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Cape Town Overview

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Academic Objective

The academic objective of the Cape Town program is to introduce students to intellectual analyses of the socio-economic and political challenges in post-apartheid South Africa. Students are not only exposed to historical analyses, but also engage with how inequality is manifested in terms of poverty, unemployment and access to basic services such as health care.  Sustainability remains one of the key challenges as water and electricity shortages continue to place huge strains on the country’s natural resources and its economy. As such, the socio-economic and political costs are interrogated in the program’s academic offerings. Pertinent issues such as land rights and reparations for apartheid atrocities, also provide students with the opportunity to engage intellectually with the ways in which the country continues to grapple with its past.

Course Credit

The Cape Town Program offers courses that provide credit toward Stanford graduation and most classes also count toward an undergraduate major. Students must enrol in a minimum of twelve units from the courses offered through the program. For a list of all BOSP courses offered in the current academic year and planned for the next, and for information on which courses earn departmental credit or fulfill General Education Requirements, please refer to the BOSP course database. For information on courses scheduled for the current academic year and for enrollment, please refer to Axess.