In addition to taking the above courses, students will choose one of the following two tracks:
Research Methods and Ethics
Research Methods and Ethics – syllabus
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits)
A course in the concepts of learning across cultures and from field experience. The seminar provides an introduction to an Independent Study Project or internship and related material, including cross-cultural adaptation and skills building; project selection and refinement; appropriate methodologies; field study ethics and the World Learning/SIT Human Subjects Review Policy; developing contacts and finding resources; developing skills in observation and interviewing; gathering, organizing, and communicating data; and maintaining a field journal.
Internship
Internship & Seminar – syllabus
(ITRN3000 / 4 credits)
This course consists of a four-week internship with a national or international international relations organization that is working on South-South relations, foreign policy or conflict resolution within the southern Africa context. The internship enables students to obtain skills and knowledge in methods, principles of, and obstacles to African development, continental solidarity, and peace within societies that have been highly polarized by racialized social welfare policies and racialized national politics, as was the case in South Africa for many decades.
Sample internships:
- Assisting creative solutions to challenges posed by conflict at ACCORD (African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes), Africa’s largest conflict resolution NGO, specializing in conflict management, analysis, and prevention through mediation, negotiation, training, and research
- Working with researchers advancing balanced, relevant and policy-oriented analysis, debate and documentation of SA and Africa’s global politics and diplomacy at the Institute For Global Dialogue
- Supporting research, public education, and legislative initiatives at the South African Commission on Gender Equality
OR
Research Methods and Ethics
Research Methods and Ethics – syllabus
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits)
A course in the concepts of learning across cultures and from field experience. The seminar provides an introduction to an Independent Study Project or internship and related material, including cross-cultural adaptation and skills building; project selection and refinement; appropriate methodologies; field study ethics and the World Learning/SIT Human Subjects Review Policy; developing contacts and finding resources; developing skills in observation and interviewing; gathering, organizing, and communicating data; and maintaining a field journal.
Independent Study Project
Independent Study Project – syllabus
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)
Conducted in Durban or in another approved location appropriate to the project. Students may choose to complete either a research-based or practicum-based Independent Study Project, the former being a traditional research paper and the latter emerging from a practicum with an affiliated organization working in social and/or political transformation. Sample topic areas: border politics in the southern African region; peace and conflict in the SADC region; democracy as defined by South Africans; insurgency in Cabo Delgado; unconstitutional changes in government on the African continent; deglobalization and the rise and fall of the BRICS challenge to the West. ;
Sample ISP topic areas:
- S./South Africa relations
- Political risk analysis
- International trade blocs and implications on Africa and South Africa
- The African Continental Free Trade Agreement and implications on Africa and South Africa
- China-Africa relations
- The Belt and Road Initiative and implications of African foreign policy
- Political violence in the SADC region
Browse this program’s Independent Study Projects and undergraduate research.