GUATEMALA AND MEXICO - Spring 2010
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
On a hillside near Cholula, Mexico, sits a beautiful church called Nuestra Señora de los Remedios. Underneath that hill, archeologists discovered four preceding civilizations of religious pyramids. This hillside is a symbol of humankind’s need to both dominate and impose. Both Guatemala and Mexico were the sites of giant empires; the Mayan empire stretched across southern Mexico and Guatemala, the Aztec empire stretched across central Mexico and traced its mythological past and future to the Southwest of the United States. These empires were superseded by the Spanish conquest which imposed its language, culture and religion on the region. Currently, the tentacles of the United States’ economic empire reach to every corner of the region.
Mesoamerica (Mexico and Guatemala) was the site of many of the most important pre-Columbian indigenous civilizations. It was also the site of a major Spanish conquest. As such, this region provides an excellent laboratory for the study of Latin American history, from pre-Columbian cultures and their conquest to independence movements and the struggle for modern statehood.
Mesoamerica also provides an excellent laboratory for the study of the culture and religion of the region; from native spirituality to traditional and modern Catholic and Evangelical Christian expressions.
Through home stays and study in both Guatemala and Mexico, students will discover how these historical and cultural realities have shaped the people in the region with whom they meet; and how these factors have formed their cultural and economic destinies.
ESTIMATED COST : on campus tuition, room and board plus $800 travel (cost may be adjusted due to changes in currency exchange rates and air fares)
SEMESTER LEADERS : Don and Esther Clymer
ENROLLMENT: 22 students
CREDITS: 15 semester hours
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
CCSOC 202 Cross-Cultural Understanding 3SH
In Guatemala, students will live with families and study culture in context to learn skills of adaptation and empathy, as well as ability to critique one’s host and native culture.
CCHUM 302 History of Mesoamerica 3 SH
Students will study the highlights of Pre-Columbian, colonial, independence and contemporary periods with an emphasis on the religion and empire as dominate themes on each of these periods.
SPANISH LANGUAGE: Six semester hours at one of the following levels (placement based on previous knowledge):
CCSPA 102, 112 Elementary Spanish I & II 6 SH
CCSPA 202, 212 Intermediate Spanish I & II 6 SH
CCSPA 302, 312 Adv. Conversational Spanish & II 6 SH
CCSOC 302 Religion and Culture of Mesoamerica 3 SH
This interdisciplinary course will emphasize the interaction between various faith expressions, psychological make-up of each culture, and current social and economic realities.
