University of Durban-Westville, 1961–2003 : Undoing Apartheid, Building a Non-Racial Culture

This is a critical study of the origins and development of the University of Durban-Westville over four decades, with a particular emphasis on the humanities and social sciences disciplines. The history of UDW is located within the context of the unfolding of apartheid ideology and resistance to it. This book analyses UDW’s origins as the University College for Indians at Salisbury Island in 1961. Against this background, it chronicles the emergence of UDW and its development until 1976. With the dawn of democracy, the deracialising drive increased in pace and posed new challenges. Complementing historical analysis are reflections on institutional transformation and the merger with the University of Natal that ended UDW’s existence and created the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2003. The dearth of analysis of academic disciplines at historically black universities makes this book an important addition to the scholarly literature.