The Center for Latin American Studies offers several Summer Study Abroad and Language Immersion programs. NOTE: The program information is similar from year to year. New information is posted in January. During summer and fall, the information, by then old, is kept available for reference.
For more information contact the Summer Study Abroad Programs Coordinators, Christina Owens or Ryan Gwynne:
- Phone:(619) 594-1103
- Email:lasga@rohan.sdsu.edu.
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
Summer Ethnographic Field Methods in Oaxaca-Anth 520
For more information on the program, please visit the Summer Ethnographic Field Methods website.
Application Procedure
- Field School Application
- Field School Flyer
- 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: April 5, 2010
Summer Intensive Mixtec Language Program in Oaxaca
- Where: Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico
- When: June 22-July 31, 2010
- Application deadline: April 5, 2010
*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 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. 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. This program is limited to 25 students. Early applications will be given priority.
For more information or an application, please contact: Christina Owens or Ryan Gwynne, Summer Study Abroad Programs Coordinators or Dr. Ramona Pérez, phone: 619-594-1155; email perez@mail.sdsu.edu
Summer Intensive Zapotec Language Program in Oaxaca
- Where: Juchitán, and Valley of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
- When: June 22-July 31, 2010
- Application deadline: April 5, 2010
*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. 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.
This program meets the US Department of Education guidelines for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) summer intensive language fellowships. This program is limited to 25 students. Early applications will be given priority.
For more information or an application, please contact: Christina Owens or Ryan Gwynne, Summer Study Abroad Programs Coordinators or Dr. Ramona Pérez, 619-594-1155 or perez@mail.sdsu.edu .
Last Update: 05-Feb-2010
