Undergraduate
Study Abroad in South Africa
Every year, as part of the January intersession period, the Kinder Institute, Honors College, and Departments of History and Black Studies host a study abroad trip to Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on the history and legacy of apartheid.
Students spend two weeks studying at University of the Western Cape and then complete an independent research and writing project during the spring semester to fulfill requirements for the three-credit hour course associated with the trip, BL_STU/HIST/CNST_DEM 4835: Race and Politics in South Africa (which will also be offered with an Honors designation).
Applications for the January 2024 study abroad trip to Cape Town will open in September.
Course Description
Between 1948 and 1994, race was the formal organizing principle of the South African state. However, way before the institutionalization of the policy of Apartheid in 1948, race had underlined social, economic and political relations in what is now South Africa. Significantly, democratic South Africa is still grappling with the legacies of racialized rule. This course is about this nexus between race and politics in the history of South Africa. Organized around seminars, guest lectures and tours, the course introduces students to how scholars have understood race and politics in this Southern African nation. It further examines the social and economic context in which race was deployed as an instrument of making difference and exercising power and how this is contested. Finally, the course examines the legacies of racialized rule in democratic South Africa.
Excursions
In addition to their time in the classroom, students will go on excursions in Cape Town to contextualize their studies. While these will change year-to-year, sites students visit might include Stellenbosch, Robben Island, the District Six Museum, and the South African Houses of Parliament.
To Apply
Application materials and instructions will be posted here prior to the start of the fall semester.