Plan for summer 2025
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Earn up to 6.0 Queen’s units at the 400-level or, with your department approval, 3.0 at the M.A. level
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Take seven-week seminar courses at a world-leading South African university
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Follow an integrated immersion program in Johannesburg’s culture, history and society led by South African instructors
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Live in approved accommodation in the heart of Johannesburg’s education/business district by Wits University main campus
Johannesburg is the economic and cultural heart of South Africa and a gateway to southern Africa as a region. Ex-tending over hundreds of kilometers of peri-urban space, the city encompasses 15 million people and is a magnet for migration from around the continent and further afield. Yet even as it embodies many of Africa’s greatest development aspirations, Johannesburg also faces daunting challenges arising from persistent, racialized economic and public health disparities, climate change, and democratic deficits.
The Summer Semester Abroad is designed to allow Queen’s undergraduates the opportunity to live and study in Johannesburg with an integrated program of courses and experiential learning. The program includes taking formal courses at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) – one of the world’s leading universities – alongside actively engagement with South African culture and society under the guidance of both a Queen’s University and local South African instructor.
PROGRAM FEATURES
Queen's unique partnership with Wits enables up to ten Queen’s students to earn 6.0 units over seven 7 weeks of study at Wits while witnessing first-hand the development challenges facing southern Africa. While at Wits, students choose up to two seminar courses from the School of Social Sciences (http://www.wits.ac.za/socialsciences/), each of which is pre-approved to transfer to Queen’s as DEVS 4UNSP/3.0. Many of these are also listed as equivalent of a Queen's 800-level seminar and may be transferrable to Queen's as a Master's credit. Examples include:
• Migration, Mobility and Health in South Africa
• Anthropology and Ethnographies of Black Africa
• Demography of Fertility and Reproduction
• The Making of Urban History
• African Politics: Natural Resources in Africa
• Collective Action and Social Movements
During your semester at Wits you will also plan and participate in excursions to sites of importance to the history and contemporary development challenges for South Africans (e.g.: Constitution Hill, the Apartheid Museum, the Workers’ Museum) under the guidance of a local South African instructor.
ACCOMMODATION: Located in the hip heart of Braamfontein, Wits offers a secure living and studying environment that is easily accessible to national and international destinations. This accommodation is guaranteed and included in the costs of the Summer Semester Abroad package.
COSTS: Costs vary from year to year but in the past accommodation has amounted to roughly $1800. Student would additionally need to cover all other travel and living expenses. These would include flights to Johannesburg (approximately $1,800); Meals/Food (approximately $1,000); and any applicable health and travel insurance.
PREREQUISITE: A 300L Africa-focused course (eg., DEVS 363) or permission of the DEVS department.
Applications due December 15, 2024
Application Process:
• December 15, 2024: Submit application to devs.student@queensu.ca
• February 28, 2025: Successful applicants notified
• March 21, 2025: Students submit OCASP
• July and August 2025: Attend lectures at Wits
• October 2025: Presentation to a DEVS 363 class (optional)