Montclair in Guadalajara
Mexican Culture and Spanish Language
July 13 – August 16, 2008

Program Overview

Guadalajara, often described as the “most Mexican of Mexican cities,” is the birthplace of world famous Mariachi music and the Mexican hat dance. Located in the mountainous western state of Jalisco, Guadalajara is Mexico’s second largest city and a vibrant center of contemporary arts and commerce. Known for its spring-like climate, its historic colonial center, and great Orozco murals, Guadalajara is an excellent base for examining contemporary Mexican culture. The program includes faculty-led excursions including trips to the market places and art centers of Tlaquepaque and Tonalá, and to an historic Tequila hacienda and manufacturing center in the Jalisco countryside. For the last two weeks, the program will move to the colonial city of Querétaro, a UNESCO designated world heritage site, and then to Mexico City where Spanish colonial and ancient Amerindian traditions intersect. We will tour Franciscan missions, the colonial city of San Miguel de Allende, the ancient ruins of Teotihuacan, the Templo Mayor, the Anthropology museum and the murals of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul.

Accommodations                                                                                                             Montclair in Guadalajara is hosted by UNIVA (www.univa.mx), a private university with modern campuses in safe, residential neighborhoods of Guadalajara and Querétaro. Students will have homestays with carefully selected local families, allowing them to experience the warmth and vitality of Mexican culture. Students receive housing and all meals from families. Homes are within walking distance to campus.

Faculty                                                                                                                                     Dr. Katherine McCaffrey is a professor in the Anthropology department at Montclair State University and is on the Steering Committee of the Latin American and Latino Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the City University of New York in 1999. She has lived and traveled extensively in Latin America, mainly in Puerto Rico and Mexico. Spanish language courses are taught by UNIVA faculty with extensive training in teaching Spanish as a second language.

Jhon Velasco is an adjunct professor in the Health and Nutrition Science department at Montclair State University and is the Project Director of the Center for Non-Violence and Prevention Programs.  He has worked extensively in HIV/AIDS education, prevention and trainings with a variety of institutions including; the Centers of Disease Control, Raritan Bay Medical Center and Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey and the State Department of Health and Senior Services.  He received his graduate degree from Columbia University, Teachers College in Health Education in 2003.

Spanish language courses are taught by UNIVA faculty with extensive training in teaching Spanish as a second language.

Academic ( Pre Enrollment form )

All participants will register for

Cultures of Latin America (ANTH 150)                                                              This course, which fulfills MSU’s Social Science Non-Western Cultural Perspectives General Education requirement, will examine the peoples of contemporary Latin America from an anthropological perspective. We will consider the history, politics and economics of this vast and diverse region.  We will consider the cultural diversity of Latin America and struggles for national identity, as well as some of the most pressing social problems facing the region.

Participants select one of the following as a second course.

Beginning and Intermediate Spanish Language (SPAN 101, 102, 103, 104)   Studying Spanish in Mexico allows the language to come alive in a way that is not possible in a US institutional setting. Small classes with individualized attention provide students with the foundation to speak Spanish in everyday experiences—in the market places, in casual conversation with friends, with host families over meals. Students take a placement test to match them to an appropriate level class. In addition, students are assigned a language partner, a student or faculty member at UNIVA, with whom the student can further develop Spanish conversational skills.

Modern Latin American Civilization (HIST 116)                                                             This course offers an introduction to the history of Latin America, with an emphasis on Mexico since the 1810s. Students unfamiliar with the region should emerge from the course with a firm grounding in the major themes of modern Latin American history. Meets Gen Ed 2002 - Non-Western Cultural Perspectives.

Capstone Course in Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS 401)                      Intensive reading, field work and research that focuses on a specific area of Latin American and Latino Studies. Prerequisite: LALS 201

Health Issues Forum: HIV/AIDS in Latin America and Mexico (HLTH 347) will examine the cultural, social, epidemiologic, political, psychological, philosophical, economic, public health, and public policy dimensions of HIV/AIDS in Latin America, particularly concentrating on Mexico.  As we explore the social forces that impact and determine the course and experience of HIV/AIDS we also explore the impact that this epidemic has had on communities and cultures throughout Latin America.  This course will cover the history and epidemiology of HIV; social construction of the disease; impact upon and response from particularly affected communities and social groups; social issues in treatment and prevention; politics of governmental, non-governmental, and grassroots responses to the disease.

Note: In addition to the Non-Western Perspectives requirement, all study abroad programs fulfill GNED 303 (one of the Contemporary Issues "Core" courses in GenEd 2002).

Note: In addition to the Non-Western Perspectives requirement, all study abroad programs fulfill GNED 303 (one of the Contemporary Issues "Core" courses in GenEd 2002)

 Program Costs:

 $2,500 plus tuition and fees for six credits. The program cost includes:

• Roundtrip airfare

• Homestay with meals in Guadalajara and Querétaro

• Double room in hotel in Mexico City

• All local transfers in Mexico

• Local excursions and entrance fees

Tentative Payment Schedule:

Space Still Available

• Non-Refundable Deposit:    $   100

• By February 15, 2008:       $   600

• By March 15, 2008:           $   900

• By April 15, 2008:             $   900

Make checks payable to “Montclair State University”

A limited number of partial scholarships are available for MSU students. Contact the Global Education Center for further information.