ASSAf Presidential Roundtables: Science, Scholarship and Society

The ASSAf Presidential Roundtables on Science, Scholarship and Society bring together experts in a particular field to address a critical issue percolating in society that requires the deliberation of the best minds on the topic.

6th ASSAf Presidential Roundtable

Topic: ‘Frankensteins or Gods? The impact of the new technologies on what it means to be human’
Date: 25 November 2020
Venue: Zoom webinar
Programme: Attached
Video linkhttps://buff.ly/2JLjCIY

5th ASSAf Presidential Roundtable

Topic: ‘Technology and the Future of Higher Education’ – A dialogue on the future of universities in a post COVID-19 world.
Date
: 28 May 2020
Venue: Zoom webinar
Programme: Attached
Video link: https://bit.ly/2MbLWSu

4th ASSAf Presidential Roundtable

Topic: ‘Is Scholarly Publishing becoming Unaffordable?’: An Evidence-based Dialogue on the Implications of a European Plan S on South African Research
Date:
24 October 2019
Venue
: Stellenbosch University Library
Programme
Video recording
Photographs

3rd ASSAf Presidential Roundtable

Topic: ‘To get High or not to get High?’: An Evidence-based Dialogue on the Legalisation of Cannabis Use in a Private Capacity
Date:
21 November 2018
Venue
: Nelson Mandela University
Programme
Video recording
Welcome, Dr Ruby-Ann Levendal, Director: Transformation (Monitoring and Evaluation), Nelson Mandela University
Introductions, Prof Jonathan Jansen, President, Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Opening Statements
Dr Abdul Kader Domingo, Specialist Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer at Stellenbosch University and Member of the SA Society of Psychiatrists Special Group on Addictions
Prof Keymanthri Moodley, Director of the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University
Prof Fraser McNeill, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Pretoria
Prof Eva Manyedi, Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, North   West University and Member of the Central Drug Authority
Photographs

2nd ASSAf Presidential Roundtable

Topic: Changing Campus Cultures and the Future of South African Universities
Date:
30 May 2018
Venue:
Johannesburg Country Club
Programme

Video recording 
Welcome and Introduction, Prof Jonathan Jansen, President, ASSAf
Prof Penelope Andrews, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town
Prof Somadoda Fikeni, Distinguished Professor, Unisa
Prof Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor, University of the Witwatersrand
Question and Answer Session
Photographs

1st ASSAf Presidential Roundtable

Topic: University Rankings: Helpful or Harmful?
Date: 7 February 2018
Venue: Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University
Programme
Video recording 
Welcome & Intro Prof Jonathan Jansen https://youtu.be/U6fN5EFZGfw
Prof dr Robert Tijissen https://youtu.be/jgaGclYhKYQ 
Prof Zeblon Vilakazi https://youtu.be/4zk7DR4MOi4 
Prof Lis Lange https://youtu.be/-2c9lLkMqwY 
Prof Nico Cloete https://youtu.be/GmL0NZAZdBg
Discussions and Q&A https://youtu.be/7Ee445YMMkI
Photographs
ASSAf article
Media coverage:
Rankings ignore local contexts of universities, say experts
Jonathan Jansen: Rankings not whole story
Ubuntu Podcast

The great global rankings debate