Study Abroad – Summer 2025 Apartheid and After: The Challenges of Building Democracy

Study Abroad Course, South Africa July 7 -21^st  2025 

(Application deadline extended until November 30)

 The study abroad course (AFRI 3100 or AFRI 5100) allows students study a selected topic in African Studies with a Carleton professor in an African country (or countries) in which the professor carries out research. The students also learn from experts on the topic in the African country (or countries). This is an experiential learning course that utilizes a blend of in class seminar, field visits, guest instructors, and other practical methods of delivering the content. The course focuses on a selected topic in the instructor’s area of research and examines current issues within the Country of study, the Continent and the World at large.

The course is open to African Studies Majors, Minors graduate students and other interested students, provided they have african studies background.

In 2025, Prof Shireen Hassim Canada150 Research Chair in Gender and African Politics, will direct the course.

Title: Apartheid and After: The Challenges of Building Democracy

Local Host: Prof Natasha Erlank, Department of History, University of Johannesburg

Course focus 

What does it take to build a sustainable democracy in countries with deeply conflicted pasts? South Africa was once a poster child for a negotiated transition from a racist authoritarian system to one rooted in democratic principles and committed to redistributive policies, a case of a country in the global south committing itself to democratic norms and procedures that in many cases outstripped older democracies. Yet, earlier patterns of inequality laid in place by colonialism and apartheid persist, and global hierarchies still shape the present. Thirty years after the formal end of apartheid, poverty and inequality are stubbornly dominant, the economy stagnant and the citizens divided.

In this course, we ask: What can be learnt globally from the project of democracy in South Africa?  We will have the unique opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading academics on democracy in the global south. We will meet with activists in NGOs that have been involved for decades in building democracy, working at the coalface of law and politics. These unique meetings will focus on building democracy as everyday practice and painstaking strategic thinking.

We will visit landmark sites in the history of apartheid, including the Hector Peterson Museum and Vilakazi Street in Soweto, Number 4 Prison which housed political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, and the Apartheid Museum. We will visit sites of inspiration, including Constitution Hill. We will meet the people of Africa’s largest economic hub and arguably most important city. And we will have lots of treats along the way, not least a visit to a game reserve.

Students will have the opportunity of interacting with professors at two of Africa’s foremost research centres, the University of Johannesburg and Wits University in the heart of Johannesburg.

Open to Undergraduate and Graduate Students

Limited number of bursaries available for graduate students, under the auspices of the Canada150 Research Chair in Gender and African Politics. Awards will be given on merit.

In order to register, you will first need to submit a statement of interest that includes your name, program, year of study, any related courses on Africa you have taken, and why you would like to enroll in this course to africanstudies@carleton.ca  and shireenhassim@cunet.carleton.ca with the subject “AFRI 3100/5100 statement” by  November 30, 2024.