Entangling science and the humanities

A central thread through the day was that STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – alone is not enough; Humanities do more than add flavour; they help to ensure research contributes to society in socially relevant ways.

Professor Pamela Maseko, Executive Dean of Humanities, stressed the critical importance of the humanities in interpreting, understanding, and improving the human condition.

This year's theme, ‘Transformative knowledge for a just, sustainable and innovative Africa’, was highlighted in featured academic presentations, highlighting how natural and social sciences and humanities are interdependent domains, shaping and reshaping one another.

Prof Maseko’s remarks emphasised that research must be responsive to cultural, ethical, and historical dimensions, not only material or technical ones.

The dialogues in the various sessions highlighted the need for and importance of engagement between faculties and disciplines, to find sustainable and innovative solutions for Africa.

In the first session, Prof Brian Castellani, visiting professor of Social Health at Durham University, shared his Case-based Visual Complexity: Entangling Science and the Humanities, where he spoke to, engaging across disciplines, how science meets art and the entanglement thereof.

Using the examples of art and photography and even practically, a tangled slinky, he referred to how entangled we are in people’s lives, further exploring the notion of how we are connected and how we intersect.

In session two, Dr Karabo Maiyane, Head of the Department of Philosophy, presented on Who owns or should own our African data? Exploring a plausible model for data ownership in Africa.

Speaking on data ownership in the age of AI, he highlighted the challenge of the big tech business model, which collects data, commodifies it and then sells it.

“If we have access to data, we can solve societal problems better. But if our data is made proprietary, we will need to pay for our own data, the very same data we curated.” said Dr Maiyane.

Instead of presenting concrete solutions to the question of who should own data? and its regulation, his presentation sought to open discussion and debate to find the best solutions.

“Data ownership goes beyond the point of profit; it can inform geopolitics and can even be weaponised”, Dr Maiyane cautioned.

In the third session of the day, panellist Prof Nomalanga Mkhize, Director: School of Governmental & Social Sciences, Simangaliso Mashego, nGap Lecturer: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and Mzuvukile Mapasa, Campus Ambassador student: Zero Hunger, discussed Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS).

They explored the intersections between IKS, localisation and trans disciplinarity as critical frameworks for decolonising knowledge production in the academy.

It argued for a reorientation of scholarly practice that centres lived experience, place-based knowledge and community-led inquiry.

In the final session of the day the session: Language of / and Mathematics, addressed the use and representation of Mathematics across disciplines.

Prof Marius Crous, Director of the School: Language, Media & Communication addressed the use of Mathematics in film.

Dr Marguerite Walton, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, spoke about The Language of Mathematics. And Measurements Designs and the design of buildings was presented by Andrew Palframan, Senior Lecturer in Architecture.

Very practically with violin in hand, David Bester of the Sustainability Research Unit (SRU) discussed Harmony, patterns and the mathematical structure of music.

Similarly, Andrew Matthews, Lecturer in Languages & Literatures presented, through the dissection of poetry, Rhythm, rhyme and repetition as examples of the mathematics of poetry.

Finally, Tree diagrams, the V2 principles and other syntactical ventures into mathematics, was shared online by Alan Murdoch from Applied Linguistics.  

Prof Maseko reinforced that, the inputs presented by the various Faculty academics, students, research associates and colleagues from other Faculties, provide an illustration of how this “entanglement and convergence” is interpreted in the University’s learning, teaching, research and innovation and social engagement.