Society, Politics and Culture in South Africa

  South Africa

Grahamstown

Term: Summer 
Dates: June 25 - July 24, 2009

Description: The Eastern Cape of South Africa has a rich cultural tradition (Xhosa, Afrikaans and British) and a fascinating pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial history. It also boasts incomparable natural beauty and a wide variety of ecosystems: lush coastal areas with stunning beaches, the austere dry Karoo, and thickly forested mountain ranges. Founded as a garrison in 1812 on the old Eastern Frontier where the British Empire met the Xhosa people, Grahamstown is a charming, historic town. Today it is a major education and legal center. Grahamstown is close to the Addo Elephant National Park and is surrounded by a range of Game Reserves. The town offers the visitor a snapshot of South Africaits history of splendor and misery, human achievement and suffering.

Rhodes University

Rhodes University is one of the oldest South African universities, celebrating its centenary in 2004. It strongly resembles a premier U.S. liberal arts college: it is both small, with just over 6000 students, and boasts an impressive faculty in terms of both teaching and research. The student body is racially mixed, even as the university has the highest percentage of foreign African students (i.e. not from South Africa) in a South African university (25%). The University is set in a beautiful and safe campus and offers comfortable accommodations and modern facilities.

Highlights: Academic Program
The International Summer School at Rhodes University offers a rigorous study abroad program with the following features: an intensive introduction to recent South African history, politics, and culture combined with focuses on special topics such as Environmental Education and Sustainable Development, hands-on field experience or service learning, and the opportunity to see inaccessible parts of South Africa. For a detailed overview of the program, please visit the website at
http://www.ru.ac.za/international/

Courses Offered
Students earn a total of six credit hours in the following subjects:
AAAS 320: Topics in African Studies: Understanding South Africa Today   (3 credit hours)
Taught by Rhodes University faculty, this course will provide an historical background to South Africas current situation. It will include seminars on issues such as identity and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, problems with which the country has struggled and still seeks resolution in an ever-changing political, social, and economic environment.   
AAAS 320: Topics in African Studies (3 credit hours)
Also taught by Rhodes University faculty, this course will consist of a choice between two modules. The first explores anthropological approaches for understanding issues such as culture, religion and ritual, urbanization trends, livelihoods, and conservation in the countryside, within their local context.   During the second module students will learn approaches for assisting communities to address issues they face such as using local knowledge and the environment to secure income through art and traditional medicine. Both modules include an excursion to experience life in a local community and provide some research and in-service training.

Cultural Activities
Integrated into the courses taken at Rhodes University are several excursions in and around Grahamstown. During the first week of study, students will visit a Game Reserve. The second week will comprise a week-long immersion in South African Art and Culture through participation in the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. During the third and fourth weeks of study, site visits will vary depending upon the chosen program module.

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: Program Fee: Approximately $4,800.

Additional costs: Airfare, passport fees, incidental personal expenses and health insurance.
Note
All dates, costs, and program information are subject to change as necessary due to fluctuations in the exchange rate or other reasons.

Experience Required: yes

Open to students from accredited U.S. colleges or universities in good academic standing. Minimum 3.0 GPA required.

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Transcript
• Written Application