Study Abroad

CLASP Programs

The Consortium for Latin American Studies Programs provides a comprehensive list of summer programs in less-commonly taught and indigenous Latin American languages offered by universities throughout the United States. Click here for more information

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UIUC Study Abroad Office

Organizes study programs in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela. For information, visit https://www.studyabroad.uiuc.edu/

  • Summer Abroad in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil: Portuguese PORT 101, 102, 103, 104, 210 and PORT 199,  Portuguese Language and Brazilian Culture Studies. Learn Portuguese Language and Brazilian Culture Studies. In addition to class meetings, students will make excursions into the local community to visit Candomble temples and Catholic churches, museums, historical sites, NGOs, community organizations, music concerts, and capoeira classes. For more details, click here or contact Prof. Luciano Tosta at lutosta@uiuc.edu
  • Summer Abroad in Curacao, Netherland Antilles: GEOL 415/515, Coral Reef Biocomplexity. This course explores the complex interactions between life and earth that govern changes in the environment. Students will evaluate the influence of increasing sea surface temperature and human-derived pollution on the development of disease in coral reefs of the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. For more details, click here or contact Prof. Bruce Fouke at fouke@uiuc.edu
  • Summer Abroad in Buenos Aires: SPAN 199, 208, or 228, Encountering Buenos Aires Languages, Cultures, and Communities. Students will focus on Buenos Aires, Argentina's financial, political, and cultural center and South America’s largest capital. Immersion in this multicultural environment will allow students multiple authentic opportunities to practice their oral and written Spanish by interacting with the local population. For more details, click here or contact Prof. Carolina Rocha at cmrocha@uiuc.edu
  • Summer Abroad in Mexico: SPAN/LLS 442, WS 445,LLS 220/SOC 221, Latin American and Latino Migration. This course will focus on Mexican migration to the United States, migration’s effect on the global economy, the role of “homeland” in the immigrant experience, differences in experience between genders, the meaning of citizenship, and the transformation of national borders. For more details, click here or contact Prof.Jonathan X. Inda at jxinda@uiuc.edu

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Ecuador: The Amazon and the Andes Field School

This program provides an interdisciplinary opportunity to study Quichua language and religious life, tropical plant biology, and/or Spanish while experiencing the rich culture of the Andes and the Amazon. A unique perspective is gained by living and working with indigenous communities. Members of these communities serve as co-teachers in the courses. Click here for more information

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Global Exchange

Is a non-profit research, education, and action center dedicated to promoting people-to-people ties around the world. Since our founding in 1988, we have been striving to increase global awareness among the US public while building international partnerships around the world. If you have a particular destination in mind, browse Tours by Country (Costa Rica/Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, and Mexico, and the US-Mexico Border). If you are interested in specific issues, take a look at Tours by Issue. If you have to fit a trip into your vacation schedule, start with Tours by Date. All tours are cross-linked by country, issue and date. One example of their "Reality Tours" is Haiti: A Culture of Resistance. You can also find volunteer opportunities with Global Exchange.Click here for more information

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Study Abroad Opportunities through the Center for Global Education at Augsburg College

Undergraduate Study Abroad Programs in Cuernavaca, Mexico and in Central America. Integrate solid academic work with real-life experiences. You learn not only from books, but also by living fully in the midst of the society you are studying, encountering the people and culture inside and outside the walls of a classroom. Click here for more information

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Florida State University Fieldschool in Napo, Ecuador, June 26 - August 7 (6 weeks), 2008

This six-week ethnographic field school in the Napo region of Ecuador offers students (mainly undergraduates) a chance to learn ethnographic research methods while becoming immersed in Native Amazonian (Napo Quichua) culture.  Students will study Amazonian culture and history, anthropological theory, and ethnographic fieldwork techniques while living in home stays with the indigenous peoples of the region.   Classroom instruction will be provided and students will also be individually mentored so that they may pursue individual research projects.  Students participate in the daily life of the community through service-learning opportunities and other activities.  Excursions include: overnight rainforest trip, Otavalo (an Andes mountain town, known for its tourism and indigenous culture) the thermal baths of Papallacta, the capital city of Tena, balsa-rafting down the Napo River, and visits to various communities in the area.  Students will also visit a wildlife refuge, botanical gardens, and bilingual intercultural schools.

