Democracy & Diversity Institute
Cape Town, South Africa , January 10 - 23, 2000

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After the extraordinary experience that our group of 50 participants had last year, we are pleased to announce the launching of the second Democracy & Diversity Summer Institute in Cape Town, South Africa.

In an intensive two-week program, an international body of civically-engaged junior scholars will examine the critical issues of democracy and democratization as they manifest themselves in the region and beyond.

South Africa, five years after launching its imaginative program for reconstructing a post-apartheid society, economy, and state, provides an exceptionally stimulating setting for study and debate on democratic transition and consolidation.

Designed jointly by the Transregional Center for Democratic Studies of New School University, New York, and the University of Cape Town, the Institute will again bring together young scholars and civic leaders primarily from South Africa and the other countries of Southern Africa, but also from the United States, Latin America, and Central Europe.

Faculty and Curriculum
The highly intensive program, offering the equivalent of a full semester of graduate study, includes four core seminars, each co-taught by scholars from Africa and the United States. The curriculum will be complemented by a day-long conference , evening guest lectures, panel discussions, and field trips. Among

the invited guests will be Adam Michnik (Poland), Wilmot James (South Africa), Stephen Gelb (South Africa), Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert (South Africa), Fantu Cheru (Ethiopia), and other prominent South African civic leaders.

Seminars
· Nationalism, Nation, Gender (Prof. Shireen Hassim, Dept. of Politics, University of Witwatersrand, andProf. Elzbieta Matynia, Committee for Liberal Studies, New School University)

· Sustaining Democracy (Prof. Mary Simons, Senior Lecturer in Politics at University of Cape Town, and Prof. David Plotke, Department of Political Science, Graduate Faculty, New School University)

· Media & Democratic Culture (Prof. Jeffrey Goldfarb, Department of Sociology, Graduate Faculty, New School University, and 5 guest speakers/discussants representing a broad spectrum of regional media)

· Democracy and Economic Development (Prof. Will Milberg, Economics Department, Graduate Faculty, New School University, and Prof. Fantu Cheru, American University, Washington D.C.)

One Day Conference

· The State of Democracy in Africa

Wilmot James (University of Cape Town), Stephen Gelb (Development Bank of Southern Africa), Frederick van

Zyl Slabbert (Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa), Fantu Cheru (American University, Wash., D.C.), and Adam Michnik (Gazeta Wyborcza).

Why Cape Town?
Cape Town, the capital of the Western Cape Province, is simultaneously an historic and picturesque city of 17th-century origins and the dynamic legislative capital of South Africa, the site of its Parliament and of other important political and educational institutions. It is situated on the Cape of Good Hope peninsula, whose southernmost point is the richly symbolic tip of Africa. With its mild climate, extraordinary setting featuring the spectacular Table Mountain and Lion's Head as backdrops, and its vivid mix of historic sites amid the signs of energizing social and political change, the Cape Town area is an ideal location for the Democracy & Diversity Institute. The main site of the Institute will be Breakwater Lodge, a waterfront campus of the University of Cape Town and a residential complex whose history in many ways is intertwined with that of apartheid. It was used briefly in the early part of this century as a prison, and later, until 1989, as a men's hostel for migrant workers from the rural areas working in Cape Town harbor. Here one is further confronted by a sobering view of Robben Island with its massive prison, now a museum, where anti-apartheid leaders of the African National Congress, including President Nelson Mandela, were held.

Facts about the Program
Qualified candidates should be affiliated with a university, either as junior faculty members or as advanced graduate students, or be actively engaged with a relevant NGO. The Institute offers four intensive seminars (complemented by a workshop), each equivalent to a one semester post-graduate course.
Participants will select two of the four seminars, and, upon completion of the Institute requirements, will receive certificates. U.S. graduate students will receive appropriate credits. Preference will be given to those young scholars who, while pursuing their academic goals, can demonstrate a commitment to the strengthening of civil society and an active interest in building bridges among universities, NGOs, and the communities in which they live.

Applications
Applications should include the following information: full name, address, telephone/fax numbers, E-mail address, educational background, degrees received, institutional affiliation, and evidence of English language skills. Please also include one letter of recommendation and a 1-2 page statement of your educational goals and reasons for applying to the Institute. The deadline for applications from Africa is November 15, 1999; if you receive this announcement after the deadline, please contact us to see if we are still accepting applications.

A limited number of scholarships will be available.

Participants from Africa
Participating countries include: Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The Africa Coordinator is Shireen Hassim of the University of the Witwatersrand. Interested candidates should send applications to Ron Krabill at
fax: [27-31] 260-1519; or by E-mail at
ron_krabill@yahoo.com. He can also be reached by telephone at [27-83] 545-9395 or [27-31] 260-2987.

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