Center for Latin American Studies Title
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  Summer Programs
     

The Center for Latin American Studies offers the following Summer Study Abroad and Language Immersion programs.

2008 Summer Ethnographic Field Methods - Anth 520

Application Proceedures

- Two letters of recommendation that attest to your knowledge of anthropology and ability to be successful in an intensive fieldschool
- A current curriculum vitae
- If you are not a SDSU student, a copy of your transcripts.
Application Deadline: March 31, 2008

2008 Summer Intensive Mixtec Language Program

-- 2008 Mixtec Flyer --

-- 2008 Mixtec Application --

Where: Oaxaca City, Oaxaca Mexico
When: June 16 - July 24, 2008
Application Deadline: March 31, 2008

Mixtec is an indigenous language of Mexico spoken by people living in the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Puebla, many of whom have migrated and established communities throughout northern Mexico and the United States. This intensive program is taught by native Mixtec speakers and linguists, Juan Julian Caballero of the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS) and Marcos Cruz Bautista from Mexico's Universidad Pedagógica Nacional from the campus at Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca (UPN). Both Profesores Caballero and Bautista received training in ethnolinguistics and second language acquisition pedagogy from Mexico's Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN) and CIESAS. The course includes four hours of classroom instruction, four days per week, and a minimum of two weekend field trips into the Mixteca. Local and visiting scholars whose research focuses on Mixtec culture and history conduct seminars each week. Additional fieldtrips to market centers, archaeological sites, elementary and secondary schools, and other such locations where the language and culture can be experienced within the broader Oaxacan environment are also worked into the weekly schedule. Dr. Ramona Pérez, a Oaxacan scholar from the Department of Anthropology at SDSU coordinates the program in San Diego and Oaxaca.

One of the critical issues of Mixtec is the extreme variation that occurs within the language family. The Summer Intensive Language Program is focused on acquiring sufficient linguistic skills to communicate within the dialect taught in the classroom as well as establishing a foundation for understanding dialectic differences that one will encounter as they move among Mixtec speakers. The program is also designed to provide students with a deeper understanding of the interface between Mixtec culture and the broader mestizo culture of Oaxaca, grassroots movements to preserve Mixtec culture both within Oaxaca and among Mixtec communities in the US, and other such topics that will provide a foundation for understanding Mixtec language and culture.

These courses are open to undergraduates, graduates, professors and independent scholars.

The program is five hours per day, four days per week of intense classroom instruction over a six week period (120 hours). We have two weekends in the Mixteca planned in the communities of San Juan Mixtepec and San Francisco Nieves. In both communities the students will be working in pairs or threes to administer a public health survey on quality of life issues in the Mixtec language - under the supervision of their professors. This is an opportunity to work on their language use while also learning how to administer survey data. We have on-going relationships in both communities and so they are accustomed to working with our students in practicing their Mixtec language skills. We are also fortunate this year to have a special invitation to a regional meeting in Tlacatlaya of Mixtec alcaldes to discuss language and cultural preservation, all of which will be conducted in Mixteco as well as another invitation by one of our former students who is conducting her dissertation fieldwork in a Mixtec community further up in the Mixteca. Thus our students will far exceed the 140 contact hours of language instruction.


In addition to language instruction, we have weekly Oaxacan scholars who specialize in issues of the Mixteca present their work in two hour workshops. Although most of these lectures are conducted in Spanish they focus on the Mixtec both in Oaxaca and in the United States. We are confident that our program more than exceeds the requirements of the FLAS and find that most of our students walk away from the program with not only language skills but a deep and profound understanding of the Mixtec culture.

In addition to the normal program students who have participated in the Mixteco program in the past will be able to start ten days earlier so that they may gain additional experience working in the mixteco communities. These students can earn one additional credit.

This program meets the US Department of Education guidelines for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) summer intensive language fellowships. Applications for this program may be obtained through the Center for Latin American Studies, San Diego State University. Please phone, email, or write to request application materials. This program is limited to 25 students. Early applications will be given priority.

