Rural university
Date
2011-10-17
Authors
Richardson, Carrie-Anne
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Abstract
Rural Development is an urgent agenda in South Africa, dealing with the rectification of the inequities of the past, and encouraging the economic development of rural areas and, consequently, the country. Education forms a vital aspect of rural development, empowering rural people to uplift themselves and their communities. Higher education is particularly important as a tool for mobilizing talent and developing the skills that will develop South Africa.
It is the intention of this project to explore the notion of a Rural University: a centre of academic excellence in adult education located in a rural area that will open up the world for rural people, giving them access to the great body of human knowledge, and an opportunity to contribute to it: giving rural people an academic voice. The project investigates the economic and social viability of such a centre, as well as an appropriate approach to the development of curriculum, program, business model and design, that is sensitive to both the people and the land, questioning traditional notions of what a university should be in the process, by appropriating the typology to suit a rural context