Language and Culture (Summer)
This community-based program includes homestays with local families, a trip to Mexico City, optional weekend excursions, and numerous guest speakers designed to help students learn about history, culture, and contemporary struggles for peace, justice, and human rights.
Specialized Spanish courses, unique internships, and the ability to pick and choose from multiple session(s) dates, creates a truly customizable summer abroad experience!
Learn more and apply to this program
Highlights
- Immerse yourself in Mexican culture and Spanish language to increase your ability to communicate effectively in Spanish.
- Frequent guest speakers, excursions, and hands-on active learning to immerse you in the community and culture.
- Complete a for-credit internship at a local nonprofit that serves the community in which you are studying.
- Participate on a program run by an organization dedicated to social justice, which uplifts the voices of underrepresented and marginalized peoples in all programs.
- Homestays with welcoming and friendly folks in Cuernavaca. Housing requests for gay and lesbian-friendly, sober/dry homestays, and vegetarian-friendly are all available!
Courses & Internships
The summer is organized into four “blocks” or "sessions", you may take anywhere from one to four blocks. You will complete one course per block. Available courses:
- Spanish language course (16 options, beginning-advanced)
- Pre-Columbian, Colonial, and Contemporary Mexican Art
- Latin American Women: Texts and Voices (may be taken for Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies or Spanish credit)
- Internship or Independent Study in:
- American-Indian Studies, Cross-Cultural Studies, Environmental Studies, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, Political Science, Religion, Spanish
- Summer students must enroll in at least two consecutive blocks to be eligible for an internship.
- Students must have intermediate to advanced Spanish language to be eligible for an internship (recommended two college-level courses and above)
Student Life
Students will stay with local families in Cuernavaca, and take courses at the CGEE Study Center and our partner language school. The study center and school are a 15-minute walk from downtown Cuernavaca and the main city plaza, in the neighborhood of San Antón. CGEE is well established in San Antón and has many friends and close connections in the neighborhood, including many of the homestay families. CGEE is located at the top of one of the large ravines that runs through the city, offering a dramatic view from the nearby bridge that leads to downtown. Because of the ravine, there is a 100-foot waterfall right in the neighborhood, a local eco-tourist attraction. Right across the bridge, students will find a large public garden/park, an independent movie theater, the Cathedral, and several popular cafés.
Why This Program
This program is perfect for any student needing a language credit, would like to enhance their Spanish language ability, or for those seeking a short-term study abroad option with a meaningful social justice oriented program.
For More Information