UB Study Abroad | Destination: South Africa

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UB Study Abroad -- May/June 2006
Destination: Senegal to South Africa

Professor: Shaun Irlam
Homepage

Summer 2006
Dakar, Senegal: mid-May
Cape Town: May - June
Namibia: June - early July
More information? Please contact me.
Or visit the UB Study Abroad Office, 210 Talbert

Photo Galleries
[South Africa - Gallery 1][South Africa - Gallery 2][South Africa - Gallery 3]
[Namibia - Gallery 1][Namibia - Gallery 2]

Imagine yourself under a southern sun in Africa this summer! South Africa is a vibrant, young country that is just emerging from three centuries of European colonialism and white minority domination. This is therefore a truly revolutionary era for South Africa as it passes from its European past into an African future that includes all its citizens. Cape Town, where the program will be based, lies at the tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. It is the oldest city in the country and arguably one of the most beautifully situated cities in the world, lying on the lower slopes of the breathtaking Table Mountain.

Participants will have a unique opportunity to witness the birth of a new nation as it strives to harmonize peoples of diverse African, Indian and European heritage into one community with a common culture and a shared South African identity.
Learn about the politics, cultures and literature of southern Africa in one of the most exciting and challenging societies in Africa! Explore the rugged and beautiful landscapes around the Cape of Good Hope.

Discover the Cape Dutch architecture from the 17^th century. Visit the townships where South Africa's revolution was born. Sample a broad blend of cuisines at the crossroads where East meets West on the tip of the African continent. Visit the wine estates and taste the legacy of viticulture left behind by French settlers fleeing from religious persecution under Louis XIV.

The program lasts a total of four weeks and will consist of two intensive courses of two weeks each. The first course introduces the turbulent history and politics of South Africa during the past four centuries. We will examine some of the key policies of apartheid in South Africa and the society to which they gave rise.
The second course will explore South African culture, focusing on literature, film and the media. We will read novels by Gordimer, Coetzee and Ndebele as well as explore the cultural challenges facing the media in the "new South Africa."

Students will be housed at the Ashanti Travel Centre in Gardens, a central suburb lying at the foot of Table Mountain. Daily classes are held at the University of the Western Cape. During your stay in Cape Town you will also make several field trips in the region. Around Cape Town, we will visit Cape Point Nature Reserve, the southwesternmost tip of the African continent (but not the southernmost point as many believe!), take the cablecar to the top of Table Mountain, spend a day in the Winelands sampling the local produce, visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was a prisoner for many years and take a tour of the townships to get some idea of life for many people of color in South Africa. The program is very affordable. For more information about costs, contact the UB Study Abroad Office

Over week-ends we will take two trips further afield. We will go hiking/climbing in the spectacular Cederberg mountains northwest of Cape Town and also make a 4-day trip to Oudtshoorn, home to the ostrich-feather millionaires of the 1920s and still the center of ostrich farming in South Africa today. On this trip we will also go underground to the Cango Caves, a vast labyrinth of limestone caves that have still not been fully explored and we will visit the colonial Victorian town of Prince Albert before following the scenic Garden Route along the coast back to Cape Town.

June 2004 -- Destination: Namib Desert!
June 19 - July 4

Imagine a country 30% bigger than Texas with a similar climate but less population than Buffalo (under 1.7 mi.) and you have some sense of Namibia. It's vast, empty and waiting for you to discover it.

The program also offers the option of a 14-day adventure safari in Namibia. The Namib Desert, one of the oldest in the world, is a garden of geological wonders. The trip starts with exotic dining at Joe's Beerhouse in Windhoek, then we venture off in 4x4 trucks to remote parts of this spectacular desert country and camp out under the star-spangled sky, spotting constellations never seen in the northern hemisphere.

Among the places we visit are Sesriem Canyon, the famous Sossusvlei dune system (where dunes rise to 900 ft), the colonial German town of Swakopmund, spend three days in the Etosha Pan Wildlife Reserve and explore the rich treasuries of San paintings at Brandberg and petroglyphs at Twyfelfontein. The trip concludes with camping on the border of Angola and a day of whitewater rafting on the Kunene River. Unfortunately, participation is limited to six spaces which will be available on a first-come first-served basis.

Namibia Photo Galleries

Visit the wonderful galleries by participants in UB's 2002 and 2003 programs.


Imagine yourself under a southern sun in Africa this summer! South Africa is a vibrant, young country that is just emerging from three centuries of European colonialism and white minority domination. This is therefore a truly revolutionary era for South Africa as it passes from its European past into an African future that includes all its citizens.		Cape Town, where the program will be based, lies at the tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. It is the oldest city in the country and arguably one of the most beautifully situated cities in the world, lying on the lower slopes of the breathtaking Table Mountain.
Participants will have a unique opportunity to witness the birth of a new nation as it strives to harmonize peoples of diverse African, Indian and European heritage into one community with a common culture and a shared South African identity.		Learn about the politics, cultures and literature of southern Africa in one of the most exciting and challenging societies in Africa! Explore the rugged and beautiful landscapes around the Cape of Good Hope.
	Discover the Cape Dutch architecture from the 17^th century. Visit the townships where South Africa's revolution was born. Sample a broad blend of cuisines at the crossroads where East meets West on the tip of the African continent. Visit the wine estates and taste the legacy of viticulture left behind by French settlers fleeing from religious persecution under Louis XIV.
The program lasts a total of four weeks and will consist of two intensive courses of two weeks each. The first course introduces the turbulent history and politics of South Africa during the past four centuries. We will examine some of the key policies of apartheid in South Africa and the society to which they gave rise.		The second course will explore South African culture, focusing on literature, film and the media. We will read novels by Gordimer, Coetzee and Ndebele as well as explore the cultural challenges facing the media in the "new South Africa."