English

The course examines the social theories of modernity or the role of the post-Enlightenment Scientific Revolution in the formation of the theory of the subject. Against this backdrop, examine how Descartes goes about establishing the existence of the subject and then examine some of the POLITICAL STUDIES 373 different forms assumed by the new subject (including colonial, democratic, fascist, and totalitarian forms). When it comes to colonial modernity, consider the effects of the modern episteme in the history of colonialism and the modes of resistance assumed by the anti-colonial subject and the 'post'-colonial subject. DP requirements: Tutorial attendance is compulsory and students who attend fewer than 85% of the tutorials will not be allowed to write the final examination. In addition, completion of all written assignments, essays and tests are a requirement for a DP. Should students fail to hand in written assignments by due date, they will be penalized according to the grading formula of the Department. All required work for DP purposes MUST be submitted by the last day of the course. Assessment: Coursework counts 50%; final two-hour examination counts 50%. Course entry requirements: POL1004F and POL1005S or with special permission from the Head of Department. 

The course provides an introduction to theoretical, historical, and contemporary debates around race, racism, and empire. It covers the following thematic areas: history; theory; experience; futurism. Students begin by exploring the historical events and contemporary afterlives that have created a world structured by racism and colonialism. From the Enlightenment to nationalism; from science to secularism, students look at how this world came to be, and why these often-hidden histories matter. The course then looks at different ways people have tried to understand this world. Theoretical paradigms include anticolonial theory, the Black Radical Tradition, Queer theory, Trans* theory, and postcolonial theory, decoloniality and settler colonialism, among others. The third block looks at the everyday experiences of race and empire. The course looks at the politics around tourism, climate change, technology, intimacy, movement and food, and the course ends with a discussion about abolition as a means of imagining a future free of racism.

This course is unique as it is co-organized by three faculties: Engineering, Medicine, and Science. This interdisciplinary collaboration highlights the importance of “biomimicry” and nature-inspired technologies that go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. Students in this course benefit from a comprehensive and diverse range of knowledge, merging insights from engineering, medicine, and science. By exploring how nature inspires technological advancements, students gain interdisciplinary skills and a broader perspective. The course is structured around three themes: industrial technology, biomedical technology, and environmental technology. Throughout this course, students learn to develop innovative ideas rooted in biomimicry to address real-world problems. Working in cross-faculty groups, students collaborate to design and build solutions that leverage the principles of biomimicry. This course equips students with the tools to contribute to sustainable and innovative technologies, preparing them for the challenges of the modern world.

This course introduces students to a range of Victorian fiction. It addresses the content, form, and significance of the Victorian novel and how it develops amid the cultural, historical, and intellectual contexts of 19th-century Britain. It also examines the alternative form of the short story and considers what specific kinds of narrative and narrative effects this form enables. Authors to be studied may include Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Lewis Carroll, Wilkie Collins, Dinah Mulock Craik, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Vernon Lee, Margaret Oliphant, Bram Stoker, and William Thackeray.

This course introduces the analysis of public policy. The course starts by exploring public institutions in which policy is analyzed, developed and implemented, including the cabinet system, treasury, and the presidency. Then some models that scholars have used to make sense of complex policy processes are considered. The course then explores specific public policy challenges in areas such as energy security, school system reform, and HIV/AIDS policy. This course is especially useful for students wanting to understand contemporary government in SA, and the relationships between public policy and politics. DP requirements: Tutorial attendance is compulsory and students who attend fewer than 85% of the tutorials will not be allowed to write the final examination. In addition, completion of all written assignments, essays and tests are a requirement for a DP. Should students fail to hand in written assignments by due date, they will be penalized according to the grading formula of the Department. All required work for DP purposes MUST be submitted by the last day of the course. Assessment: Coursework counts 50%; final two-hour examination counts 50%. Course entry requirements: Any 2000-level POL course or with special permission from the Head of Department.

This course uses an application-oriented approach to introduce students to the core concepts of psychometrics, a rigorous, scientific discipline of psychological testing and measurement. Students are provided with hands-on experiences to apply statistical methods for constructing and developing psychological measurement scales empirically as well as introductory exposure to instruments used by psychologists to assess intelligence, personality, and occupationally relevant attributes. Topics covered include: the context of testing and measurement; the testing process; test standardization; reliability and validity; intelligence and its appraisal; personality assessment; special domain testing; occupational applications; large-scale measurements; ethics and prospects.

This course introduces the theoretical question of the relationship between literature and high culture to the (less-literary) study of popular culture. Students examine the following key terms and sets of oppositions: (i) high culture vs. low culture; (ii) pop culture vs. popular (or mass) culture (the 2 terms are not the same); (iii) popular culture as resistance vs. pop/mass culture as consumption; and (iv) class and popular culture. Topics include debates about the value of cultural texts that are not of high cultural origins and could be treated as commodities within capitalist societies. Questions include 1. What is the impact and significance of commercially produced cultural products? 2. How do sub- and counter-cultural practices attempt to form alternative values systems? 3. What happens when alternative cultural formations become transformed into the mainstream? Students engage with the debate that the course will unveil and apply concepts learned critically. The course requires students to take prerequisites

A robot is an intelligent mechanical system with multiple degrees of freedom. This course investigates the fundamentals of modeling and control of a robot manipulator. The course covers spatial descriptions and transformations; manipulator kinematics, and manipulator dynamics. 

Required Course Prerequisites: Linear Algebra and Control Engineering I. 

This course introduces South Asian Islamic society, culture and religious thought, especially in Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives, the three South Asian countries with a Muslim majority and where Islam forms an important cultural element. The focus of this course is the period from c. 1750-1950, during which important developments took place in South Asian Islam. The course outlines the role of Islam in pre-colonial society as well as the movements for religious and political reform of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Questions of language and literature are also addressed.

History books are a prime source to understanding current events as a result of the past. Yet even though every historian purports to present facts in an objective manner, the argument is necessarily the outcome of the author’s own interpretation of the material available to him. This seminar develops critical thinking through engagement with different forms of historiography and teaches how to form an independent judgment of a text, with or without previous background knowledge of the subject matter. Each class session consists of reading and discussing an excerpt from a history booik or a text to understand argument, source work and intent of the author. By placing each text within the context of its time, the class will be prompted to consider objectivity or potential bias in a text and what one can learn from it.