By Karabo Dikobe

The foundation beneath the module (zoBomi) is to put emphasis of the value of the work of the mind rather than giving learners the equipment to sell their skills in the workplace. It is an education based on ethical agency rather than pa- tience, put bluntly by Dr Pedro Taben- sky, one of the course co-ordinators and lecturers. One of its aims is to decolonise the curriculum and make it more relevant to the current plight of students. It is a response to student apathy and tries to speak to the student rather than over- whelm them with information.

In ZoBomi, as referred to colloquially, humans are seen and considered to be ethical beings. The course then sets out to engage with and show the kinds of things that get in the way of us acting ethically. It is for the idea that receiving an educa- tion, in a deeper sense, means that one has gone through some kind of transfor- mation. In this case, the transformation goes together with the question, “How do I live well in the context of the world and climate I exist in?”.

The course is divided into two pillars, the first pillar being theory and the second being service learning. The theory is shown and engaged with through movies on Monday, this is when the topic of the week is expressed visually. This is followed by a double lecture on Tuesdays, which serves the purpose of explaining the topic of the week but also allows the students to be involved and relate the topic back to their lives. The last branch of the theory, are the conversations that take place. The conversations serve to consoli- date the theory and assist the students in connecting the dots. “We want students to fall in love with ideas,’’ said Tabensky. Service learning is arguably the most important part of the course, because being educated should be ingrained in working with the community, explained Lindsay Kelland, another course co-ordinator and lecturer. She further explained that the course is centred around the student, the course is ‘student led’ they constantly ask, “how do we bring the student into it?” In this way the course remains wide open to ideas brought in by students with whom they engage. Service learning was also a way to initiate what Tabensky described as “moving in the light of thinking.” ZoBomi started off as a pilot course, in response to student apathy, an epidemic that students are socialised in by Univer- sities and other tertiary institutions. One of its aims was to pioneer an institu- tionalised transformation. Transform- ing student apathy into the passion to learn. This is done by requiring students to do a lot of internal work, which means including the body as a whole in the learning and experiences. “We are anti-intellectuals”, clarified Tabensky.

He further elaborated that this term does not mean that the course does not think intellect is important, but rather that it is part of the whole, and the entire whole is important. Rather than capitalising on student intellect, zoBomi aims to capitalise on the strengths of students as individuals and as a whole.

Despite many students taking this course as an “arb credit”, Kelland notes that the mixture in students and their respective fields allows for interesting dynamics between students. It also allows for different voices to be heard, and dif- ferent realities to be experienced. Nicole Mamphey, a tutor explains how this “arb credit” has paved the way to her becom- ing her best academic self, “It is extremely apt that zoBomi began here at Rhodes ‘where leaders learn’, because it encour- ages a leadership of the self, which comes from introspection and a daily existential crisis brought upon by all the things preventing us from being ethical agents.”