“We are all intellectuals” is the main idea behind community engagement at Rhodes University this year. This concept was thought up by a Rhodes Sociology lecturer, Claudia Martinez-Mullen and was adopted by various intellectuals during the panel discussion that took place on Wednesday evening.
“We are all intellectuals” is the main idea behind community engagement at Rhodes University this year. This concept was thought up by a Rhodes Sociology lecturer, Claudia Martinez-Mullen and was adopted by various intellectuals during the panel discussion that took place on Wednesday evening.
The discussion’s aim was to grasp where students fit into the notion of community engagement. Dr Vivian de Klerk, Dean of Students, explained that “students are at the very centre of community engagement. They are essentially the creators”. She said that students benefit as much as those they assist, if not more, because it gives them a unique insight into the South African context. De Klerk also compared community engagement to a work of art in that both take time to perfect because projects are not short-term but a process.
Martinez-Mullen talked about the relationship of institutions with the community and expressed the need to analyse how Rhodes empowers the community. The community, in turn, empowers Rhodes Martinez-Mullen said, adding that community engagement being a way of life.
“Community engagement at Rhodes aims to provide a better life for all. It’s our task to transform [our projects]and learn from each other,” said Martinez Mullen.
Speakers from the floor spoke of a need to marry knowledge and capacity at Rhodes. Many felt that there is a need to assess what the community wants and not necessarily what Rhodes feels they require.
A challenge was made to all present to question the wide-spread idea that the ‘community’ refers only to the poorer areas of town. Anthropology lecturer Joy Owen said “we are one community…always remember that nothing exists entirely alone. Everything is in relation to everything else.”
