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Summer School 2024 celebrates 100 years of life-long learning

Topics covered in Upcoming Summer School

UCT Summer School 2024 Celebrate 100 years of continuous lifelong learning

In 1924… we did not yet know of the solar wind, Antarctica’s interior had not been mapped, and no-one had seen the far side of the moon.

Do you trust AI to write the news? It already is – and not without issues

Businesses are increasingly using artificial intelligence to generate media content. AI is changing the nature of news media. We’ll have to wise up if we want to protect the integrity of the news.

Medical schools are shaking off a dark past by honouring people who donate their bodies to science

Donating your body to science could give you two send-offs, not one. Not only do family and friends say goodbye at your funeral, you could have a second ceremony when medical students say “thank you” for your generous gift.

How fracking plans could affect shared water resources in southern Africa

Recently, news reports revealed plans by a Canadian oil and gas company, ReconAfrica, to explore for oil and gas in some of Africa’s most sensitive protected areas. These areas include the headwaters of the Okavango delta.

The empire sings back: the deep history behind South African soprano Pretty Yende’s triumph

Among the invited artists at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III was the South African soprano, Pretty Yende. Coronations are not events that take place often. What made the moment special is the rareness of the occasion.

Between care and neglect: Pretoria’s grand architectural legacy

Pretoria, South Africa’s capital city, contains many historical sites where government facilities have been built and developed since the mid 1800s. They contain an architectural legacy that reflects the broader history of South Africa.

Upcoming EMS Events

The dystopian world of the Roman emperor

This lecture explores the images of chaos that surround the Roman emperor in his court. How did Romans conceptualise autocracy?

Saving Africa's Giraffe – A Conservation Success Story

The tallest and one of the most loved animals in the world are undergoing a silent extinction before our eyes. Giraffe are Africa's forgotten giants, but not all is lost…

Editing for Beginner and Professional Editors

This course focuses on editing skills that freelance or in-house editors need as they prepare manuscripts for publication. (It is not geared to authors who would like to edit their own work, although they may well find this course helpful o

T.S. ELIOT'S HIDDEN MUSE

T.S. Eliot's letters to a woman he had kept hidden from the world were released from their 50-year embargo in 2020. Lyndall Gordon was one of the first people to read the poet's ardent assertions to Emily Hale that 'I shall always write pri

FIVE DAY FOSSIL HUNTING EXCURSION

This five day fossil hunting excursion with Professsor Roger Smith to the Beaufort West area offers participants an immersive experience in which they will be in the field looking for fossils each day.

Cederberg excursion

The Centre for Extra-Mural Studies has organised a unique weekend excursion with Emeritus Professor John Parkington to the Cederberg for an immersive experience looking at rock art in situ.

Cederberg excursion 15- 17 September 2023 (375834)

The Centre for Extra-Mural Studies organised a unique weekend excursion with Emeritus Professor John Parkington to the Cederberg for an immersive experience looking at rock art in situ which allowed participants a unique insight into the lives of the San by tracing their footsteps and analysing their art and artefacts. The excursion took place during 15 -17 September. Here are some images

Upcoming Study Tours

University of Cape Town Study Tours

The Centre for Extra-Mural Studies has developed bespoke study tours for international students, UCT alumni and friends.

University of Cape Town Bespoke Study Tours

The Centre for Extra-Mural Studies has developed bespoke study tours for international students, UCT alumni and friends.

EMS Recent News

First cohort graduates in Applied Complexity Science

Pay it forward: EMS launches young adults coding course

The Centre for Extra-Mural Studies has launched two coding courses for young adults and senior learners – a leg up in a society of rising youth unemployment.

Recent public lectures

AI, chatbots and ChatGPT: Threat to knowledge work, or a ‘dancing bear’?

AI holds many possibilities for society, but caution is needed, especially at universities where platforms such as ChatGPT threaten academic integrity.

Transgender youth explosion; early evaluation and support are vital

The surge of transgender youth is a worldwide phenomenon as easily accessible information and neuroscientific developments help them understand who they are.

Distinguished Professor Jonathan Jansen and Emeritus Professor Anwar Mall

‘A growing swamp’ – Dysfunction and corruption threaten SA’s universities

Corruption and dysfunction threaten the future of South African universities – and generations of students. This was the message of a Summer School Extension Series talk.

Big business and state capture: Step up and own up

Big business came in for scathing criticism from Lord Peter Hain for being asleep on the job during the state capture that allowed former president Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family to bring the country to its knees.

Summer School: a growing public showcase for UCT research

Summer School in January marked the first back-to-campus iteration of UCT’s famed festival of learning since COVID-19 lockdown. And attendees were delighted.

Summer School 2023 Highlights

Summer School: a growing public showcase for UCT research

Summer School in January marked the first back-to-campus iteration of UCT’s famed festival of learning since COVID-19 lockdown. And attendees were delighted.

Festival of learning – Summer School 2023

The 73rd University of Cape Town (UCT) Summer School, which ran from 9 to 28 January, was back in-person, a festival of open learning, also showcasing UCT’s excellent research.

‘Grachte’, pumps and the first hydroelectric station – how water shaped the city

The history of water over the past 370 years has dramatically shaped the city, said UCT’s Emeritus Professor Jenny Day in her Summer School lecture.

Author Jacques Pauw presented a lecture at UCT’s Summer School

SA vulnerable to becoming a mafia state

South Africa is in danger of becoming a mafia state and there is nothing the country’s current leadership can do to stop it, said author Jacques Pauw.

Helen Moffett is an author of a wide repertoire of books – from poetry to children’s books and matters of the environment.

A peek into why we read

There are many reasons why human beings read, and as authors Helen Moffett and Bongani Kona note, the answers can be shared among several people.

During a UCT Summer School lecture, Emer Prof Jan Glazewski shared how he located buried family heirlooms in Poland (now Ukraine) after his parents and uncles fled at the onset of World War II

Family silver: a story of fortitude and buried treasures

UCT’s Emeritus Professor Jan Glazewski presented a Summer School lecture on how he located treasured pieces of family silver 80 years after they were buried.