Semester in Cuernavaca, Mexico

Location
The program is based in Cuernavaca, a city known for its perennial springtime (70-80 degrees). Cuernavaca, the capital of the state of Morelos, is about 50 miles south of Mexico City. Both the city and the state are important in Mexican history: the palace of the conqueror Hernan Cortez borders the central plaza in Cuernavaca and Morelos is known as “the cradle of the Mexican revolution” of 1910 led by Emiliano Zapata, who was born in a small town near Cuernavaca. A city of more than one million, Cuernavaca is also known for its innovative grass-roots education programs, economic cooperatives, and base Christian communities inspired by liberation theology.

Housing
The Center for Global Education maintains an attractive house in Cuernavaca which will be your home base during the semester. It is located in Colonia San Anton, across the street from the language school where you will take your Spanish classes and just a 15 minute walk from downtown Cuernavaca. Approximately four students will share a room. There is also common living space for classes, study and leisure time, as well as a small library. Meals (including vegetarian options) are prepared and served on the premises.

Homestay
You will spend four weeks living with a local working class family in Cuernavaca.

Staff
The Center for Global Education has an ethnically and culturally diverse staff of North Americans and Latin Americans who coordinate educational programs. The program instructors are Augsburg College faculty who live full-time in Mexico and Central America, have advanced studies and are bi-lingual. In addition, a diverse pool of individuals and organizations serve as community resources. You will also be assisted by an intern/resident advisor who lives in the house and assists in planning house meetings and activities.

Orientation
Fall program -- at the U.S./Mexico border near Tucson, Arizona/Nogales, Sonora.

Travel Experiences
Fall program: Includes a two-week educational seminar to Chiapas, Mexico, and to Guatemala.

Spring program: Includes two-week educational seminar to Guatemala and El Salvador.

In addition, both programs offer day trips to Mexico City and to rural villages, as well as opportunities for individual travel on weekends and during breaks.

Community Service and Internships
Both programs offer the option of community service opportunities. In addition, each program has a limited number of service learning internships available for students who meet internship requirements. To learn more about internships offered through Center for Global Education semester programs click on the following link: Internship Info.

Requirements
Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors at any college or university. Enrollment is limited; one previous college-level course in Spanish or its equivalent is required.

Cost
The overall cost covers tuition, room and board, travel seminar to Central America, and all other program costs in Mexico, Central America, and Arizona. Students are responsible for their travel to and from the program. Contact the Center for Global Education for specific information. (email: globaled@augsburg.edu or 800-299-8889).

Fall Program
Crossing Borders: Gender and Social Change in Mesoamerica
Learn about the experience of women in Latin America, focusing on their roles in economic development and social change strategies. Explore connections women are drawing among issues of gender, race, class and global economics. Encounter the struggle of both women and men for justice and human dignity. Earn credit in Religion, Political Science, Women's Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Spanish. The semester includes small group intensive Spanish study provided by Mexican instructors.

Sample Fall Semester Schedule:
  Week 1: Educational seminar at the U.S./Mexico border
Week 2: Orientation and all classes in Cuernavaca begin
Weeks 2-4: Intensive Spanish classes (and all other courses)
Weeks 5-7: Homestay with Mexican families
Weeks 8-10: Intensive Spanish classes (and all other courses)
Week 11: Preparation for educational excursion to Chiapas & Guatemala
Week 12: Educational Seminar in Chiapas
Week 13: Educational Seminar in Guatemala
Week 14: Wrap-up coursework in Cuernavaca

Spring Program
Social and Environmental Justice in Latin American

Explore socioeconomic and political issues with a focus in the impact of environmental policies on the lives of women and men from varying economic classes and ethnic groups in Mexico and Central America. Examine social change, the ethics of land distribution, eco-feminism, and the complexity of gender, class and ethnicity in Latin American societies. Courses may be transferred for credit in History, Interdisciplinary Studies, Political Science, Religion, Spanish and Women's Studies.

Sample Spring Semester Schedule
  Week 1: Orientation in Cuernavaca and surrounding area.
Weeks 2-4: Intensive Spanish (2 hours/day, five days/week) and all other courses.
Week 5-8: Homestay with a Mexican family.
Weeks 9-11: Intensive Spanish and all other courses
Week 12: Exams and preparation for trip to Guatemala and El Salvador.
Week 13: Educational seminar in El Salvador.
Week 14: Educational seminar in Guatemala.
Weeks 15: Wrap up semester in Mexico.

There will be a short spring break (four-day weekend) approximately halfway through the semester. Students may choose to stay and travel after the semester ends.
    
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