Doctoral Dissertation Research: Apartheid Education and Race Relations

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1029273 PI: Mary C. Waters Co-PI: Chana Teeger Institution: Harvard University The project examines how apartheid history is taught to and understood by South African middle school students and inquires into the effects of this formal history education on the consolidation of race relations and identities. Using a combination of in-depth interviews with teachers and students, content analyses of textbooks, and observations in classrooms, the study investigates how individuals interpret and adopt formal versions of the past transmitted to them through institutions such as schools. Broader Impacts: This research attempts to add to our broader knowledge of how to promote post-conflict peace and stability among the post-conflict generation. The findings should therefore be of interest to scholars and policy makers working in a variety of conflict and post-conflict regions across the globe.