May 2 , 2006
Clark offers 5-week summer research program in Mexico
Chiapas trip combines field study and village-based service learning
Worcester, Mass. - Clark University is offering students from Clark 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 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 field research skills.
The five week program begins July 17 and ends August 14. The schedule is arranged to allow some students to take Spanish intensive courses beforehand. The program begins in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas (two weeks), and moves to communities at the edge of the Lacandon rainforest and the Chiapas canyons. Each locale offers an opportunity for village-based service and research as well as some access to archeological sites.
Duncan Earle, associate professor of International Development, Community & environment (IDCE) at Clark, will co-direct the program. Earle has worked in Chiapas and Guatemala for 25 years, and is fluent in Maya languages.
Co-director Jeanne Simonelli, from the Department of Anthropology at Wake Forest University, began research in Mexico in 1977 and has directed field programs for 15 years. Clark associate professor of geography Dianne Rocheleau and Luis Maleret, research assistant professor at the George Perkins Marsh Institute, will participate in the program, bringing expertise in environmental science, human geography, and gendered space. Tim Downs, IDCE assistant professor, will also help with environmental issues, specifically water resources.
Eligible students are encouraged to take a related course prior to undertaking the program. Those with no background will be expected to complete preliminary readings before departure. Knowledge of Spanish is a plus.
The initial two weeks in San Cristóbal will combine lecture and meetings with local scholars and community representatives with day trips to locations of cultural and historical significance. Students will select a service project and complete necessary background preparation.
During the remaining weeks, the group 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, land use, health, education, 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.
This is Clark's first year in the Chiapas Maya Summer School program, which is administered by Wake Forest. Student participants will receive academic credit through Wake Forest.
Nine Clark undergraduates have registered: Zohar Tobi '07; Avram Nagel '09; Erica Getto '09; Rachael Kenemore '08; Sarah Byrne '07; Armen Kassabian '09; Elizabeth Fox '09; Ahmed Bhadelia '08; and Alex Lefter '08. Two Clark graduate students and one IDCE alum will also help with the class.
"In addition to our learning experience, each student will write an extensive field report, and we will all create a collective multi-media project," writes Tobi, an IDCE student. "We will capture our experience on film in order to educate, receive future funding, and promote the Mayan culture we will have experienced."
For more information, contact Professor Earle: 508-793-7629; dearle@clarku.edu.