René Smith
(Durban University of Technology, and South African Humanities Deans’ Association (SAHUDA) President)
02/09/2019, 17:05
Official Opening Ceremony
Prof.
Sarah Mosoetsa
(University of the Witwatersrand, and CEO – National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences)
02/09/2019, 17:15
Official Opening Ceremony
02/09/2019, 17:25
Prof.
Alex Broadbent
(University of Johannesburg)
, Prof.
Jane Duncan
(University of Johannesburg)
02/09/2019, 18:00
Discussion based on the Speakers' inputs
Prof.
Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem
(University of Pretoria)
03/09/2019, 08:30
Plenary
The first of the 2018 EU guidelines for ethical AI states “AI should not trample on human autonomy. People should not be manipulated or coerced by AI systems, and humans should be able to intervene or oversee every decision that the software makes”. The thinking behind this guideline is the Kantian notion that humans have intrinsic worth, and should therefore always be the best final arbiters...
Dr
Motsamai Molefe
(University of Fort Hare)
03/09/2019, 08:45
This essay considers the moral status of robots in the light of the idea of personhood salient in African philosophy. Specifically, I aim to consider whether robots can be objects of moral concern. To do so, I will first consider the place and status of animals in the light of personhood. I will consider moral reasons offered by the ethics of personhood to exclude animals from the moral...
Mr
Samuel Segun
(University of Johannesburg)
03/09/2019, 09:00
Arguably, research in computational ethics and particularly any attempt at composing an ethical scheme for machines or autonomous intelligent systems will require three steps. First, identifying and adopting an ethical system, which will be compatible with a top-down, bottom-up or hybrid approach to computation. Second, schematizing this ethic in analytic form and third, developing appropriate...
Dr
Mpho Tshivhase
(University of Pretoria)
03/09/2019, 09:15
The existence of these humanoid robots forces us to think about or rethink the issues concerning rights, citizenship, and personhood. There is something quite different about robots in relation to persons. I am particularly interested to test the plausibility of considering the uniqueness of robots. My aim is to consider the radical distinction of robots. I will test the uniqueness of robots...
Dr
Asheel Singh
(University of Johannesburg)
03/09/2019, 09:30
Discussion based on the Speakers' inputs (Session III)
Prof.
Fraser Mcneill
(University of Pretoria)
03/09/2019, 10:15
In this paper, I explore connections between humanism, posthumanism and neoliberal constructions of difference. I ask questions about the theoretical and applied efficacy of posthumanism as a legitimate way of thinking anthropologically, and argue that, ultimately, anthropology has always been, and should remain to be, a fundamentally humanistic endeavour. I root the paper in the context of...
Dr
Hylton White
(University of the Witwatersrand)
03/09/2019, 10:30
In this paper, I explore connections between humanism, posthumanism and neoliberal constructions of difference. I ask questions about the theoretical and applied efficacy of posthumanism as a legitimate way of thinking anthropologically, and argue that, ultimately, anthropology has always been, and should remain to be, a fundamentally humanistic endeavour. I root the paper in the context of...
Ms
Kharnita Mohamed
(University of Cape Town)
03/09/2019, 10:45
Imaginaries of the human have shifted over time with, and made possible new epistemes, politics, methodologies and ethics. As each new ‘turn’ takes effect, the attempt to keep up with quests for recognition across inequalities, forms of life and worldings, can leave one feeling quite dizzy. The expansion of ontological imaginaries frequently animates the archive towards a politics for the...
Prof.
Eric Worby
(University of the Witwatersrand)
03/09/2019, 11:00
In a time when liberal, universalist values are apparently in regression across the globe, should anthropology abandon its flirtation with post-humanism and anti-anthropocentrism? Should it instead be vigorously reasserting its historical role in defending the qualities that distinguish the human species from others, while arguing for the universality of those qualities across members of that...
Dr
Wesley Doorsamy
(University of Johannesburg)
03/09/2019, 13:30
From a technological perspective, each of the previous industrial revolutions could be characterised according to some unique features. While the Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterised by a confluence of technologies, data is seemingly a distinct feature of 4IR’s DNA. Data is considered by many to be the new gold and true invisible hand behind 4IR. With natural, human and capital...
Mrs
Thandile Ntumba
(none)
03/09/2019, 13:40
Ukuhlola is an exercise of inquiring about one’s well-being from the ancestors through consulting a traditional healer who then acts as an intermediary between the enquirer and his/her ancestors. Lately TV shows like Umoya and YFM with Lloyd Radebe radio programme have been broadcasting these consultation sessions. There has been also a significant number of Traditional healers interpreting...