ELIGIBILITY: This program is open to all interested students. Students must have a basic knowledge of Spanish.
HOUSING: Students will stay with native families and live in indigenous communities.

FACULTY: The program is directed by Dr. Michael Uzendoski, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Florida State University. He is author of The Napo Runa of Amazonian Ecuador (2005, University of Illinois Press) and has extensive experience in the region. Native people will serve as co-instructors.

FEES: $5825 Includes all registration and instructional costs for up to 6 undergraduate credit hours (graduate hours are also possible), housing; all meals; program social/cultural activities; health insurance; international student ID card; T-shirt or cap; full-time academic and administrative support. Not Included: round-trip international airfare; passport; books and supplies; personal travel/activity/spending money.

COURSES: ANT4337 Peoples & Cultures Of Amazonia/ ANT4930 Ethnographic Field Methods.

MORE INFORMATION: If you would like to know more details about the program, please write to muzendoski@fsu.edu or call (850) 644-4749. If you want to apply, visit the website of International Programs at http://www.international.fsu.edu/ and click on Ecuador, Napo.  The telephone number there is (850) 644-3272.

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Intensive Summer Nahuatl Institute in Guerrero, Mexico, Yale-Chicago/Columbia-NYU Nahuatl Institute

Yale’s Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies, in collaboration with the Yale-Chicago/Columbia-NYU Nahuatl Institute will offer an intensive immersion course that, although based on modern Nahuatl from San Agustín, Oapan, and neighboring villages, will familiarize students with colonial and classical Nahuatl by using a wide range of texts and workbooks. Given that teaching is focused not only on developing conversational skills but on imparting an understanding and overview of the general grammatical structure of Nahuatl, students will be able to apply their knowledge to their own thematic interests in any Nahuatl dialect that they might work with (ancient or modern). An effort is made to address the specific needs of students in different disciplines (e.g., art history, anthropology, history, linguistics) and at different levels of expertise. Students will be able to work intensively with native speakers as part of the basic educational experience of this course, and those who have previously acquired skills in Nahuatl will be given the flexibility for a greater concentration of their efforts on translation, individual projects, and direct work with native speakers. Thus, although a beginning course, students with previous experience in Nahuatl are encouraged to apply. Formal classes meet for 5 hours per day, Monday through Friday; additional intensive work or tutorials will be scheduled in the afternoons with the instructor and native speakers. Students will be provided with recording and playback facilities for language laboratory work and to conduct their own research and independent study. The course meets all the requirements for FLAS fellowships for eligible graduate students.

The course will run for 6 weeks, June 16 –July 25, 2008.  Students will make their own travel arrangements and need to be in Oapan by June 15, 2008.

Tuition and Fees:  Costs for this course are: tuition for two credits, $4,000; room and board, $550; program fee, $350; course package and dictionaries, $150. Graduate students who are U.S. citizens can apply for FLAS Fellowships to support the cost of this program. Travel costs and arrangements are separate and are the responsibility of the student. Once paid, tuition is non-refundable. The program fee is not optional. It covers partial costs for two group excursions, one to another Nahuatl-speaking village for a local festival, and one weekend in Acapulco. The fee covers travel, hotel, a dinner in Acapulco, and the instructor’s expenses. 

Students are encouraged to bring their own laptops to the field. Please inform the instructor in advance if you do not have a laptop, and every effort will be made to provide one for your use.

Full class attendance is required.
Students who miss class for reasons other than illness will be asked to withdraw from the Institute.

For more information and applications, contact Jean Silk at jean.silk@yale.edu or by phone at 203/432-3420 or Jonathan Amith at jonathan.amith@yale.edu or by phone 717/337-6795. Web link  http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/lais/programs.htm

Download application. Completed applications should be sent to:  Jean Silk, Assistant Chair, Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies, Yale University, PO Box 208206, New Haven, CT 06520-8206. Applications are due by April 4, 2008 and need to be accompanied by a non-refundable $200 deposit that will apply to room and board.  

