South Africa: Social and Political Transformation

Educational Excursions

Educational excursions are an integral part of the SIT South Africa: Social and Political Transformation program. Designed to directly complement learning conducted in the classroom, excursions give students the opportunity to explore South Africa's socioeconomic complexity, diversity, and natural beauty in greater depth.

In and around Durban
In the greater Durban area, students visit and interact with the residents of an informal shack dwellers settlement. They also visit an informal African traders market (including a traditional bead market), an ecotourism project, a center for jazz and popular music, the University of KwaZulu-Natal campus, and several local high schools. Students also visit the Luthuli Museum, the former home of the first African Nobel Peace Prize winner, Chief Albert Luthuli, and the Phoenix Settlement, the former Durban home of Mohandas Gandhi, now a museum.

Johannesburg
During the Johannesburg excursion, students spend time at the following sites:

The Apartheid Museum
The Constitutional Court, Soweto — where students visit the Hector Pieterson Museum
The Mandela House — the former home of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, now a museum

Students visiting a rural school in KwaZulu-Natal.

Rural KwaZulu-Natal
In week six of the program, students undertake an eight-day rural homestay during which they live with families in the Amacambini Reserve, about a 90-minute drive north of Durban. During this excursion, students engage in a special educational program with the graduating class at Amatikulu High School.

Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve
Students visit the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve, one of the largest and oldest game reserves in South Africa, where, with luck, they may spot the "Big Five" (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, and black and white rhinoceros), as well as giraffes and zebras.

Cape Town
During the evaluation period, the program visits Cape Town, where students typically visit Robben Island and Table Mountain. Students may also have some time to explore the city on their own.