An academic citizen is anyone who is part of the higher education community. They are engaged in pedagogy or research or both, and are committed to furthering knowledge, education and the advancement of society from their disciplinary position.
An academic citizen sees their work in higher education as a public project, both in terms of being partially funded by taxpayer money, and in terms of the contributions they wish to make to the world around them.
Although citizenship implies an exclusive form of belonging, here we use it to signal the role of academic work in collective life in a non-exclusionary way, and to anchor it in a public project to which all humanity belongs.
We create knowledge not only for our individual benefit but for the benefit of all.
The Academic Citizen is an independent podcast series produced and funded in its second iteration by the South African Research Chair in Science Communication in 2022. It was originally supported by the Academic Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU) when it was first established in 2016.
All content for The Academic Citizen is the property of The Academic Citizen and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
An academic citizen is anyone who is part of the higher education community. They are engaged in pedagogy or research or both, and are committed to furthering knowledge, education and the advancement of society from their disciplinary position.
An academic citizen sees their work in higher education as a public project, both in terms of being partially funded by taxpayer money, and in terms of the contributions they wish to make to the world around them.
Although citizenship implies an exclusive form of belonging, here we use it to signal the role of academic work in collective life in a non-exclusionary way, and to anchor it in a public project to which all humanity belongs.
We create knowledge not only for our individual benefit but for the benefit of all.
The Academic Citizen is an independent podcast series produced and funded in its second iteration by the South African Research Chair in Science Communication in 2022. It was originally supported by the Academic Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU) when it was first established in 2016.
[FROM THE ARCHIVE - 2018] Despite policy initiatives aimed at structuring affordable low cost health care funding products, medical schemes have remained unaffordable, and therefore inaccessible, to the majority of South Africans. Universities, through insurance companies, provide medical aid with high premiums to their staff. Coupled with high tuition, international students attending South African universities also have to pay high prices for compulsory medical aid cover.
The cost of treatment in general and medicine in particular is an important barrier to health care access, with the rising cost of medicine contributing to the growing pressure on affordability. Prof Mehita Iqani had a discussion with Prof Alex van den Heever, the Chair of Social Security Systems Administration and Management Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and adjunct professor in the Wits School of Governance, on what how medical aids in South Africa are structured and what it means for universities. Is it possible for universities to drive affordable health insurance for all staff and students?
Produced by: Simbarashe Honde
The Academic Citizen
An academic citizen is anyone who is part of the higher education community. They are engaged in pedagogy or research or both, and are committed to furthering knowledge, education and the advancement of society from their disciplinary position.
An academic citizen sees their work in higher education as a public project, both in terms of being partially funded by taxpayer money, and in terms of the contributions they wish to make to the world around them.
Although citizenship implies an exclusive form of belonging, here we use it to signal the role of academic work in collective life in a non-exclusionary way, and to anchor it in a public project to which all humanity belongs.
We create knowledge not only for our individual benefit but for the benefit of all.
The Academic Citizen is an independent podcast series produced and funded in its second iteration by the South African Research Chair in Science Communication in 2022. It was originally supported by the Academic Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU) when it was first established in 2016.
