“Education and learning allow us to make sense of the world around us, the world inside of us, and where we fit within the world” - Nelson Mandela

The Social Consciousness and Sustainable Futures course prioritises deep historized human-planet centred conversations, which requires a slightly different approach to normalised assessment methods. This course is centred on generating deep conversations around the issues of being and the role of science in the future of the university and society at large. 

The course uses key canonical material under each theme in the form of poems, novels, songs, documentaries, and artistic material. The logic behind the use of less overwhelming textual material is to foster a more interactive classroom, and centre other materials such as audio, video and visual art while encouraging the students to co-create a transformative classroom space. This minimal textual material seeks to accommodate all students from different faculties and encourage engagement with the material quickly despite the deep sociological meanings attached to this material. 

The course includes collaborative learning and engagement with students partaking in small group sessions prior to the plenary lecture to engage in texts and discuss perspectives from different disciplinary points.

Theme 1: Mandela Name, Person, Intellectual Legacy, and Institutional Values

This theme interrogates the idea of naming linking to the identity of Mandela University, the Person, and Mandela’s intellectual legacies. This attempts to create links between the institution and the Eastern Cape Intellectual Histories along with liberation histories in the African continent. 

Presenter: Prof Nomalanga Mkhize 

Theme 2: On Makings of Gender and Sexuality

Using the history of South Africa and its formation by the barrel of the gun, this theme links and traces gender-based violence to colonial and patriarchal violence that continues to define citizenship in contemporary South Africa. This section of the Module is designed to link race, class, and gender, and how gender-based violence is perpetuated while it is being ‘allowed’ in post-apartheid South Africa

Presenter: Prof Pumla Dineo Gqola 

Theme 3: Science for Society:

This theme will introduce the Mandela students to debates on the history of science, the social context of hard science, and its links to Africa. This part of the module is linked to conversations on the origins of the discipline of science and how interpretations of science can offer support for societal decisions. This theme intends to encourage conversations on the relationship between science and the sustainability of society. 

Presenter: Prof Azwinndini Muronga

Theme 4: Technology and its relationship to Ubuntu and Dignity

 This theme seeks to develop an Africa-centred understanding of the nature of being for inclusive communities. These questions will draw on global and local challenges of technology and how we can develop a distinct and competitive Africa-centred understanding of the nature of ‘being’ as it links to Ubuntu. This theme aims to link technology to communities and broader society. It also investigates how technology has managed to/ or compromise the sustainability of dignity and humanity.

Presenter: Prof Darelle van Greunen

Theme 5: Constitutionalism, Land, and Ethics

 This theme interrogates the meaning and purpose of the Constitution in defining humanity as it links to freedoms, rights, and justice. This will focus on the nature and history of the South African constitution. Using the Bill of Rights, this theme will be interrogated in different ways to ask questions about justice and freedom, equity and equality, and democracy and justice. 

Presenter: Judge Avinash Govindjee 

Theme 6: Health, Wellness, and Progress

 This theme will incorporate health and wellness; an in-depth look at health as a state of being and wellness as the state of living a healthy lifestyle. This attempts to bring forth links between the institutional culture and overall student wellness in contemporary South Africa. Acknowledging the existing economic, mental, and social pressures for students. 

Presenter: Prof Zukiswa Zingela

Theme 7: Economy and Youth (un) employability:

This theme examines global and local economic challenges that promote consumer culture while exacerbating inequalities among groups, societies, and regions. It explores the intersections between consumer cultures, ‘uluntu’ (community), and information technology, analysing how identities are shaped through consumerism. Additionally, the theme delves into globalization, including its current phases and the role of digitization, diginomics, and technological revolutions in shaping economies. It critically examines capitalism and wealth distribution, highlighting how these contribute to social inequality. Discussions will also explore the historical evolution of globalization and capitalism, questioning their impact on today’s economy. Lastly, the theme considers power dynamics between nations, particularly how African countries, with a focus on South Africa, navigate global economic scrutiny and influence from dominant economies like the United States.

Presenter:  Mrs Lee-anne Vas

Theme 8: Humanising Pedagogy: Co-existence and Common Futures:

This theme seeks to conclude and link themes presented in the Module around the concept of ‘humanising pedagogy’. This approach will encourage students to act as active participants in knowledge production towards a more ‘humane’ understanding of society while promoting deep conversations on the features of a Nelson Mandela graduate. In summarising the Module, students will be encouraged to define their own common and sustainable institutional futures.  

Presenter: Mr Mukhtar Raban