Dr
Martin Cook
(University of Johannesburg)
03/09/2019, 13:50
One of the hallmarks of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the “ubuntu” of data: instead of focussing on individual sources of data, we rather understand each data source in the context of a broader, coherent picture. The whole becomes more valuable than the sum of its parts. This is a key concept underlying digital replicas of real-world systems, called “digital twins”. The digital twin...
Prof.
Pathmanathan Naidoo
(UJ)
03/09/2019, 14:00
Given the reference, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030 : Transforming our World, the Department of Mechanical Engineering Science has interest in promoting solutions that will stimulate new economic development and new jobs in the age of Industrial Revolution 4.0. A focus is to explore the gains from the nexus of energy, water, food, waste and transport value chains...
Prof.
Simon Connell
(University of Johannesburg)
03/09/2019, 14:20
Discussion based on the Speakers' inputs (Session III)
Ms
Cassi Gewer
(University of Johannesburg)
03/09/2019, 15:15
As a Humanities’ student in the age of artificial intelligence algorithms, software engineering and big data – concepts such as youth unemployment, human cognition and the future of academia are prominent in Industry 4.0. This paper highlights the role a Humanities’ scholar plays in embracing technological trends and using critical thinking, human observation and psychoanalysis to enter the...
Ms
Ruvimbo Samanga
(Space Generation Advisory Council)
03/09/2019, 15:30
The 4th industrial revolution is going to be driven by three key ages, artificial intelligence, digitization and most notably the Space age. It is this last field especially that has formed the bulk of my research and how Space Applications can promote sustainable development on the African continent especially though the use of satellite technology. Given rapid technological advances many...
Prof.
Maria Frahm-Arp
(UJ)
03/09/2019, 15:45
In 2013 machine learning took off as deep learning – the ability of computers to teach themselves new concepts and ideas – became a reality. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a revolution unlike any we have seen before because it ushers in a world in which machines can continually learn making it possible for them to make intelligent decisions based on the data they collect. Put...
Ms
Tsholofelo Masetshaba Mosala
(N/A)
03/09/2019, 16:00
The concept of religion in anthropology, is understood to be a sort of cultural script- a strong framing narrative for daily life in many parts of the world. The digital technology has make it into the social settings and mirrors new sociocultural realities. Today, church sermons can be lived-streamed, downloaded online and congregants can actively participate from the comfortable of their...
Dr
Phefumula Nyoni
(UJ-Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education Studies)
03/09/2019, 16:15
This study is an investigation of kinship influences on women smallholder farmers’ practices in rural spaces. This study is an ongoing study conducted within a context were livelihoods are increasingly getting linked to the capitalist economy which has proved to be going through rapid transformations largely linked to the features of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4th IR). A study that...
Prof.
Kammila Naidoo
(University of Johannesburg)
03/09/2019, 16:45
iscussion based on the Speakers' inputs (Session IV)
Prof.
Pragna Rugunanan
(University of Johannesburg)
04/09/2019, 08:30
Graduate unemployment is rapidly becoming a rising concern in South Africa. Graduates tend to experience obstacles during the employment phase largely due to the lack of required labour market skills. While the envisaged fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is perceived to promote unemployment for soft-skilled professions, it is widely applauded by highly skilled technological careers. Given the...
Prof.
Carin Runciman
(University of Johannesburg)
04/09/2019, 08:55
The rise of new forms of ‘precarious’ work in South Africa over the last few decades has necessitated a return to the study of the capitalist labour process. Labour broking, outsourcing, contract work and casual work are often described as ‘atypical’ forms of work but, as we will demonstrate, they have fast become the norm. In this paper we will detail how workplace restructuring has gone...
Prof.
Tapiwa Chagonda
(University of Johannesburg)
04/09/2019, 09:20
Debates on the 4IR are raging within the academy, as scholars endeavor to grapple with the pros and cons of this revolution. Within the labour market, fears have been expressed by scholars on how the 4IR might disrupt the traditional work environment as we have known it, as some of the semi-skilled and even skilled office workers might end up being made redundant by technology and robots. It...
Mr
Ashraf Patel
(Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD))
04/09/2019, 09:45
The advent of the 4IR within elite WEF formations, is continuation of Castells’ critical theorisation of ‘informational capitalism and ‘ space of flows’ as the highest forms of new imperialism ( David Harvey, 2013). Even progressives within mainstream institutions, such as Professor Joseph Stiglitz (2009) have come to acknowledge the information power symmetries - and possibilities and...
Prof.
