Dancing on the waves of change HELTASA conference

Dancing on the waves of change in higher education: the HELTASA conference 2018

The first call for abstracts is announced for the 2018 Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA) conference that will be held at the South campus on Summerstrand at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth from 21 to 23 November. Pre-conference workshops will take place on 20 November. 

Although the web page for this years' conference is not fully functional yet (accommodation and maps and keynote speakers, etc. will be added soon hopefully), I am very excited about the awesome theme: Dancing on the waves of Change in Africa! Indeed, higher education is experiencing radical changes due to the 4 fourth revolutions that are shaping our society (and just in case you forgot them, they are the fourth communication revolution, the fourth industrial revolution, the fourth human identity revolution and the fourth Christian faith revolution - this last one is only slowly awakening). So, for a conference in the beautiful seaside city of Port Elizabeth, and in this changing higher education environment, what can be more fitting and challenging than to host a conference on how to stay on top of these changes and use them to our advantage?  I am sure we all will enjoy the opportunity to learn from each other and share our successes (and also maybe our failures in this uncertain and fast changing environment). 

Although the conference will host the usual presentations such as workshops, oral presentations, poster presentations, flipped paper sessions and critical dialogues, the organizers also encourages alternative and creative presentations such as music, dance, poetry, visual arts, drama and much more. The organizers also promise a range of social and cultural events for delegates to participate in and use and networking opportunities. 

The first call for abstracts will open 16 April and the due date is 16 June. 19 July is set as the closing date for early bird registration. So save the dates and ensure that you do not miss out on this promising conference.