Civil Engineering

Visualization of spatial information is an important aspect in the representation of map displays. Maps today are
visually adapted to a variety of mediums in displaying spatial information temporally and as time series phenomena.
GIS technology has incorporated tools for analysing these spatio-temporal trends. However map users are
overwhelmed by the amount of information in these map displays and therefore experience cognitive overload. In this
study we find that static and animated maps have their respective advantages in the visualization of the map reader by
placing participants through a structured set of questions. All these facets exist in the visual and cognitive realm of the
map reader. District Six is a unique area that has experienced significant spatial change in the last century, mainly
attributed to its political history. This has been depicted in a conventional static and animated time series map
representation which has been designed to facilitate the understanding of the spatial change that occurred during this
unique period of history. In this paper a methodology has been investigated and implemented in the design of the map,
by enhancing the map reader’s experience in visualising time series spatial data. We conclude further that visual
intention and attention are cognitive facets that collectively strengthen the map reader’s ability in learning spatial
information.

This article emerges from our relationship with Theo Combrinck, a colleague, a passionate social and academic activist, a recovering addict and a PhD student, who left our living space during 2014 ‒ a death that was unexpected yet a consequence of an iterative desire to end a troubled/ing life. The intensity of Theo's physical absence retains a vibrant presence and continues to intra-act with us as we consider socially just pedagogies. Theo's work lives on through memories, audio recordings and different forms of texts written by him, all representing his views of socially just pedagogy. Our entanglements with Braidotti's posthuman and Barad's diffractive methodologies shape our understandings of the past and present intra-actions with Theo in time and space. The Bozalek generative process of our individual and collective becomings through Theo illustrate how the collaborative energy of co-constituted relationships contribute an affective response towards developing socially just pedagogies.

After having visited many cities across Europe, as well as Melbourne (Australia), the New Materialisms Conference will come to Cape Town (South Africa) in 2019 in order to discuss the dynamic higher education landscape that we find ourselves in today. The recent #Rhodesmustfall and #feesmustfall protests have, in particular, set South African higher education on a new course towards transformation, focusing on equitable access to higher education, Africanisation and decolonisation. This has raised important questions regarding knowledge production beyond the South African context, particularly in relation to the use and value of western theorists in local research and curricula, as well as who gains epistemological and physical access to higher education. On the other hand, we have seen many productive junctures between pedagogy and the new materialisms, including the use of Deleuze and Guattari in education studies. In particular, there has been a focus on cartography, schizoanalysis, corporeal theorising, rhizomatic learning and nomadic thought in socially just pedagogical praxis. These junctures and innovative genealogies and methodologies can both address as well as be further improved and made more precise by engagements with transformation toward accessible, Africanised and decolonised curricula, and research agendas and practices. It seems fitting, then, that the 3rd South African Deleuze and Guattari Studies Conference will be held directly after the 10th Annual New Materialisms Conference as we grapple, together, towards new ways of being and seeing in relation to higher education.