TEXTS & Pre-Trip Readings

Required Pre-Departure Readings

While these books may not be explicitly discussed during the program, they do provide an excellent frame of reference to begin considering many of the issues which will be discussed throughout the semester.  They provide a background and context to allow you to begin thinking about these issues before your departure, and the connections to similar issues in the United States.

Barndt, J.  Dismantling Racism: The Continuing Challenge to White America. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1991.

Biko, S. I Write What I Like. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978.

Nerburn, Kent. Neither Wolf Nor Dog: Unforgotten Road with an Indian Elder. San Raphel, CA: New World Library, 1994.

Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir Boy. New York: Penguin Books, 1986.

Benjamin Pogrund. Robert Sobukwe: How Can a Man Die Better. Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2006

Born a Crime. Autobiography of Trevor Noa, November 2016, 

Recommended Pre-Departure Readings on Southern Africa

In preparation for the programming in Southern Africa, the following articles should be read before you arrive in South Africa and Namibia.  In the first weeks, we will be learning about South Africa mainly focusing on these places and more:

• On Afrikaner nationalism

• Background on South Africa

• Soweto

• Kliptown and Freedom Charter

• Apartheid Museum

• Hector Pieterson Museum

• Khulumani Support Group

• Slave Lodge Museum

• District Six Museum

Other Recommended Readings

We also highly recommend that you do some reading on South Africa and  Namibia before you arrive. If you come knowing nothing about the country you may feel lost during the first few weeks of classes, and will not be able to fully tap into the resources that the program has to offer.

The following are some recommended readings. Many of them are available in the CGEE resource center in Namibia, but most students find that once the program begins, they have little time for additional reading. If you wish to read them, it is best to check them out from a local library or purchase and read them before coming.

These great novels introduce culture and society in Southern Africa:

Coetzee, J.M. Disgrace.  Great Britain: Vintage, 1999.

Coetzee, J.M. Foe. Penguin Books, 1988.

Goodman, David. Fault Lines: Journeys Into the New South Africa. California: University of California Press, 2002.

Fugard, Athol. Boesman and Lena. 1969.

Gordimer, Nadine. July’s People. Penguin Books, 1982.

Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Publishing House, 1988.

Head, Bessie. When Rain Clouds Gather.  Oxford: Heinemann, 1969.

Magona, Sindiwe. Living, Loving, and Lying Awake at Night. South Africa: David Philips, 1991.

Malan, Rian.  My Traitor's Heart. Great Britain: Vintage Press, 1990.

Mda, Zakes. The Madonna of Excelsior.  2005.

Moodley, Praba. The Heart Knows No Colour.  Kwela Books, 2003.

Paton, Alan. Cry, the Beloved Country. 1948.

Vera, Yvonne. Butterfly Burning. 2000.

__________. Nehanda. 1994.

These non-fiction books give a good general background to Southern Africa:

Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press, 1967.  (Reprint of Peau noire, masques blancs. Paris, 1952).

Groth, Siegfried. Namibia: The Wall of Silence. Wuppertal, Germany: Peter Hammer Verlag GmbH, 1995.

Gumede, William Mervin.  Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC. Zebra Press, 2005.

Henning M., ed. Re-examining Liberation in Namibia. Stockholm, Sweden: ElandersGotab, 2003.

Katjavivi, Peter H. A History of Resistance in Namibia.  Paris: UNESCO; London: James Currey Ltd.; Addis Ababa:  Organization of African Unity, 1988.

Leys C. & Saul, J.  Namibia’s Liberation Struggle: The Two-Edged Sword. Cape Town: James Curry, 1995.

Magesa, Laurenti. African Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997.

Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom. London: Little Brown and Company, 1994.

Minow, Martha. Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide and Mass Violence. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998.

Noah, Trevor. Born a Crime. Canada: Doubleday, 2016.

World Bank. Can Africa Claim the 21st Century? Washington: The World Bank, 2000.

CGEE Educational Philosophy

Pillars of CGEE Pedagogy