This article examines the history, present, and future of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). We begin with a brief review of the existing literature on HBCUs, considering common themes and how these institutions changed over time within a broader socio-historical landscape. In addition to historical information, we use a…

This article explores the question of opening educational resources in the context of an educational technology unit, the Centre for Educational Technology at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa. It describes the impact of a high level of policy intervention for the transformation of higher education and of a diverse, multilingual student…

The historical black universities (HBUs) in South Africa were established by the apartheid government to serve black students banned from attending segregated white-only universities. These universities were poorly funded compared to the white-only universities. The poor funding affected their output (research and postgraduates) adversely. With…

This article is an expansion of an earlier investigation that the authors undertook in the wake of the democratization process in South Africa while universities were struggling to redefine their aims, roles, and identities toward the end of the twentieth century. The authors' research commenced in 1994 as a genealogy, tracing individuals on an…

This paper reviews briefly the relationship between the South African government and higher education. This relationship, which has shaped the landscape of higher education, is looked at on the premise that public institutions depend to a large extent on government for funding and other resources, and as such there has been constant influence and…

Preceded by recent affirmative action rulings, the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) came during a time of legal retreat away from addressing racial issues. Rather than resolve America's race problems, the history and modern structure of "Brown" and other higher education desegregation cases…

In this article, the author describes how he was born in 1954, just four months after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision outlawed the "separate but equal" doctrine of school segregation. He discusses how that fact has shaped his life immeasurably. Beginning with entering the world in Tallahassee, Fla., where his…

This article presents classroom-based research conducted in a first-year undergraduate English and Cultural Studies course at an historically 'white' and Afrikaans university in South Africa. I document my attempt to address issues of social inequality, especially racism and the apartheid past, in a South African literature course. Drawing on…

The history of public higher education for African Americans in Florida provides an excellent opportunity to examine American institutional and political dynamics. Following World War II, Florida public higher education expanded dramatically, while at the same time, state leaders maintained racial segregation well after "Brown v. Board of…

Current debates on internationalisation are couched in relation to globalisation, and gives the impression that this phenomenon is new. There is also a tendency to discuss internationalisation in relation to various rationales, with economic rationales being dominant. This article challenges the assumption that internationalisation is something…

In this article the author explores possibilities for cultivating justice with reference to teaching and learning in (South African) universities. It is argued that teachers and learners ought to become responsive, democratic and critical--they need to act justly in order to break with South Africa's apartheid legacy. The author discusses why…

The current implementation phase of quality assurance in higher education has ushered in a range of debates and ideas. In response to a recent presentation on the topic, this article provides a glimpse into some of the conditions that lend themselves to the emergence of external quality assurance agencies. A key element nationally, resonating with…

This paper draws on post-structuralist theories on language and identity to explore the shifting language attitudes of 15 "black" students over the course of their undergraduate studies at a historically "white" South African university. All the students speak an indigenous language as their first language. Those students who…

South Africa has unique challenges. Thirteen years since becoming democratic, it is still going through its own unprecedented change in joining the global economic network and moving from Apartheid to democracy and from a closed to an open community. These political and sociological changes have also infiltrated business and therefore management…

This paper tracks policies in the governance of higher education over the first decade of South Africa's democracy. The first democratically elected government of 1994 was faced with the formidable task of dismantling the structures of apartheid education. The foundations for a new policy were laid by a National Commission that reported in 1996,…