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Mexico

Courses and Academic Information

The Mexico Comunidades y Cambio program takes place during the spring semester.

Orientation

Students accepted to participate in the program are required to participate in the orientation sessions prior to departure. Orientation is designed to prepare the student for the cross-cultural experience and will include readings, films, lectures, discussions with former participants of the program, and information and issues related to health and diet. Students will receive 1 semester hour (ID24) for successful completion of the orientation.

Coursework

Students earn 18 semester credits for successful completion of the program. All coursework will be taught in Spanish, and classes are held a Casa Sol, Earlham's academic center. The faculty leader teaches a course in his or her area of expertise. Faculty leader Norma Salas teaches Mexican Resistance Movements (4 hrs.) for the spring 2009 program.  Students also take: Mexican History (3 hrs.), Advanced Spanish Language: Grammar, Conversation and Writing (3 hrs.), and Geopolitics of Mexico: Theory and Context (5 hrs.).  Students complete Research Methods and Field Projects (3 hrs.), which is a course designed to help students develop strategies for the field work that they will do during their visits to communities in different states in Mexico.  The course includes visits to, and projects in, communities in Morelos as well as field projects in Oaxaca and Chiapas.  

In addition, students will participate in group excursions which include trips to important archaeological sites such as Chalcatzingo and Cholula, a visit to the hometown of Emiliano Zapata, and trips to nearby towns which may include Cuernavaca, Puebla, Tepoztlan and Tlayacapan.

The program leader is Norma Salas who has worked with Earlham’s Mexico programs for six years.  She teaches Social Movements and has taken several groups to Chiapas to visit Zapatista communities.  Earlham program veteran Gregorio (Goyo) Velasco teaches advanced Spanish and history, as well as assists with field research.  Andres Barreda is a professor of Economics at the National University (UNAM) and continues to work with many activist groups and networks. 

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