The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kolawole Salako has called for an urgent collaboration between Humanities and Sciences, in order to find creative solutions to the challenges confronting humanity in this modern world.
Speaking at the maiden edition of the National Hybrid Conference, organised by the Department of Communication and General Studies tagged “Humanising The Sciences (HUSCON 2021)”, the Vice-Chancellor represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Bolanle Akeredolu-Ale described the Conference as timely and significant at this crucial time when attention has been greatly shifted from the Humanities to Sciences in todays fast growing technology-focus global society.
He said, “it is important to emphasize that there is an urgent need for collaborations between the two fields of human knowledge as the complicated world in which we live in requires the ability to think critically and objectively about complex ideas with a view to finding creative solutions to the challenges confronting humanity in this modern world”.
“Thus, humanising the Sciences will assist in producing innovative panaceas to scientific problems, ethical and value-based issues in the global village”, he added
Delivering a Lecture titled “Interaction Between Sciences and Humanities”, Prof. Steve Afolami, Former Vice-Chancellor, Augustine University, Ilara-Epe, stated that it is reasonable to deliberately promote the knowledge of the Humanities to all students instead of stamping
them out of the curriculum like Nigeria did for history at the Secondary School level.
He warned that science without ethics and morals may lead to doom and stressed that humanities has the capacity and tendency to make human being wiser and more virtous by their nature.
According to him, “some interactions of humanities to tame science is necessary for the benefit of the species Homo sapiens and the planet earth. There is need to look back and see what disaster has been wrecked on the planet”.
In the same vein, the Keynote Speaker, Prof. Peter Aborisade, in his lecture titled, ” Humanising,Sci-Tech: Balancing Development and the Future of Humanity”, harped on the need for collaboration and cooperation between Sci-Tech and humanities to value the Zulu word “UBUNTU” which is love, peace and happiness.
According to him, “we need collaboration and cooperation between Sci-Tech and Humanities, a redeeming ethics not nihilism or hedonism and values of “Ubuntu” not individualism”.
He disclosed that many people are passionate about humanising science, stating that human culture and arts are loaded with lots of scientific discoveries.
Also, the Dean, College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development, (COLAMRUD), Prof. Emmanuel Fakoya while appreciating the University Management for creating an enabling environment for the Conference to hold, stated that HUSCON 2021 is an agenda that requires different fields to successfully communicate between them and share the vision of what they believe is good for human.
He described Science and Humanities as siamese twins that cannot be separated, and stated that the conference will serve as a means of enhancing partnership, collaboration, interaction and inclusion between the two fields so that the world will not go into extinction.
Earlier in her Address, the Convener, Prof. Comfort Onifade disclosed that the Conference is the first of its kind in the University which was borne out of the discourse of methodology of conducting research, analysing data, and discussion of findings in the Humanities and the Sciences.
She disclosed that the University’s mandates are Teaching, Research and Extension, stressing that situating disciplines in Humanity in a specialized university may come with a few challenges such as the methodology of conducting research.