Lauren Graham
(University of the Witwatersrand)
04/09/2019, 10:05
Discussion based on the Speakers' inputs (Session V)
Dr
Admire Mare
(Namibia University of Science and Technology)
04/09/2019, 10:45
Digital media platforms are credited for having transformed political engagement especially with regards to transmogrifying it into ‘participatory’ and ‘democratic’ processes. Besides its glorified potential, the advent of these gizmos has also opened the floodgates for the use of algorithms, bots and automated back-end applications, which are mostly used for digital listening, posting...
Dr
OSWELLED UREKE
(UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG)
04/09/2019, 10:45
The paper is an ethnographic account based on the author’s experiences teaching the San of Sabase Village, Bulilima, Matabeleland South in Zimbabwe to make video-films. It explores how the San, as a marginalized community in Zimbabwe, have interacted with, negotiated with and appropriated filmmaking technology. The community at the centre of the study lies on the periphery of Zimbabwe’s social...
Sanjin Muftic
(University of Cape Town)
04/09/2019, 11:10
This paper discusses how the emergence of digital scholarship is allowing artist to restage, reperform, and re-investigate the histories of the African content through mediums that are informed by the development of new media technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Using Achille Mbembe’s claim that the “Internet is Afropolitan” (2015), the paper looks at several projects by African...
Mr
Kyle Bester
(Stellenbosch University)
04/09/2019, 11:10
The 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) has advanced various aspects of human life is rapidly altering the way individuals communicate with each other in the work place. This study focused on the qualitative exploration on how the advancement of cybersecurity may influence the behaviour of military officers and the manner in which they interact with changing technology in the workplace. Exploring...
Prof.
Thabisani Ndlovu
(Walter Sisulu University)
04/09/2019, 11:35
The humanities, in this case, African literature, are under threat – a situation that should spur those in the field into relevant action towards reinvention, increased relevance and survival in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This paper proposes interdisciplinarity – in this case the interdiscipline of African literature and human rights – as one example of the ways in which the...
Dr
Anna-Marie Jansen van Vuuren
(University of Johannesburg)
, Prof.
Joey Jansen van Vuuren
(Tshwane University of Technology)
04/09/2019, 11:35
South Africa is one of the African nations with the highest rate of internet access to the internet. Despite this rapid spread of mobile phones and interactivity, the country’s government has been slow in implementing a definite cyber strategy. With more South Africans gaining access to the internet, the risks of citizens’ exposure to cyber threats are rising. The Institute of Risk Management...
Prof.
Pier Paolo Frassinelli
(University of Johannesburg)
04/09/2019, 12:00
Discussion based on the Speakers' inputs (Session VII)
Mr
Dalitso Materechera
(University of Johannesburg)
04/09/2019, 12:00
Environmental justice (EJ) is sought by the poor, or working class, often of ethnic/marginal communities who have been disproportionately affected by the negative consequences of environmental degradation. Originating in American activism against ‘environmental racism’ in the 1970s and 1980s, academics (especially political ecologists, ecological economists, and environmental sociologists)...
Prof.
Sarah Chiumbu
(University of Johannesburg)
, Prof.
Suzanne Graham
(Dept Politics and IR, University of Johannesburg)
04/09/2019, 12:25
Discussion based on the Speakers' inputs (Session III)
Dr
Qambela Gcobani
(University of Johannesburg)
Plenary
In this paper, I build upon a nascent and developing field of Black boyhood studies. Studies by Dumas and Nelson (2016), Drake (2016), hooks and Powell (2015) and many others have done well to index the ways in which critical aspects of becoming human for Black boys have remained unimagined and unimaginable in social science, anthropology, and social imagination. These studies have shown Black...
Ms
Celine Meyers
(University of Johannesburg)
Plenary
Speaker
Graduate unemployment is rapidly becoming a rising concern in South Africa. Graduates tend to experience obstacles during the employment phase largely due to the lack of required labour market skills. While the envisaged fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is perceived to promote unemployment for soft-skilled professions, it is widely applauded by highly skilled technological careers. Given the...
Mr
Lynford Dor
(University of Johannesburg)
Plenary
Speaker
The rise of new forms of ‘precarious’ work in South Africa over the last few decades has necessitated a return to the study of the capitalist labour process. Labour broking, outsourcing, contract work and casual work are often described as ‘atypical’ forms of work but, as we will demonstrate, they have fast become the norm. In this paper we will detail how workplace restructuring has gone...
Prof.
Hopeton Dunn
(University of the West Indies and University of Botswana)
Plenary
Keynote
This keynote presentation to the SAHUDA 2019 Conference is about the meaning and practice of Humanities Education in Africa and its diaspora, in the face of transformational innovations that are increasingly challenging the academy and society, globally. It interrogates Klaus Shwab’s concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and argues that 4IR in Africa and the global South should be...
