Welcome to Political and International Studies
As the late philosopher Charles Frankel once said, it is through the Humanities that a society talks to itself about things that matter most. In the study of Politics, as with other disciplines in the Humanities, we are interested in learning about the best that has been thought, said and written about human beings living in social and political relationships. We are interested in learning how these thinkers have grappled with, and continue to grapple with, life’s most enduring, fundamental questions: What is justice? What should be defended? What is the appropriate nature of our relationship to the state? Where should the limits of state power over our lives properly lie? What is the nature of our moral obligation to the state and to fellow citizens? What do we mean by ‘democracy’ and what are the conditions under which it flourishes and declines? These questions touch on what it is to be human. They are the subject over which wars have been fought and lives have been lost.
The answers to the questions which we ask in Political Studies are the subject of uncertainty and debate. To study Politics is to learn to argue and defend positions, to critically evaluate the nature of the evidence that people provide for what they believe to be true. Because our graduates emerge out of three years of studying Politics as articulate critical thinkers who can read widely with insight and understanding and who are capable of coming to reasoned independent judgments, they are sought-after in business, industry, NGOs, government and academic settings. To study Politics is to learn to be an analytical thinker in possession of the complex, higher order literacy capacities that are a requirement in every facet of a world that is increasing driven by the need to interact critically, thoughtfully and knowledgeably with large quantities of information.
The Politics Department at Rhodes is a high quality teaching and research environment. All our permanent members of staff have doctorates from top institutions. Two of our seven staff members are recipients of the prestigious Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Our research is published in national and international journals. Our graduates have gone on to distinguish themselves at universities which include Cambridge, Oxford, the London School of Economics, SOAS and many others. We welcome our students into an environment in which debate is encouraged and interaction between students and lecturers including those at the most senior level is frequent and ongoing. The Department prides itself on being informal and friendly while at the same time being exceptionally demanding of our students. We believe that these dual aspects of our practice are what makes us special in the higher education environment.
A solution from within
Mr Steven Kuo, a Visiting Associate at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town, gave a talk on his paper that looked at the Chinese position on United Nations intervention and its engagements in Liberia.
His paper discusses how the Chinese government view the efforts of the United Nations in post civil-war Liberia and the role that China plays in Liberia today. The people of Liberia experienced untold misery through two brutal civil wars between 1989 and 2003. These two wars claimed close to 150 000 lives and displaced 850 000 people.
In September 2003, the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recommended the deployment of peacekeeping troops to Liberia a...read more
A story nearly forgotten
As part of its monthly documentary screening, the Department of Political and International Studies presented the multiple-award winning documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell at the Barratt Lecture theatre last Thursday. This film chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who helped end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country in 2003.
Thousands of ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters – both Christian and Muslim – came...read more
The challenges of ethnic minority groups in China
The Confucius Institute and Department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes University, recently hosted an expert on Chinese culture and ethnicity, Prof Colin Mackerras, Professor Emeritus of Griffith University in Australia.
Prof Mackerras presented a paper entitled, “Minority nationalities in China in general”, in which he discussed the country’s present-day demographics, and its impact on the social milieu.
This was a part of a collaborative initiative between Prof...read more
The politics of privilege
Dr Sally Matthews of Rhodes University, recently presented a paper entitled, “Renouncing Privilege, Using Privilege”, as part of the 2011 Critical Studies Seminar series, hosted by both the Department of Politics and International Studies and Sociology department.
Dr Matthews, a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies, said the paper forms part of a broader research project on the role of the privileged in opposing injustice. She said the paper was...read more
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African solutions for Africa?
Dr Issaka Souaré of the Institute for Security Studies in Tshwane recently debated the reality and feasibility of finding African solutions to African problems during his presentation at the Department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes.
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Liberian diaspora
Rhodes graduate and lecturer in the department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes, Siphokazi Magadla, recently presented a seminar that tackled issues related to the political economy of diaspora-led African development, and considered the implications of the failed dominant Western led liberal peace model of development and security.
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Dissertation workshops at Rhodes
The Andrew W Mellon Foundation in conjunction with Rhodes University and the Thinking Africa project of the Department of Political and International Studies recently held two dissertation workshops for postgraduate students at Rhodes to bring together Rhodes postgraduate students from various humanities departments to discuss their research projects and help them produce stronger, more focused and more original theses.
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Social Justice for LGBTI
Mazibuko Jara, a presenter at this year’s annual Teach-In hosted by the Department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes, reminded the audience that Social Justice is a concept whereby in society every individual has equal rights, equal access to social services, everyone understands the value of human rights and they are all equal before the law.
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Indentured Chinese Labour
The departments of Sociology and Politics and International Studies kicked off their weekly Critical Studies seminar series in the second semester with Dr Tu Huynh contesting the ideas surrounding Chinese labour in South Africa, which she said enables one to observe the black white binary that exists in South Africa and how it continues to be reframed.
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Over the rainbow
The Department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes is currently hosting its ninth annual Teach-In series of public lectures, with the aim of stimulating debate and bringing to the attention of the University, the wider Grahamstown and Eastern Cape communities a particular issue of interest and concern in public policy: the state of LGBTI Rights in South Africa.
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Rhodes hosts experts for Thinking Africa
A three-day colloquium under the theme “Fanon 50 years later” was hosted by Rhodes’ Department of Political and International Studies’ last week as part of their launch of their flagship project, Thinking Africa.
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Thinking Africa: Shifting the Geography of Reason
From 6 to 10 July some of the very best scholars in South Africa, as well as the very best Fanon scholars in the world will come together at Rhodes to mark the start of the Thinking Africa project and at the same time reflect on the meaning of Frantz Fanon fifty years after his death....read more
The pain and politics of names
Research professor at Walter Sisulu University, Professor Thenjiwe Miyewa, highlighted the challenges faced by South African women wanting to change their names following a change in marital status in a society that has little policy to support it. She was speaking at the Critical Studies Seminar hosted by the Departments of Politics and International Studies and Sociology last week.
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The challenges of ethnic minority groups in China
The Confucius Institute and Department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes University, recently hosted an expert on Chinese culture and ethnicity, Prof Colin Mackerras, Professor Emeritus of Griffith University in Australia.
...read more
