Language Programs>Summer Language Programs

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

For more information, please contact: Alejandra Gonzalez or Summer Study Abroad Programs Coordinators, phone: (619) 594-1103; email:classtdy@mail.sdsu.edu or Dr. Ramona Pérez, phone: 619-594-1155; email perez@mail.sdsu.edu

These courses are open to undergraduates, graduates, professors and independent scholars, as well of professionals working with Mixtec and Zapotec communities.

We are confident that our program more than exceeds the FLAS fellowship requirements 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.

Space is limited. Students are encouraged to apply early. Early applications will be given priority. Applicants may qualify for an LCTL scholarship.

List of Programs:

• Summer Ethnographic Field Methods in Oaxaca - Anth 520
• Summer Intensive Mixtec Language Program in Oaxaca
• Summer Intensive Zapotec Language Program in Oaxaca
• Three Weeks in Cuba
  
  

Summer Ethnographic Field Methods in Oaxaca-Anth 520

For more information on the program, please visit the Summer Ethnographic Field Methods website.

Program Flyer--Summer 2013 (.pdf)

Application Procedure

• Field School Application (.pdf)
• Two letters of recommendation that attest to your knowledge of research methods and your ability to be successful in an international environment.
• A current curriculum vitae
• If you are not a SDSU student, a copy of your transcripts.
• An essay (in 500-750 words, elaborate on your interest in participating in the field school and your experience working among marginalized groups)
• NEW! Application Deadline: Monday, April 1st, 2013

Summer Intensive Mixtec Language Program in Oaxaca

• Where: Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico
• When: June 17 – July 26, 2013
• NEW! Application Deadline: Monday, April 1st, 2013

*It is important to note that credits earned in the Mixtec summer program can be used towards satisfying SDSU foreign language requirements.

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 five hours of classroom instruction, four days per week, and a minimum of two weekend field trips into the Mixteca, each field trip includes 10 hours more of classroom instruction. 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.

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 variant 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. 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, which includes a minimum of ten contact hours of instruction per fieldtrip. Thus our students will exceed the 140 contact hours of language instruction.

In addition to language instruction, we have 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.

• Mixtec Summer Program flyer (.pdf)
• Oaxaca Summer Program Application: Mixtec (.pdf)
• Participant Packet 2013 (.pdf)

Summer Intensive Zapotec Language Program in Oaxaca

• Where: Juchitán, and Valley of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
• When: June 17 – July 26, 2013
• NEW! Application Deadline: Monday, April 1st, 2013

*It is important to note that credits earned in the Zapotec summer program can be used towards satisfying SDSU foreign language requirements.

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. Professor Thomas Villalobos Aguino of Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN) and the administrators of Casa de la Cultura de Juchitan coordinate the program in Oaxaca along with Dr. Ramona Pérez, a Oaxacan scholar from the Department of Anthropology at SDSU.

• Zapotec Summer Program flyer (.pdf)
• Oaxaca Summer Program Application: Zapotec (.pdf)
• Participant Packet 2013 (.pdf)
• Housing Questionnaire – Zapotec program only (.pdf)
  
  

The Center for Latin American Studies invites you to Experience Three Weeks in Cuba

For three-weeks you will study at the Centro de Estudios Martianos in La Habana, Cuba. You will learn about Cuba’s history and you will interact with other students at the Centro.

The program costs $3,000 plus registration fees. You will register via Extended Studies. The $3,000 will cover airfare, hotel, travel to and from the Centro to the Hotel, the program-sponsored fieldtrips and one meal per day. Graduates and Undergraduates are welcome to apply!

Program Dates: May 21st to June 12
Program Cost: $3,100 + extended studies fees
NEW! Application Deadline: Monday, April 1st, 2013

• Cuba Application (.pdf)