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Ethnographic Field School, Summer 2008, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, May 19 - July 8, 2008

Nature, Heritage Conservation and Globalization in Mayan Communities
Field school Web site: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~twallace

Objectives: Students learn how to do ethnographic fieldwork, design a research project, carry out independent research and study the effects of globalization, tourism and change on the local culture, society and environment in the Mayan communities of Lake Atitlan. During the seven week program students live with local, Maya families in the Lake Atitlán area of the Western Highlands, a region with an ancient and rich cultural heritage. The effects of globalization and tourism growth are having a significant impact on their way of life and on their quality of life. In this seventh summer of research in Guatemala we will focus on the cultural, social, economic, health, and environmental impacts of tourism and globalization on the indigenous Mayan communities around Lake Atitlán.

Students will study how these Tz'utujil, Kaqchikel and Quiche Maya are adapting to changing demographics, the effects of the global economic slowdown on the traditional exports such as coffee and traditional textiles, as well as on the continuing presence of more and more tourists and foreign residents. The program is designed for 11-13 undergraduate and/or graduate anthropology majors or minors or students in related fields wishing to learn applied ethnographic field methods. Each student is expected to develop a research project suitable to their interests and the community in which they reside. Students also will have opportunities to pursue an applied, service-learning project in lieu of a research project. Environment and tourism inevitably will play at least some role in nearly all potential topics.  The program is not limited to students of NC State University and many previous participants have been from all over the US, Canada, the UK, and Guatemala.  The program is also affiliated with the Universidad del Valle-Guatemala City (UVG) and the Universidad del Valle-Altiplano (Solola).

The Research Site
Lake Atitlan is one of the most majestic and scenic spots in all of Latin America. Ringed by active and extinct volcanoes and about a mile in elevation, Lake Atitlan was formed out of an ancient volcanic basin. Dotting the shores of the Lake are about a dozen small villages inhabited by the contemporary descendants of the ancient Maya. Panajachel (pop. 9000) is the largest town and will be the headquarters for the program. The view of the lake from Panajachel is magnificent, and its attractive sunsets and views daily lure many tourists, which in turn has transformed the town into a tourist Mecca with small hotels, delightful restaurants and plentiful souvenir stores. Yet, the town and the other communities in the region have retained much of their traditional Mayan heritage. Each student is free to choose any topic for his or her independent ethnographic research project, but . Guatemala has the largest indigenous population in Mexico and Central America. There are approximately 23 different languages spoken in Guatemala and three of them are spoken around lake Atitlan (Kaqchikel, Tzutujil and Quiche). Despite conquests and civil wars, the Mayans have survived for nearly two millennia. Lake Atitlan is one of the best places in Central America to learn about this amazingly durable and vibrant culture.

Six Course Credits (graduate or undergraduate):
Prerequisites are two courses in anthropology, one of which must be in Cultural Anthropology. No previous experience in ethnographic fieldwork required. Priority will be given to students who have completed at least two semesters of Spanish.

ANT 419 Ethnographic Field Methods. (3 cr.) This is a field methods course that emphasizes practical training in ethnographic fieldwork and ethics. Applied research methods such as focus groups and rapid assessment procedures will also be demonstrated. Students learn research design, systematic observation, interviewing, fieldnote-taking, coding, ethics data analysis and report writing.
ANT 431 Tourism, Change and Anthropology (3 cr.) This course focuses on tourism and the role of culture as it affects the interactions between hosts and guests. Students learn through seminar discussions and field work the problems underlying the achievement of sustainable tourism and maintenance of cultural traditions.
Graduate students will be enrolled in ANT 610 Independent Study in Anthropology (6cr).
Note: English is the language of instruction, but Spanish is an invaluable tool for a full experience. The focus of all course work is the design, implementation and write- up of an independent research project with an applied focus.

Housing
Each student will be housed with a local Mayan family in one of ten communities around Lake Atitlan. Each student will receive room, breakfast, lunch and dinner and laundry services. Families also help students learn Spanish and establish networks in the community.

