SoTL pre-conference workshops
CTL also offers pre-conference workshops as part of the SoTL conference in October. More information about these workshops are available on the SoTL website.
Generic workshops
The Cape Higher Education Consortium offers a series of workshops as part of their Quality Teaching in Higher Education programme. For more information visit the CHEC short courses page.
Faculty-specific workshops
Faculty based workshops are designed in consultation with the Faculties and are designed to meet the Faculty's specific needs. CTL staff members in Faculties can offer tailor made Faculty-based teaching and learning workshops on request. Please contact the advisor (see below) assigned to your Faculty for arrangements.
Teaching & Learning Seminars
During each term, the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), hosts a quarterly virtual Teaching and Learning seminar on MSTeams to promote the scholarship of teaching and learning. SU Teaching Fellows share their research, innovations and experiences about teaching and learning and lively discussion follows.
September 8, 2022
Prof. Faadiel Essop (Professor: Division of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences)
Topic: Introducing broader humanities and arts concepts into the biomedical science curriculum
Prof. Essop’s TAU (Teaching Advancement at University) fellowship project focused on the notion that scientists/engineers often view their discipline as ‘’neutral’’ and therefore devoid of any socio-political and historical contexts. This “scientific elitism” can therefore seemingly absolve scientists from such contexts, e.g. past injustices committed during apartheid as well as contemporary pressing issues like equity redress and decolonization. With the Covid-19 pandemic, scientists have been increasingly thrust into the public domain, often required to respond to outlandish claims/conspiracies and to defend the scientific enterprise itself. However, such responses require deep and critical insights into the nature of the scientific process (e.g. weaknesses, strengths, philosophies, and socio-cultural-political contexts) and its ideal to arrive at coherent truths. There is thus a gap in the training of scientists to be better equipped to operate in the ‘’post-truth’’ world. The aim of the TAU fellowship was to develop a new Honours module in Medical Physiology and to assess its uptake by students and its potential impact. Here the idea is to establish a suitable pedagogical framework for the introduction of broader humanities and arts concepts into the biomedical science curriculum. This should aid the creation of a transformative teaching and learning experience, leading to well-rounded graduates (with strengthened graduate attributes) who are better equipped and trained to handle (and lead) some of the contemporary, societal challenges we face.
Biography: Prof. Faadiel Essop is currently a professor in the Division of Medical Physiology (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences) at Stellenbosch University. He is also the Director (and co-founder) of the Centre for Cardio-metabolic Research in Africa (CARMA) at Stellenbosch University. He is a Fulbright fellow, an NRF B2 rated researcher, and has a strong interest in two research fields: a) the effects of chronic stress on cardio-metabolic diseases onset, and b) the development of HIV-related cardiovascular diseases. Prof. Essop is a former President of the Physiology Society of Southern Africa (PSSA), the current President of the African Association of Physiological Sciences, a former board member of the General Assembly and current council member of the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS), and chairperson of the South African National Committee of the IUPS. He also served as a member of the International Committee of the American Physiological Society and is an elected Fellow of the American Physiological Society (FAPS). He has been appointed as Associate Editor and Section Editor for Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine and PLOS One, respectively. During 2021 Prof. Essop was awarded the PSSA’s prestigious Lifetime Career Achievement Award that ‘’honors a well-established physiologist who has proven their research excellence over a period of time’’. He received a Stellenbosch University Teaching Excellence Award in 2018 and has held a national TAU (Teaching Advancement at University) fellowship from 2021 to 2022.
Do you want to join? Email Lucinda Lucks at
llucks@sun.ac.za to send you the link.
More information and access to podcasts of previous seminars are available here .
CTL advisors in faculties