Rhodes University

Rhodes University is one of the oldest universities in South Africa.

The University

Located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape province, it was founded in 1904 as Rhodes University College (R.U.C), through a grant from the Cecil John Rhodes Trust, it became a constituent college of the University of South Africa in 1918, before becoming the independent Rhodes University (RU) the university in 1951.

The University has played a significant role in the evolution of theatre and theatre studies in South Africa, inter alia through the staff and students of its Departments of English, Afrikaans, Musicology and Drama (including the First Physical Theatre Company).

The University has also played a central role in the annual National Arts Festival and, through the university Journalism Department, has published Cue, the official newspaper of the annual National Arts Festival every year almost from the inception of the Festival.