New laws pending in Wisconsin and North Carolina would require public universities to punish students who disrupt campus speakers. But these laws would do more to hinder free speech than protect it.
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Articles on Student protests
Displaying 41 - 60 of 116 articles
It’s time South Africa stopped stereotyping its young people as being disinterested and morally bankrupt and started engaging them.
Some Puerto Ricans voted, but most stayed home amid a looming financial debt crisis and political protests. Will this vote matter?
The May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State still loom large in our national conscience. What do these events tell us about the role of the university in today’s climate of student protest?
Student protest has been in the political spotlight since Trump’s election. Todd Gitlin, former president of Students for a Democratic Society, shares his perspective on protest in the 60s and now.
Generational rebellion is an enduring feature of all societies. Indeed, it is the dynamic through which societies renew themselves and move forward.
Risk has to do with uncertainty; people struggle to conceptualise and manage that which they’re unsure about. This is true in the higher education sector, too.
There’s no doubt South African universities need to undergo a real shift. But are the country’s current intellectual and academic forces up to the task?
The push for decolonisation could ironically end up trapping universities in a colonised curriculum.
2017 promises to be another tough year as South African universities head into the uncertain terrain of further addressing and healing the divisions that have been exposed.
South Africa must address the root factors contributing to nationwide protests in the higher education sector or face dire consequences
Social justice is not just a phrase for protesting students. Instead it is something that defines them.
Some students argue wrongly that the ANC has betrayed the promise of free higher education made in the Freedom Charter. The governing party’s populism is also to blame for the confusion.
Demands being made by protesting students in South Africa purport to support the poor. But the most marginalised young people in the country will not benefit from free higher education.
The politicisation of academia definitely contributes to a decline in academic standards. This is a situation South Africa must work hard to avoid. It can learn from others on the continent.
There has been a great deal of research, planning and talking to come up with solutions to South Africa’s higher education funding crisis. Some of these plans must now be put into action.
Student protesters have demonstrated good leadership in some spheres but come up short in other areas. This suggests that universities ought to focus more on how they teach leadership.
Peacekeeping is not easy. But for South Africa’s universities to begin working towards solutions, it is crucial that their communities give peace a chance.
Many young academics and those who might be considering an academic career will be horrified by what’s unfolding at South Africa’s institution. Will bright minds be lost?
When students are genuinely listened to and understood, and their proposed solutions to problems are taken seriously, real change can happen in university faculties.
Top contributors
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Professor, University of Cape Town
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Professor of Black Studies and History, Amherst College
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Professor of Digital Society, University of Glasgow
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Departmental Lecturer in African History and Politics, University of Oxford
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Professor of Architecture and SARChI: DST/NRF/SACN Research Chair in Spatial Transformation (Positive Change in the Built Environment), Tshwane University of Technology
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Researcher, Social Sciences, University of Fort Hare
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PhD Scholar, Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor and Head of Department of Political and Conflict Studies, Nelson Mandela University
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Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State
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Head of Department, University of Johannesburg
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Chief Director: Tshwane University of Technology – Institute for Economic Research on Innovation; Node Head: DST/NRF SciSTIP CoE; and Professor Extraordinary: Stellenbosch University – Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology., Tshwane University of Technology
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Academic Staff Development Lecturer, Centre for Higher Education Development, University of Cape Town
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Senior Researcher in Labour Studies and Education, University of Johannesburg
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Director of the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation and Associate Professor of Education, University of Johannesburg
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Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Cape Town