Program Costs
The cost of the seven-week program is $2995. Other than airfare, the fee covers all expenses including:
•room, board (three meals/day), laundry
•in-country excursions (Antigua, Chichicastenango, Quetzaltenango, Patzun, Tecpan and Iximche among others)
•local transportation costs and transfer fees
•national park entrance fees
•program fees and instruction
•tuition for six credits in anthropology
•full coverage health insurance during stay abroad
•research supplies, and
•free rental of a cellphone (works both in-country and for inexpensive, international calls)

Airfare from most US cities is approximately $575-650. Students are strongly encouraged to bring a laptop word processor to the field. Other than a valid passport, US and Canadian citizens need no other documents to enter Guatemala for a stay of up to 90 days.

Applications
Students from any university or country, regardless of major - graduate, undergraduate or post-graduate - may apply.  Additional information is available at the program website: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~twallace. Applications may be accessed through the NC State University Study Abroad Office website http://studyabroad.ncsu.edu/ .  Please feel free to contact Dr. Tim Wallace, the program director, for additional information or any type of inquiry about the program at 919-815-6388 (m) or 919-515-9025 (o). Fax no: 919-513-0866; E-mail: tmwallace@mindspring.com.  The applications are submitted online, but if you have any problems, please contact Ms. Kim Priebe at the NCSU Study Abroad Office, Box 7344, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7344, kim_priebe@ncsu.edu, 919-515-2087. The official deadline is February 8, 2008, but early applications will be reviewed first. Furthermore, applications received after that date will be considered only if there are spaces still available. Click here for more information

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Intensive Introductory, Intermediate & Advanced Yucated Maya

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan (Mirida, Mexico), & 4 week field study in Yucatan.
June 2-July 12, 2008

Open to anyone (20 students max), the Summer Intensive Course in Yucatec Maya will offer instruction at the beginning, the intermediate level; and starting this year there will also be Level III course.  These courses are all FLAS eligible.  These courses are designed to take into account the needs of students from different disciplines and at different levels of expertise. Level I begins with two weeks, six hours a day of intensive classroom instruction at UNC- CH with Professor David Mora Marin. Level II begins with intensive six hour a day classroom instruction at the Universidad Autsnoma de Mixico in Mirida, Mixico given by Professor Ismael May May and John Tuxill. During the third week of the program, students in Level I will join Level II in Mirida where both groups will continue to receive intensive language instruction as well as visit markets, museums and other places of interest. In week four, both groups will be housed in the town of Santa Elena, near Uxmal, where they will interact with families and continue to receive daily instruction from their professors. Weeks five and six will be spent in the town of Xocen, near Vallaolid. Xocen is a small Mayan village where many people only speak Maya. Students will find it to be an excellent environment in which to practice their language skills.  Contact Sharon Mujica for information regarding the advanced level course. These six-week courses are equivalent to six credit hours or 160 contact hours. Please contact Sharon Mujica at smujica@email.unc.edu for more information.

Costs: The program fee for either Level I or Level II or Level III is approximately $3,200. Housing at UNC, airfare, and some meals and incidentals are not included in the program fee. Optional housing in dormitories at UNC is available. Approximate housing costs at UNC: $800 single, $400 for shared dormitory. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) funding is available for many qualified graduate students. Please contact the Institute for additional information about funding. For details on the program and for information on the faculty, please consult: http://isa.unc.edu/maya/apply.asp

Application Deadline: March 28, 2008

Contact: Sharon S. Mujica, The Yucatec Maya Summer Institute Duke/UNC Consortium in Latin American Studies Fed Ex Global Education Center CB 3205 Phone: 919-962-2414 Fax: 919-962-0398 Email: smujica@email.unc.edu or visit http://isa.unc.edu/maya/apply.asp

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Action Research in the Andes: Solstice Session June 2008

The Center for Social Well Being is now in its 7th year offering our 3-week training program with courses in ethnographic field methods and languages (Spanish and Quechua) in the Peruvian Andes. Students will be housed at the center’s rural base, an adobe lodge on an ecological ranch in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range of the Callejón de Huaylas, 7 hours northeast of Lima. Coursework provides in-depth orientation to theory and practice in anthropological investigation that emphasizes  methods in Participatory Action Research and Andean Ethnography centered on themes of Health, Ecology, Biodiversity and Community Organization. Students will have the opportunity to actively engage in ongoing investigations in local agricultural communities to develop effective field research techniques, and to acquire language skills. In addition, the program provides excursions to   museums, archaeological sites, glacial lakes and hotsprings; optional recreational activities include hiking, mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, rock  climbing and trekking.   

