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DUT SHORT STAY STUDY ABROAD INTERNATIONAL SUMMSERSCHOOL 

Join us on a journey to learn about the making of modern-day South Africa.

June – July 2022

 

CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICA

This course will explore early history of South Africa and understand the development of modern-day South African society.

 To understand contemporary post-apartheid South Africa, this programme will focus on the race, gender, class and identity dynamics of society in a post-post-apartheid South Africa. Students will explore the early history and colonization of South Africa leading up to apartheid and the subsequent toppling of the regime in 1994 and understand the development of racial, gender and class identities and divides in South Africa society.

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Through lectures, dialogues, readings, documentaries and excursions, the students will have a chance to learn about these social dynamics during apartheid, the roots of racialized poverty and inequality and the negotiated transition from apartheid to democracy. Furthermore, a large part of the course will focus on the successes, failures and challenges of the post-apartheid period, including reconciliation, education, inequality and economic transformation, xenophobia, and many other important topics. Discussions and debates will also include comparisons to similar conflicts such as the Jim Crow era and the civil rights movement in the USA and the Holocaust. After completing this course, the students are expected to have a good understanding of the contemporary South African socio-economic and political realities.

 

Programme

The programme will expose students to the debates pertaining to contemporary South Africa.

Lectures are facilitated by South African Higher Education Institution academics. The programme consists of theoretical and practical aspects that are interactive. Thorough lecture preparation and active participation will ensure an optimum learning experience.

The programme will be structured thematically with lectures and practical aspects matched to specific themes.

 

Learning Outcome: On completion of this programme students will:

  • Understand the social dynamics of South African society through the lens of race, gender, class and identity.
  • Become familiar with conflict stories around the globe
  • Understand South African early history up to formalised apartheid.
  • Understand the era of apartheid and the struggle against it.
  • Learn about the negotiated transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa.
  • Understand the post-94 national drive for reconciliation
  • Gain critical insight into contemporary South African socio-economic and political realities.
  • Become Familiar with the challenges facing South Africa since 1994 and its impact on the South African reconciliation processes in the post 94 era.