Higher Education as Social Change: Organized Resistance and Transformative Change in South Africa

May 12 – 24, 2024

Higher education is a social structure rooted in the history, culture, values, and political landscape of its national context. Higher education can perpetuate existing pathways for socioeconomic mobility, the creation of knowledge, and civic engagement. Yet it can also serve as an incubator and catalyst for social change by responding to the needs of its community members, growing the number and diversity of students involved, and driving alternative approaches to public policy, research, and learning.  In South Africa, higher education has played a critical role in social transformation since the fall of apartheid in 1994. This experiential course considered social transformation in South African both in and due to higher education stemming from the historical legacy of inequity due to apartheid.