about
Overview
Wake Forest University is offering students from Wake Forest and other Institutions an opportunity to participate in a summer study program in Chiapas, Mexico. The program focuses on the Maya experience, especially in the areas of alternative development, environment and health and combines on-site instruction and service-learning with field trips, village stays and the opportunity for applied ethnographic projects, and training in qualitative research methods.
Date and Locations
The four week program begins in early July and ends in mid August. (The program is scheduled to allow students to complete the first session of summer school or to work.) The program begins in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, and moves to locations from the edge of the Lacandon rainforest, to the Chiapas canyons. Each of these locales offers an opportunity for village-based service and research as well as access to archeological sites.
Program Directors and Professors
Dr. Jeanne Simonelli, Department of Anthropology at Wake Forest University began research in Mexico in 1977 and has directed field programs for 20 years.
Dr. Duncan Earle, Marymount of the Pacific, has worked in Chiapas and Guatemala for 30 years, and is fluent in Maya languages.
Eligibility
All students must be:
- dedicated to learning
- willing to adapt to new settings
- willing to work in groups
- in good academic standing
- Spanish a plus
The Program
Students are encouraged to take a related course prior to undertaking the program. Those with no background will be expected to complete additional preliminary readings before departure.
During the initial two weeks we will be based in San Cristóbal, combining lecture and meetings with local scholars and community representatives with day trips to locations of cultural and historical significance. Students will select an interest area and complete necessary background preparation. |
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During the remaining weeks we will travel to the Lacandon Rainforest and Lagos de Montebello. Here students will stay in Zapatista and non-Zapatista agricultural communities to learn about Maya cultural heritage, and contemporary adaptations in the wake of environmental and economic challenges. |
During the program, students will learn qualitative research methods and will have the opportunity to explore diverse topics ranging from entrepreneurship to development to Maya religion. |
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Field experiences include:
- Exploring cultural preservation issues at the archeological sites of Palenque, Tonina, Chincultic and Tenem Puente
- Solving environmental challenges alongside community partners
- Learning about alternative forms of entrepreneurship
- Learning about coffee production and marketing from local farmers
- Investigating Maya religion with a Maya shaman
- Learning about plants and herbs from midwives and healers
- Working in a small community
- Examining the dynamics of change and choice in contemporary Mesoamerica
- Opportunity to learn/improve Spanish and Tzotzil Maya.
The Cost
| Room and board |
$1000 |
| Internal travel |
$700 |
| Parial Air |
$300 |
| Insurance |
$50 |
| Program fees (entrances, speakers, etc) |
$400 |
| Total Estimated Cost |
$2450 |
Students are responsible for partial airfare and
tuition (1 course summer school).
Full Application is on-line at WFU Study Abroad (link opens in new window)
Downloadable supplementary application
Application Deadline: February 1
Contact:
Dr. Jeanne Simonelli,
Department of Anthropology
Wake
Forest University
PO Box 7807
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Phone: 336-758-4310.
Email: simonejm@wfu.edu
Maya Summer Study Program
Center for International Studies
Wake Forest University
PO Box 7385
Winston-Salem, NC
27109
Phone: 336-758-5938. Fax: 336-758-4809 |
