Mini-term in Cape Town, South Africa

Hst: 350T, Nov.-Dec.


The focus of this mini-term is to learn the history of South Africa as understood in the public arena (through museums, monuments and national historic sites); as understood in the memory and consciousness of South African people by participating in community events and talking with activists; and as understood in the historical record from classroom study of South African history, culture and politics. Students will document their experiences in a notebook, as well as keep a photo, tape recorded, video or digital record of their experiences.

Students will by hosted by the Centre for Open Learning, University of Cape Town (UCT). They will receive classroom instruction at UCT and they will reside in campus dormitories. Students will meet on a regular basis for classroom instruction on South African history, covering the experiences of the nation from the pre-colonial, through the colonial (and colonial wars), apartheid, and post-apartheid eras. Classroom instruction will be combined with visits to museums, monuments, and archives; with tours of townships, community centers, and to environmental reserves, all of which will enhance and exemplify in-class material.

The final week of the mini-term will include travel to the neighboring wildlife and nature reserves. Although not strenuous, students should be prepared to walk and hike in the country, to be ready to travel and take in the countryside, and to embrace an outdoor, as well as classroom, routine. Students will keep a daily journal and complete a final project (research paper, website, video, museum exhibit). The course earns one credit, HST 350T (GenEd: CDAA).

Priority for the mini-term will go to history majors, generally in their sophomore, junior or senior years; or to Africana Studies minors; and/or to others with an interest in methods of documenting and preserving historical memory and oral history; in learning the significance of museums and monuments in recording the history of a society, as well as learning about social and political movements, ethnic history and post-colonial societies.

Students should have at least one history course, preferably an upper level course, and are strongly encouraged to take a course in African history or culture in the Fall term preceding the mini-term