Total cost is $2,700 US dollars. This includes all  in-country travel, food and accommodations at the rural center, and course materials. The program is under the direction of Applied Medical Anthropologist, Patricia J. Hammer, Ph.D., and Ecologist, Flor de María Barreto Tosi.  

Program dates: Session I - Solstice - June 6 to 26      

For an application contact: phammer@wayna.rcp.net.pe   Or click on http://www.socialwellbeing.org/FieldSchool2003-3.htm. Further information available at http://www.socialwellbeing.org   

Application deadline: March 15, 2008

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Study Abroad Development Grants Program 2008

The Office of the Associate Provost for International Affairs (APIA) requests proposals for the Study Abroad Development Grants program. The purpose of this new program is to facilitate the development of new or substantially revised faculty-led study abroad programs at UIUC.

The following activities will have priority for funding:

* Develop new for-credit study abroad experiences for UIUC students.
* Develop integrated for-credit study abroad components for existing on-campus courses.  
* Modify existing on-campus courses to integrate with existing study abroad experience.

Travel and lodging for planning trips and other expenses justifiably related to the planning and development of new or substantially revised study abroad programs (media, books, research assistance) may be funded through this program. Faculty are encouraged to combine program development site visits with
their own field research. Grant amounts will typically not exceed $2,500. Applicants are strongly encouraged to seek additional funding from other sources.

The deadline for applications is February 15, 2008.

For more details, guidelines, and an application form see http://www.ilint.uiuc.edu/apia/sadev.php.

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INTENSIVE ECUADORIAN QUICHUA

Where:  Andes and Amazon Field School on the Río Napo in the Ecuadorian rainforest.
Jointly sponsored by Arizona State University and the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.  FLAS Fellowships to attend are available through the University of Pittsburgh  (Pittsburgh FLAS deadline March 10, 2008.

When: Summer Session 1: June 6 - June 30, Session 2: July 4 - July 28, 2008
For whom: Graduate and undergraduate students from any college or university

Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Quichua taught in a community where Quichua is the language of every day conversation. FLAS Eligible.  Students are housed in a rustic resort with electricity and indoor plumbing overlooking the beautiful Napo River.  The resort includes a 1600 acre rainforest reserve immediately accessible for recreation and research.  Participants may also take field courses in Ethno-botany, Amazonian culture, Medical Anthropology, carry out an internship, participate in an Amazonian ceramics workshop, or gain skills in GIS mapping of the rainforest.  Faculty include: Tod Swanson, Kathleen Dewalt, Dennis McKenna, native speaker Quichua language instructors and visiting lecturers.

Costs:   $1,500 for one session or $3000 for both includes all meals, lodging, excursions and ground transportation in Ecuador.  Not included: airfare and tuition.  For ASU tuition see: http://andes.asu.edu.   For graduate students who are US residents or citizens the Program Fee and tuition for Quichua language classes are covered by FLAS Fellowships.  

FLAS Fellowship deadline: March 10, 2008.  

Application deadline: April 15, 2008. Applications will be accepted after the due date until all spaces are filled. To date 156 undergraduates and 120 graduate students from 70 colleges and universities have attended the Field School.  66 graduate students have been funded by FLAS Fellowships.

Contact: Tod Swanson. Department of Religious Studies, Arizona State University.  
Phone: (480) 965-4057; e-mail: tod.swanson@asu.edu
Website: http://andes.asu.edu (application available online)

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Seminar on Environmental Conflict Resolution in Costa Rica

A study abroad program will be held in Costa Rica at the United Nations-mandated University for Peace, conducted by Global Majority.  The host institution will grant four units of graduate and upper level undergraduate credit for students' participation in this program, entitled "Promoting Peace through Dialogue" Latin America Session 2008.  The topics of the course include the following:

▪ Theory of interest-based negotiation;
▪ Environmental peacemaking;
▪ Environmental conflict management;
▪ Transboundary water conflict;
▪ Environmental cooperation and conservation strategies;
▪ Background to various conflicts in Latin America;
▪ Cultural and gender aspects of conflict resolution; and
▪ Civil society's role in mitigating and resolving conflict.

For more information, visit www.globalmajority.org.