CIEE Language and Culture Program in Guanajuato, Mexico

  Mexico

• Central Highlands: 
Guanajuato

Term: Fall, Spring 
Dates: Fall 16 weeks: mid- August-early-December; Spring 17 weeks: early February-late May

Description: The Language and Culture program allows students to refine their language abilities exponentially, deepen their intercultural skills as they immerse into daily Guanajuato life, and engage in critical reflection about both self and others as they come to understand contemporary Mexican culture.

Academic Program
The CIEE Study Center in Guanajuato began in 2002 to provide students with a formal framework for learning that includes both language and content courses. Student's language skills improve exponentially through two Spanish language courses, one of which focuses on grammar and the other on conversation. The two content courses on literature and history offers students an opportunity to better understand the foundation of Mexican society and culture. Finally, through the core course, students are pushed to examine their intercultural experiences through critical reflection and to open themselves to learning through immersion into Mexican culture, particularly through the independent research project.

Academic Culture
The program's academic culture is defined by its affiliation with the prestigious University of Guanajuato and by the program's own commitment to providing an intellectually and personally stimulating experience abroad. While professors are open and approachable, they expect a high degree of personal engagement and responsibility from students. Although CIEE students do not enroll directly in courses at the University of Guanajuato, all CIEE courses are held on campus and taught by local faculty and CIEE staff.

The CIEE Study Center in Guanajuato firmly believes that learning occurs not only in class, but also through the careful and critical connecting of lived experiences to formal learning. Visits to local museums and galleries, participation in artistic events and traditional celebrations, and discussions with local experts in diverse fields greatly enhance classroom learning. Homestays with Mexican families - a highlight of the program - also provide a particularly intense and rewarding site in which to continue both language and culture learning. Indeed, the family is seen as a key resource for cultural learning. In sum, all activities on the program bring deeper meaning to the reading and discussing done in class, and the formal knowledge built through coursework enriches students' everyday lives on the program.

The Spanish language courses meet every day for an hour each. Complementing the classroom language instruction is the University's unique self-access center, which includes conversation rooms for interacting with native speakers, audio materials, computers with language specific web references and software, a fine collection of Mexican films, and a library.

Highlights:

• Small and intensive Spanish language courses
  
• Challenging coursework in Mexican culture, literature, and history
  
• Facilitated reflection and a final independent field research project
  
• Vibrant local cultural scene and Mexican family homestay
  
• Curriculum that incorporates cultural activities, study trips, and a rural service
• Community service opportunities to learn the reality of Mexican life

Each semester also includes two weekend study trips to sites of historical and cultural interest. Designed to complement the coursework, show students a different version of daily Mexican life, and put Guanajuato into comparative perspective, these excursions take students to such places as colonial Zacatecas and Mexico City. Lectures or coursework related to the trip are also included to help students maximize their time at other sites.

Visual Arts Course
CIEE offers two 6-week long modules focusing on the visual arts of Mexico. This optional, non-credit, no-homework option provides serious students with a deeper look at topics such as Mexican cinema and Mexican art history, among others.

Immersion
Community Service
Students interested in community service are encouraged to seek out these opportunities, the CIEE Study Center provides local contacts. Community service allows students to immerse themselves into rural Mexican life and to gain an experience that is quite different from their daily lives in the city of Guanajuato.

Cost in US$: Please check the CIEE website for current program pricing

Experience Required: yes