ACM Costa Rica - Field Research

  Costa Rica

• San Jose: 
San Jose

Term: Spring 
Dates: January-May

Description: A country of ecological diversity, with an enviable system of national parks, along with the longest uninterrupted history of democracy in Latin America, Costa Rica has consistently met the challenges of modern development with a preference for peace and pragmatism. With a fabulous but also fragile and complicated geography, varying from beautiful beaches along both its coastlines to tropical rain forests and green mountains in the interior, Costa Rica is faced with the struggle to protect its biodiversity from rapidly advancing deforestation, while at the same time promoting economic development. The resulting economic boom in tourism, along with investments in infrastructure, education, and health care, have helped place the country at or near the top of human development rankings in Latin America. Today, Costa Rica continues to address the underlying contradictions of sustainable development in Central America, weighing new economic opportunities in tourism, pineapple, and high tech industries against the need to protect the country's status as a gem of neotropical biodiversity.

The ACM Costa Rica: Field Research program has given students a privileged window onto these developments since the programs founding in 1964. Based in San José, only blocks away from the Universidad de Costa Rica, the program takes full advantage of the resources and scholars of that institution, while reaching out to local and international NGOs and investigators throughout the country to facilitate student research. Students spend a month in San José at the beginning and end of the spring semester to polish their Spanish and their research plans, and to analyze their data and write their final papers. In March and April, students fan out to the four corners of the country (and its mountains, and two coastlines) to carry out independent field research under the supervision of an advisor with experience and contacts in the students chosen field. Students with urban interests or whose data is best gathered in the capital city may remain in San José.

During the semester-long program students live with host families both in San José and wherever their research takes them in March and April. In addition to the cultural and linguistic immersion that comes from the homestay, the ACM typically arranges excursions, to give students a sense of Costa Ricas geographic and biological diversity and to familiarize them with San José itself. Throughout the semester, a variety of guest speakers are invited to help students understand the larger cultural context in which they carry out their research.

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: Inquire for more information

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups of 25

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Transcript
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Alumni Network
• Job and Internship Network

ACM - Associated Colleges of the Midwest's Mission Statement: The Associated Colleges of the Midwest, a consortium of residential liberal arts colleges, aims to strengthen its member colleges as leaders, and exemplars, in liberal arts education through significant, innovative, and sustainable collaborations. One key component of ACM is to provide exemplary liberal arts learning through a wide variety of off-campus study programs.

Year Founded: 1958