University of Cape Town

The course is divided into two equal components: microeconomics and macroeconomics. The first part of the course covers microeconomics, which focuses on the general equilibrium analysis under perfect competition and market failure (externalities, public goods, and imperfect information). It examines the dynamic interplay of behavior and institutions, and the outcomes produced through their interaction. The course draws attention to issues of distribution and market exclusion (issues of power and bargaining), as well as efficiency and issues such as land reform, water allocation, and funding for tertiary education. The macroeconomics module employs a microfoundations approach to macroeconomics. It first covers explanations for the business cycle in a closed economy model with money. The course then explores an open monetary economy model with foreign trade, capital flows, and an exchange rate. Students study the real business cycle model, the functioning of foreign trade and exchange rates, and the role of money and banking.  Assessment: coursework (50%) and final exam (50%).

This course considers a variety of issues in contemporary philosophy of art and literature. Topics include the ontology of art, interpreting literary and other artworks, the nature of metaphor, the relationship between art and morality, truth and sincerity as criteria of literary and artistic value, and the definition of art and literature. DP requirements: Regular attendance at lectures and tutorials; completion of all tests, submission of all essays and assignments by due dates, and an average mark of at least 35% for the coursework. Assessment: Coursework counts 40%; one 3-hour examination in October/November counts 60%. Course entry requirements: At least second-year status.

This course critically engages some of the key conceptual and methodological issues concerning the nature of the historical discipline and its modes of writing and enquiry. It explores different traditions of narrating the past, examines certain major formative moments in the life of the modern historical discipline, and analyzes various critiques of the historical knowledge as well as the reconfiguring effects they have had on the discipline. In exposing diverse styles and approaches of doing history, this course points at some emergent fields of historical enquiry and reflects on the complex relationship between the academic discipline and its popular and public variants.

This course covers the complex relationships between Western, African, and South African Political Thought. Key ideas in these traditions of political theory are introduced and interactions between them explored. In particular, the course investigates the development of ideas concerning colonial rule and the nationalist responses to that rule, which together constitute a rich and complex literature. The themes address over the course include the Western enlightenment, colonial modernity, nationalism, and democracy.

This course introduces a variety of topics relevant to normal cognitive functioning as well as psychopathology. While one-half of the course takes a neuroscientific approach, the other half of the course draws on psychological, sociocultural, cognitive, and biological perspectives. Assessment: coursework (70%), final exam (30%).