South Africa: International Human Rights - Apartheid and HIV/AIDS

Dates for WT2010: January 2 - 22, 2010

Course Credit: HLTH 389S / GVPT 359 / UNIV 318A / CPSP 379I / AASP 398P / HONR 348Y CORE D

The United Nations and the international community are struggling to adapt longstanding human rights principles to the complexities of modern day problems. Gender and racial discrimination, physical and psychological exploitation, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic are issues that many consider to be of the most important new challenges in the modern human rights movement.

During this three-week course, students will first study the history of the apartheid, to discover how the future of human rights was dramatically changed by a few extraordinary people. Next, students will examine how the development and continued transmission of HIV/AIDS impacts South Africa, and determine the legal, political, social, psychological, and public health challenges encountered in extending human rights to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

The course will primarily be based in Cape Town and Johannesburg South Africa and will include a bush safari near Kruger National Park. Several days will also be spent in Washington, D.C., for visits to organizations based in the nation's capitol as we turn the attention of the course to domestic issues and initiatives related to our international focus.

Faculty and Staff

Dr. Stacey Daughters is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public and Community Health at UM. Her training is in Clinical Psychology and her interests include the development and persistence of mental and physical health compromising behaviors among disadvantaged groups, with specific focus on the prevention and treatment of stress, addiction and HIV/AIDS. 

 

For questions about the application, registration and pre-departure logistics, please contact the Study Abroad Office.