University of Cape Town (UCT)

If you thought walking up Bascom Hill at UW was bad, try moving around the University of Cape Town. My campus was built into the side of a mountain! Not just any mountain, either, it is nestled on the side of Devil's Peak (which you could see in my Table Mountain panorama).

I just wanted to talk a bit about where I'm going to school, because as I've been going to class this past first week... I keep being surprised when I look over a building and see mountain peaks. Just walking along... switching classes, and to the left of me is a skyline. Not to mention that to the right of me is the whole city. That's right, since we're so high up, looking out some of the classrooms is in fact like stopping at a lookout point. I've still not gotten used to it, and hopefully I don't.

It was established about twenty years before UW, in 1829. The main campus is arranged into three different levels, easily named Lower Campus, Middle Campus, and Upper Campus. They run buses all day to the residence halls and around campus, similar to the Route 80 at UW, but with a few key differences. First, they are blue and called the Jammie Bus (much cooler name and color). Second, you board on the left side of the bus (remember, opposite side of the road? Don't worry, I keep forgetting, too... like when I slammed my taxi driver's door after getting out because I thought the passenger side was left open). Third, there are TONS of them! At any given time, UW is running three or four 80's, I think, and one or two 85's. There are 26 Jammie Shuttles, and they all seem to be running throughout the day. It isn't uncommon to see 6 stopped at one area at any given time. Although, I suppose when you need to transport students up and down a mountain for class... you need a lot of transport power. Lastly, the drivers are crazy. They don't really talk to the students, and can be spotted weaving through traffic down the main road at around 45-50mph sometimes. Kara described it as a terrible rollercoaster the other day (DOWNhill).



Upper Campus is marked with the prestigious Jameson Hall, pictured above. It is similar to Bascom. Upper is also where most of the instruction happens, and also where all my classes are. In terms of academic standing, UCT is widely accepted as the best university in South Africa, as well as on the continent. I've been very impressed with my courses so far, which I'll get to soon.

Perhaps one of the best views on campus is simply in front on Jameson Hall, on top of the stairs leading to it. Here is a panorama looking in 360º around a stationary point. The best way to view it is to enlarge it to fill the screen vertically, and scroll horizontally. You'll get a sense of what it feels to be standing there.

The view from Upper Campus

Here are the courses I'm taking:

AGI2000F - Understanding Gender (4 credits)
Offered through the African Gender Institute, the aims of this course include increasing student's awareness of the relevance of gender issues to their lives and developing a critical understanding of the multiple and contested meanings of gender in contemporary African and international contexts. It introduces key concepts such as sex, sexuality, gender, identity and culture and explores interconnections between gendered dynamics, 'race', class, generation and location. Topics offered may also include case studies on representations of gender in popular culture, gender based violence, HIV/AIDS and political issues in the South African context.

REL2044F - African Traditional Religion (4 credits)
This course explores the religious heritage and history of Africa through specific case studies in African tradition religion. Special attention is given to continuities and changes in the indigenous religions of Africa through studies of religious beliefs, ritual practices, ways of knowing, techniques of healing, and the social formations of the household, polity, and religious specialists.

CAS4005F - Race, Culture and Identity in Africa (6 credits)
A seminar offered by the Centre for African Studies, this course sets out to do two things. The first is to survey developments in post-apartheid society, with a particular emphasis on issues of culture and identity. The second is to provide some conceptual tools to make sense of these developments. It focuses on several case studies, including the making of contemporary space, anti-apartheid cinema, the politics of heritage and identity, and institutional self-fashioning and the reinvention of UCT.

All the Semester Study Abroad students on the first day of orientation.

In general, 40-50% of your final grade at UCT is dependent on a final exam, which is a lot more than in the US. The week before classes was also a bit hectic, since registration requires that you physically go to the course department, and get the department head to sign a form saying you are allowed in the course and have completed prerequisites. Once you have all pre-approvals (which can take a while with lines and walking, and also when people aren't there to sign, as I found out), you come back a different day for registration, which for me meant about 3 hours in lines before talking to someone that signs off on your course load and schedule. Then you get in another line to have them capture the information into their database. Since you are then registered, you are free to get your student ID... which took another hour. Then having the ID allowed me to activate my email address. So yes, some of the systems and procedures seem a bit outdated and inconvenient, but it was only a day or two of headaches, and I just reminded myself that this isn't home, more students have limited access to computers, and at least it is warm out.

Warm enough, actually, that each person has their own air conditioning vent in the Kramer Law lecture hall. I didn't notice until I was freezing, and couldn't figure out where the cold was coming from.

Chilling.

As I mentioned, South Africa loves to braai. The day before classes first met, we had a welcome braai for all first year and international students, right on the rugby fields. It was apparently sponsored by Coca-Cola, because the branding was everywhere. Look to the right in the following picture, and you'll see the city.

Setting up.

The food was actually pretty questionable, so we didn't stay long... but it was one of the first chances I had to see a lot of the student body together. I'd been trapped in orientations for several days, and was just struck by how diverse the campus feels. This is in contrast to UW, where the campus feels, unfortunately, white. I don't want to ramble on about how refreshing this change is, but certainly is interesting and refreshing to see so many different types of people walking around and talking on campus, dressed differently in some cases and speaking different languages. In fact, 20% of all students are from countries other than South Africa (with 38 African countries represented, and 104 countries worldwide).

At any rate, I love this campus. I may not be feeling the pride of being a Badger, or whatever the mascot is here (Tiger--apparently?), but the campus is beautiful, I'm really enjoying my classes, and I'm getting a workout from all the walking.

Anybody want to go to a party at Smuts Residence Hall? :-)