The University of Fort Hare’s (UFH) Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) Week Conference got underway with a stimulating Indaba today, 8 September 2025, at the East London ICC.
Serving as a precursor to the official conference programme, which runs from 09–11 September, the Indaba unpacks the conference theme: “AI and the Decolonization of the Curriculum: Prospects, Progressive and Retrogressive Practices, and Experiences.”
Prof Ulene Schiller, Acting Director of the TLC, described this year’s TLC week as a vital conversation at the crossroads of technology and transformation.
“Higher education today finds itself at a crossroads, between the dazzling promises of Artificial Intelligence and the persistent calls for decolonisation. These two forces may appear in tension. Yet, it is precisely in their interplay that the most urgent questions of our time emerge: Whose knowledge counts? Who benefits from technological innovation? And how can we build universities that are both globally connected and locally grounded?”
Directed by TLC’s Ms Noluthando Mayaphi, the Indaba aims to create space for academics, researchers, and student leaders. The goal is to interrogate how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can both advance and threaten efforts to decolonise the curriculum.
The day’s programme features keynote speakers who will reflect the layered dimensions of the theme.
Dr Thami Ndlovu, an experienced Educational Technologist, researcher, and Manager of the Learning Technology Innovation Unit at North-West University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, explored the interplay between AI and decolonisation. He focused on the tensions and synergies.
Dr Zakhile Somlata, a Senior Lecturer and an HOD of the department of languages and literature at the Faculty of Humanities at Nelson Mandela University, will examine AI, language, and power dynamics in curriculum development.
A panel featuring UFH academics, Dr Dumisani Spofana, Prof Willie Chinyamurindi, Dr Nonzukiso Tyilo, Associate Professor Craig Tambling and SRC representatives will debate whether AI enables the integration or risks the erasure of Indigenous Knowledge Systems.
In her address, Ms Gugu Ndlazi, a lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology at the University of South Africa, will offer practical tools for decolonising the curriculum through AI.
The TLC Week Conference will officialy open tomorrow with a keynote address to be delivered by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Sakhela Buhlungu.