Students are highly encouraged to take advantage of opportunities that will offer first-hand knowledge of the target culture(s) through formal study abroad, internships, or individual research.

Students may choose to study abroad during the twelve-week term through a number of approved programs independent of W&L.  (Consult the Center for International Education for more information.).  If students prefer to study on a W&L supervised program, various departments periodically offer study abroad opportunities in Latin America, including Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil.  W&L's Environmental Studies Program also has a federally funded (no extra costs for students) 6 month exchange program (summer and fall term) with the Federal University of Amazonas and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. For more information go to http://brazilpartnership.wlu.edu/

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Students have many opportunities for Spring Term 2008 in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Study Spanish in Costa Rica (Span 201) -- Prof. Barnett

Direct exposure to the language, people, and culture of Costa Rica. The course is designed to improve grammar and vocabulary of the advanced student (i.e., fifth semester and beyond) through intensive training in Spanish with special emphasis on oral proficiency. The program includes an on-campus portion which offers an overview of the culture and history of Central American Nations as well as intensive pre-departure oral language training.  The site portion includes supervised academic work at the Instituto Guanacasteco in Nicoya, Costa Rica. Nicoya is the cultural capital of the Guanacaste province, situated between the Pacific to the west and mountains to the east, along with the Nicaraguan border to the north. In addition to the language classes at the Instituto Guanacasteco, a community-based service learning component allows students to test their language skills as a volunteer at the local hospital, primary school, law firm, or  local businesses, among others. The program also promotes cultural awareness through lectures by native authorities as well as excursions to local and national sites of interest. Students are encouraged to take SPAN 212 or LACS 101 prior to the trip.

In order to gauge interest, please contact Prof Barnett if you'd like to place your name on the mailing list.  Click here to see all the details from 2005

Seminar in Society and Culture in St.Vincent/Barbados (INTR 296) -- Slavery, Race Relations, and Society in the Caribbean -- Profs Carey, DeLaney, Dickovick, and Eastwood

This course examines slavery and its legacies in the Caribbean, with comparative analysis of South America and the United States.  Students and faculty members will be in residence in the Caribbean for four weeks, with three weeks in Barbados and one in St. Vincent. The goal of this course is to understand how slavery and race relations have affected -- and continue to affect -- diverse aspects of Caribbean society, including social relations, economies, politics, nationalist movements, and access to natural resources. Students will learn about these issues first hand in classes, on field trips, through individual research projects, and during interactions with local scholars and residents. There are no language requirements or prerequisites, though we strongly encourage students considering the program to take courses related to the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (visit http://lacs.wlu.edu/

 

Seminar in Business in Nicaragua (BUS 390)  -- Prof. Reiter

Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the Western hemisphere behind Haiti. The primary purpose of this course is to understand why and how this continues to be so. We will investigate the economic and business development issues and the role business has in hindering and/or promoting development. Areas of investigation will include trade agreements, sustainable development, foreign direct investment, maquiladoras, privatization of utilities, indigenous property rights, micro-financing, fair trade, participation of women in the economy, and local cooperatives. We will be based out of Managua, the capital with a population of approximately 1 million people, for the first three weeks. We will spend several days in a rustic setting in the mountains near Estalí to visit a peasant-owned coffee cooperative and the Miraflor Reserve. The last week our home base will move to Leon. This week will include family home-stays and a work project in the rural community of Goyena as well as a continuation of our investigation of the Nicaraguan economy.

Environment and Economic Development in Amazonas (ECON 385/386) – Prof. Kahn

This course looks at the relationship between environmental preservation and economic development in Amazonas, Brazil. The course focuses on both rainforest communities and the modern city of Manaus. The first three weeks of the spring term will be in Brazil, and the second three weeks in Lexington. In Amazonas, students will attend lectures presented by Brazilian professors and government and industry officials. We will have several field trips of several days duration into the rainforest, see several types of rainforest ecosystems and talk with people in indigenous and traditional communities. In the last three weeks, students will be expected to write a significant paper and present it in a poster session

 

REL 295/UNIV 203: Land in O ’odham Religion, Culture, and History

Drawing upon the expertise of tribal members and local scholars, the proposed fieldtrip to the Tohono O’odham, Akimel O’odham, and Hia C-ed O’odham tribes of Arizona and Mexico is intended to provide the ten (10) students enrolled in the spring, 2008 seminar "Land in O’odham Religion, Culture, and History" with an experientially-based understanding of the importance of land in past and contemporary O’odham life. Particular attention will be given to two types of initiatives: first, the efforts of present-day O'odham to work collaboratively with non-tribal agencies (including the U.S. Air Force, the National Park Service, and Mexico’s Commission for Natural Protected Areas) to protect spiritually and culturally important O'odham sites existing on lands these agencies now control; and, second, O’odham attempts to address the social, economic, and health problems associated with the erosion of tribal landholdings and sovereignty. Lasting twelve days, the fieldtrip will be undertaken during the seminar’s third and fourth weeks. Sites to be visited include: Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, the Pinacate and Grand Desert Biosphere (Mexico), Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point, Mexico), Casa Grande National Monument, Saguaro National Forest, Baboquivari and Kitt Peaks, San Xavier Mission, and the Tohono O’odham, Salt River, and Gila River Indian Reservations.