Prof Vukosi Marivate Faculty Seminar
The Faculty of Humanities at Nelson Mandela University had the privilege of hosting Associate Professor Vukosi Marivate from the University of Pretoria, where he holds the ABSA UP Chair of Data Science. Prof. Marivate is renowned for his expertise in Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a specific focus on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and local or low-resource languages. Serving as the leader of the Data Science for Social Impact group, he engages in projects spanning diverse sectors such as energy and public safety. Additionally, he co-founded Lelapa AI, an AI startup with a focus on AI for Africans, and played a pivotal role in establishing the Masakhane NLP research foundation and the Deep Learning Indaba.
The seminar, titled "Natural Language Processing (NLP) for African languages and its connections to Development," provided an insightful overview of work in African Artificial Intelligence. The event drew attendees from various departments, including Humanities, Law, Mathematics, Statistics, and Education.
The central theme of the seminar revolved around the question of what it meant to conduct natural language processing through collaboration. The post-presentation discussions centered on the implications of AI for different areas of expertise, fostering a multidisciplinary dialogue.
Prof. Vukosi Marivate's seminar not only contributed valuable insights to the field of AI but also facilitated meaningful discussions that bridged diverse academic disciplines within the university.
The attendees were invited to attend the Copyright and Laws of Data presentation by Dr Chijioke Okorie at the Meta group-funded gala dinner on the same evening.
Hundzula Retreat
Nelson Mandela University, represented by the Mandela Digital Humanities Hub within the Faculty of Humanities, hosted the 3rd Hundzula Natural Language Processing workshop from 6th February to 9th February 2024. The event took place at the Sports Centre on South Campus.
Johannes Sibeko was appointed as the chair of the local organizing committee. He was then assisted by Tsakani Shilowe, an MA student in the Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, as well as Lamla Notshulwana from Eduvos College.
Presentations from Nelson Mandela University included a discussion on pedagogy with Mukhtar Raban, an Epistemic injustice research proposal by Angelique Ludick, an MA student from the LALs department, and a demonstration on text readability by Johannes Sibeko.
The retreat had four goals:
1. Exploring fundamental concepts in both NLP and Linguistics, bridging disciplines for future engagement.
2. Delving into cutting-edge challenges and innovative approaches shaping the landscape.
3. Engaging in collaborative brainstorming to cultivate new research ideas for 2024 and beyond.
4. Addressing challenges faced by emerging researchers, and fostering meaningful collaborations within the community.
Only accepted participants could attend the retreat. In total, we received 89 applications, and extended 45 offers, 33 of which were accepted. In the end, 25 out of the expected 36 attendees participated in the workshop. At least 10 institutions were represented, including Eduvos College, University of Pretoria, University of Johannesburg, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, University of Limpopo, South African Centre for Digital Language Resources, University of KwaZulu-Natal, International Business Machines Corporation, Tshwane University of Technology, and the host, Nelson Mandela University.
Discussions hinted at the possibility of Nelson Mandela University hosting the fourth retreat in 2025, pending approval from the deanery.
DHASA Conference 2023
Nelson Mandela University, through the Faculty of Humanities, hosted the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Digital Humanities Association of Southern Africa from 27 November to 1 December 2023. The conference adopted a hybrid format, combining face-to-face and virtual attendance. Johannes Sibeko assumed the role of the program committee chair and served as the guest editor for the conference.
A total of 47 submissions were received, and following a rigorous single-blind peer-review process, 31 submissions were accepted. These comprised 20 long papers, six short papers, and five abstracts, covering diverse topics such as language-related issues, education, and digital arts.
Several members of the Mandela Digital Humanities Hub actively participated as reviewers for the conference submissions, playing a pivotal role in ensuring the quality that led to a commendable 74.5% acceptance rate. See the final program at https://dh2023.digitalhumanities.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/programme-6.pdf.
The conference served not only as a platform for sharing knowledge through oral presentations but also as a facilitator of networking and collaboration. Its overarching goal was to foster an all-inclusive scientific community within the Digital Humanities domain. At most, we had 66 in-person attendees a day.
The Faculty of Humanities takes pride in highlighting Nkazimlo Ngcunga, an MA student in the Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, who was recognized as a standout newcomer to the DH space by North-West University's Bizcommunity News. For further details, refer to the insightful article at https://www.bizcommunity.com/PressOffice/PressRelease.aspx?i=438414&ai=245478.
The Mandela DH Hub was officially launched during the conference on the 30th of November 2024, and a dedicated report has been prepared for the launch. An Annual General Meeting (AGM) was also convened. Additionally, the conference hosted the Eastern Cape region Digital Humanities Ignite workshop, a component of the South African escalator project, with library representatives, postgraduate students, and academic staff from Nelson Mandela University in attendance. Note that the DH ignite workshop was aimed at participants from Mandela, Rhodes University, Walter Sisulu University as well as the University of Forthare.
Johannes Sibeko has subsequently contributed to the official foreword of the Journal of Digital Humanities Association of Southern Africa, aiming to celebrate the success of the conference. The foreword is currently pending publication.
Rhodes Good Practices Sharing Meeting
Nelson Mandela University, represented by the Mandela Digital Humanities Hub within the Faculty of Humanities, participated in a consultative meeting with the Rhodes Digital Humanities Hub to exchange and discuss good practices. The collaborative session occurred on 26 January at the Rhodes University Library.
Representing Nelson Mandela University were three faculty members: Alan Murdoch from Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Jonathan van der Walt from Visual Arts, and Johannes Sibeko from Humanities Management.
During the meeting, Johannes provided contextualization of the Mandela Digital Humanities Hub within the university's overall strategy, as well as the Faculty of Humanities' strategies for the revitalization of the humanities. Jonathan presented his 3D printing research, while Alan delved into the mathematics of Linguistics. Both presentations were practice-based, aiming to showcase opportunities for collaboration in the field of Digital Humanities.
Insights gained from Rhodes University's practices included the observation that humanities students may not perceive the necessity of data-related methods, including programming modules. As part of their hub initiatives, Rhodes University emphasized a focus on indigenous knowledge systems, digital storytelling, and psycholinguistics corpus analysis – all of which align with the interests of the Mandela Digital Humanities Hub.
Further discussions are expected to take place in the near future.