Communities Promoting Peace: The Courts, the Arts, the Church, the Schools
Course Description:
Spend four weeks in South Africa exploring how four crucial social institutions work to promote peace and justice in their society.
The Courts - Meet with Chief Justice and tour the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg. Visit the South African Institute for Race Relations.
The Theater - Experience how Theater and Performance in South Africa has been used as an alternative to violence in communities in conflict. Examine the political intent of street theater, as well as to mobilizing force of "township" theater (first used against apartheid; now a tool against HIV/AIDS). Meet theater professors, theater directors and actors. Attend stunning performances at Cape Town's space Theater and Johannesburg's Market Theater, among the first venues to challenge apartheid's segregation laws.
The Churches - Meet with religious leaders from the Christian and Muslim communities to discuss their efforts to promote and maintain peace in their communities and beyond. Attend a seminar session at a Peace Center. Visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held during the liberation struggle.
The Schools - Visit schools that promote a vision of reconciliation for young south Africans. Learn about post-secondary education possibilities for high school graduates.
Overnight in a rural African village; swim in the Indian Ocean's warm waters; meet Cape Town's penguins and enjoy a safari in a spectacular game park; cable-car up Table Mountain, and descend a Johannesburg gold mine; visit the southernmost point of Africa where Atlantic and Indian oceans meet.
Objectives:
- To understand and experience the power of the written and spoken word to explore social and personal change.
- To promote a writer's consciousness of audience and purpose within different genres.
- To encourage integrative thinking, skills in writing, discernment in reading, and appreciation of aesthetic and human values.
- To enjoy meeting humans and animals from a different continent.
Course Credit:
ENGL 216 (4 credits). English elective; Literaure GUR, Cross Cultural Perspectives, Global Studies.
Program Fee:
$5,125. Includes housing, airfare, most meals, program related excursions and entrance fees. Does not include meals on campus prior to departure or recommended immunizations. See PLU Health Services website for recommendations and costs or health@plu.edu.
Application Deadline:
April 18, 2008. An non-refundable deposit of $50.00 is required with the application. A non-refundable program payment to confirm participation in the course is due within 10 days of notification of acceptance. Maximum 20 students.
Faculty Leader:
Dr. Barbara Temple-Thurston, Professor of English
253-535-8747 or templeba@plu.edu