For more information or an application, please contact:

Gabriela Kovats, Summer Study Abroad Programs Coordinator
(619) 594-1103
lasga@rohan.sdsu.edu

or

Dr. Ramona Pérez
Arts & Letters 377
619-594-1155
perez@mail.sdsu.edu

2008 Zapotec Language Program in Oaxaca

-- 2008 Zapotec Flyer --

-- 2008 Zapotec Application --

Where: Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico through San Diego State University.
When: July 7 - August 15 , 2008
Application Deadline: March 31, 2008

Description: Zapotec is one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages of Oaxaca, Mexico with some speakers of Isthmus Zapotec in Chiapas and Veracruz. This intensive program is taught by native Isthmus Zapotec speakers and linguists through the Casa de La Cultura in Juchitán. The course, taught in Spanish, includes five hours of classroom instruction, four to five days per week, over a six week period with workshops and fieldtrips to market centers, elementary and secondary schools, hospitals, and other community-based centers of social interaction. Participants will experience a full immersion in Zapotec culture and language through homestays with Zapotec speaking families. Juchitán is located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and is a coastal marketing center located between Oaxaca City and the state of Chiapas, allowing students to easily travel to both areas. Dr. Eda Saynes-Vazquez, Directora of Colegio Superior para la Educación Integral Intercultural de Oaxaca coordinates the program in Oaxaca along with Dr. Ramona Pérez, a Oaxacan scholar from the Department of Anthropology at SDSU.
Cost: TBA (Does not include transportation or room and board).

This program meets the US Department of Education guidelines for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) summer intensive language fellowships. Applications for this program may be obtained through the Center for Latin American Studies, San Diego State University. Please phone, email, or write to request application materials. This program is limited to 25 students. Early applications will be given priority.

FLAS Information meeting
Wednesday, January 31, 2008, 3:30pm
Arts and Letters 204

For more information or an application, please contact:
Gabriela Kovats, Summer Study Abroad Programs Coordinator
(619) 594-1103
lasga@rohan.sdsu.edu

or

Dr. Ramona Pérez
Arts & Letters 377
619-594-1155
perez@mail.sdsu.edu


2008 Summer Program in Cartago, Costa Rica

-- 2008 Costa Rica Application --

Where: Cartago, Costa Rica
When: May 24- June 22, 2008
Application Deadline: March 31, 2008

Learn Spanish while living with a Costa Rican family in Cartago, the old colonial capital of Costa Rica. Earn up to 4 units of Spanish taught by native Spanish speaking instructors from an accredited university, and 3 upper division units in Latin American Studies, or Business Administration in 5 weeks. Business internships offered. Enjoy exciting field trips, excursions, and cultural events. And, of course, you would enjoy Latin music and dance, and great food.

Field trips include Carrara and Manuel Antonio National Parks in the Pacific coast, Arenal Volcano National Park and Monteverde Cloud Forest, Cahuita National Park and Puerto Viejo, in the Caribbean coast. Optional fieldtrips include Rafting trip to the Pacuare River, and excursions to the Irazu Volcano and Orosi Valley.

Cost:
The cost for the 4 week program is approximately $2,000.
The package includes housing with a Costa Rican family (2 meals per day), Spanish courses, transportation from the airport to the city and back, and 3 fieldtrips. The cost does not include airfare to and from Costa Rica, SDSU registration fees (if applicable), insurance, fieldtrip meals, and optional trips.

For more information or an application please contact:

Hugo Murillo
Arts & Letters 511
(619) 594-3761
murill2@mail.sdsu.edu

Gabriela Kovats, Summer Study Abroad Programs Coordinator
(619) 594-1103
lasga@rohan.sdsu.edu

Costa Rica 2006 Photo Slide Show

Costa Rica 2003 Photo Gallery


For More Information on Any of These Programs Please Contact:

Center for Latin American Studies
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-6038

Phone: (619) 594-1103.
Email: lasga@rohan.sdsu.edu

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Center for Latin American Studies:
Arts and Letters, 377 San Diego State University San Diego, CA 92182-6038 (619) 594-1103 or 4
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