University of Cape Town

This is an introductory course to Anthropology. Anthropology is explored through four contingent entry points: "Words" focuses on intra- and cross-cultural meaning making; "Deeds" examines the individual's agency within social contexts; "Things" analyses interaction with objects and "Bones" introduces basic principles of archaeology. The course privileges hands-on immersion into anthropology and provides an overview of its complex history. As an introductory course, we use content that engages the diversity of students’ life worlds and is cognizant of our African location. We employ innovative teaching and delivery methods, including multilingual pedagogies and digital literacy, which allow more time for active engagement and the development of critical reading and writing skills in the Humanities. DP requirements: Attendance at tutorials and submission of all written work, plus class test. Assessment: Continuous assessment (essays, projects, class tests) counts 100%.

This course introduces the major concepts, approaches, themes, and topics of inquiry in the field of comparative politics. The course is designed to relate specific theories and relevant case studies and/or empirical evidence. The first part of the course focuses on the broad theme of comparative government and the second on violent processes of political change. 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. 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.

This course explores debates around gender and sexualities as a way both of deepening knowledge about the politics of gender continentally, and of exploring the complexity of different African contexts’ engagement with broad discussions on sexual rights. The course is divided into two sections which broadly focus on South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. The first section addresses concepts on gender and sexualities through an examination of how sexualities were remade as a result of colonial conquest as well as how debates over gender and sexualities shifted post-‘independence’. The second section looks at contemporary debates in gender politics and sexualities. These include debates of the (de)criminalization of sex work, culture and sexuality, reproductive health rights and sexual rights, and gender and the media. DP requirements: Students are expected to attend all classes, and to submit all required assignments by deadlines identified in the course curriculum. Assessment: Continuous assessment (essays, projects, tests, etc.) counts 100%.

This beginners’ course is aimed at non-mother tongue speakers of Swahili. This course provides a broad overview of the study of sociolinguistics with specific reference to Southern Africa. Topics such as language and gender, language and power, linguistic prejudice as well as language planning are covered. The latter is a very important and controversial field in Southern Africa, given the liberal constitution, which allows for 11 official languages. The course focuses on two specific arenas or work situations i.e. the legal and medical fraternities, in order to assess what complications and challenges arise in a multilingual work environment. How are these challenges being addressed? Why is it important for you to be a multilingual citizen? DP requirements: Students are expected to complete all tests and assignments and attend at least 80% of all lectures, tutorials and language labs. Assessment: Coursework 50%; exam 50%.

The course considers the nature of deviance, crime, and criminality in South Africa, from both historical and current viewpoints. The following questions are reviewed: How much crime is there in South Africa? Who are the victims of crime and who are the offenders? Why is crime in South Africa so violent? These discussions draw freely from international, criminological debate, and locate those debates within a developing context. The course explores responses to crime in the South African context by considering what has and is being done by the state and non-state to engage with crime? What is the thinking behind (violent) crime control and prevention programmes and initiatives? How effective have these initiatives been? These discussions focus on crime policies that have been developed as well as community and private sector initiatives to address issues of crime and violence. DP requirements: Completion of all written tests, essays and assignments. Assessment: Coursework counts 50% and one two-hour examination counts 50% of the final mark. Course entry requirements: SOC1001F, SOC1005S, or any 1000-level social science course.

This course focuses on the ways in which Africa has been imagined and represented across the ages. Drawing on key texts from the creative and performing arts, the course explores specific depictions of Africa and Africans in each era and opens up questions about the relationship between arts and society. The course examines African self-representations alongside representations that focus on Africa as a site of difference or ‘othering’. Topics include: What is representation?; Images of Slavery; Travel writing and tourism; Visual Arts; Anti-colonialism/ nationalism in film. Assessment includes tutorial hand-ins (20%), 1st essay (20%), and 2nd essay (30%). Course entry requirements: None

From the 16th century, Europeans pushed to open trade routes to the east, increasingly disrupting earlier interactions between the southern African interior and the wider Indian Ocean region that had been in place from the 1st millennium AD. The European diaspora in southern Africa created new orders of power, control, and trade that had massive impacts on indigenous societies who were subjected to slavery, genocide, and eventually apartheid. This course examines these interactions and transformations from both foreign and local viewpoints, in which the idea of the frontier is a central theme. The focus is on archaeological evidence and the contribution it makes to understanding the texture of life on frontiers and the new identities that frontiers created. In doing this the relationship between archaeological evidence, written sources and oral history is critically addressed, particularly in the search for perspectives that address cultural change and continuity at the local scale. DP requirements: Attendance at lectures and practicals, completion of assignments. Assessment: Assignments and class tests count 50% towards the final mark and one 3-hour exam written in November counts 50%. A sub-minimum of 40% is required for the examination. Course entry requirements: AGE2011S or AGE2012F, or by permission of the Head of Department.

Examine the record of primate and human evolution, showing how fossil skeletons and artifacts are interpreted in terms of human behavior and evolutionary processes in Human Evolution. Consider genetic and other comparative evidence and answer questions such as: Why did our ancestors evolve in Africa? How did we evolve such large and complex brains? What advantage does bipedalism provide? When do humans begin to make tools? Why is human skin color so variable? What makes humans unique? DP requirements: Attendance at lectures and practicals and completion of assignments. Assessment: Assignments and tests count 50%; one 3-hour examination in October/November counts 50%. A sub-minimum of 40% is required for the examination. Any first-year Science course, or any first-year Humanities course from a related discipline such as Social Anthropology, Historical Studies, or Sociology is required. 

This course introduces the field of critical linguistics which addresses the linguistic effects of political and cultural oppression, marginalization, colonialism, and coloniality. It is also a field interested in articulating a new view of language that emphasizes the experience of language as intimate and lived, implied in structures of hegemony of power, as well as its potential for liberation, freedom, and creativity. DP requirements: None. Assessment: Continuous assessment (essays, projects, tests, etc.) counts 100%. Third-year status is required for admission.

This course examines contemporary international debates on the social discourses and practices that perpetuate injustice and inequality and their relevance to understanding South African society. The literature may include debates on the way discourses create centers and margins, resulting in social differences which, in turn, have a significant impact on people's life chances. The literature may also include debates on the changing patterns of urban and rural inequality. Who are the winners and losers in today's society? What are the causes of new patterns of social injustice and inequality? In reading a wide range of literature, students are provided with comparative concepts with which they can begin to interpret the emerging patterns of social justice and inequality in South Africa. DP requirements: Completion of all written tests, essays, and assignments. Assessment: coursework (50%) and final two-hour exam (50%).