impact the current pandemic has had on the university and higher education more generally.http://sashtw.org.za/?page_id=1763hj2021Humanities Educatio