Shaking the Table

The theme “Shaking the Table” A table eyenziwe ngomthi nexolo (As thick as thieves) with the education system. Xa siyishukumisa letabile siyishukumisa siyazi ukuba yakhiwe ngomthi olukhuni kakhulu (As we shake this table there are many dynamics which are intertwined with research in the education system that we will be combining and separating), suggests a metaphorical space where researchers can gather to communicate their ideas about the how stable the research production ‘table’ actually is. We can look at what it is that shakes the table and discuss when a shaking might be needed to disrupt our assumptions.

There is an increasing need for researchers to gather in interdisciplinary settings to discuss how knowledge production can address issues that concern our surrounding communities and how we can build the stock pot of human understanding towards the public and planetary good.

Are we just sitting around our own research table and talking within our own small groups? Or are we extending the table to include the voices and interests of others?

Covid-19 disrupted society and shook the stable table of our research processes in unprecedented ways. It encouraged us as a society to globally and locally reflect on the ways that we do things and how we might wish to do things in the future. Disruptions such as Covid -19 are complex and nuanced, they permeate into different communities, and across both academic and non-academic spaces, reminding us all that we are in this together.

As a society, we face our tables being shaken, with pressing issues such as global climate change and steps to decolonise knowledge in the academic space. We invite you to present your research at our interdisciplinary conference where we highlight the importance of shaking the tables and sharing knowledge beyond the standard academic space. We hope to change the perception of an academic conference, what it means to be a researcher in today’s society, and what we need to do to improve sharing our knowledge within and beyond academia.

Join us for two days of intellectual engagement and social networking.

You are welcome to present your research wherever you are in your own journey, even if you are just at the start. You can also present online if you are off-campus.