Explore the dynamic socioeconomic, political, and cultural processes of South Africa, an extraordinarily diverse country in transition.
Similar to other countries around the world, South Africa is striving to free itself of a legacy of racial discrimination, economic exploitation, and political authoritarianism to build a new democratic and equitable regime.
Through coursework and community engagement, students discover the significant role that Durban, the program's base, has played in South African history, particularly its role in apartheid. To provide students with learning opportunities in many different contexts, the program also includes field visits to Johannesburg, rural parts of both KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, the Umfolozi and Hluhluwe Game Reserves, and the Drakensberg Mountain range.
Students interact with a range of organizations involved in the transformation process, during the course of the program, including:
- The Abahlali Shackdwellers Movement – which campaigns around housing issues and works to give voice to the views of the poor and homeless
- Phoenix Zululand – which works to apply the principles of restorative justice in 13 KwaZulu Natal prisons
- The Cato Manor Youth Empowerment Project – which operates a school feeding scheme and youth club in the Cato Manor area of Durban where students have their first and longest homestay. Students participate in both these activities on a weekly basis.
- The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) - an African-oriented conflict resolution center based in Durban
Durban street signs - photo: Emily Orlaska
While the program is located in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, the focus is national and internationally comparative. While investigating the complex issues of inequality, poverty, racial, ethnic, and gender-based discrimination in the context of South Africa, students are challenged to draw and reflect on the experiences of their home countries in dealing – or not dealing - with these same issues.
Through the program's thematic seminar, students investigate the following topics:
- Issues of Transformation: South Africa's political, socio-economic, and cultural landscapes including the process of transformation from apartheid to democracy, the apartheid legacy, and the current political economy. This includes a look at issues of unemployment and poverty alleviation; land reform and restitution; the state of schooling and issues of identity involving the building of a new and indigenous South African national identity.
- Development: an overview of theory and practice in the context of South Africa. Topics include the informal sector; rural and agricultural development; service delivery – housing, water, and electricity; ecotourism; issues of gender violence and HIV/AIDS.
- Reconciliation: opportunities and challenges. Topics include the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its legacy; the concept of ubuntu; issues of violence, ethnicity, and xenophobia; conflict resolution and peacekeeping.
| Program alumna wins peace prize to return to South Africa Spring 2009 student Maya Semans has been awarded the $10,000 Davis Peace Prize by Simmons College to run a three-week creative writing, art, and music camp in Durban during summer 2010. The program aims to enrich the lives of Durban’s street children. Maya is traveling back to South Africa with former SIT classmate Vanessa Shea of Smith College. They will work in conjunction with two Durban-based partner organizations, Umthombo, a center for street children in Durban, and The Network, a grassroots hip-hop initiative |
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