Globalization and El Salvador
This 11-day overseas program is part of the first-year honors course, “Colonialism to Globalization.” In El Salvador students will be immersed in public literacy fieldwork and study the connections to historical and political developments in the last half of the 20th century. Part of program includes working with a community to help construct a school and education center. Students will also study the regional and global impacts of these movements including discussions on the indigenous culture of El Salvador and the impact of globalization on literacy, economic development and public education programs. Students will gain an appreciation for alternative models of development and local empowerment projects.
The four-credit honors seminar is part of our larger year-long course in which we emphasize the ways that knowledge is shaped by colonialism and globalization and how these forces, in turn, shape the lives of people and places today and the ways that we all know and connect in the world. Classroom discussions will focus on connecting theories of globalization to the history of El Salvador and the narratives of development and resistance that have shaped the modern state.
Program Focus
Course Information:
HON 407: Globalization and El Salvador – 4 cr.
Program Dates:
- Orientation and pre-departure course meetings: Feb 14 and Feb 28, 2012
- The international component runs: March 22 – April 1, 2012, not including travel time.
Draft Itinerary
Participants will arrange for their own travel to El Salvador and will need to arrive prior to the first day of class in El Salvador on March 22. Most flights arrive in the middle of the night; therefore, participants are expected to arrive in enough time to begin class rested by 9 am on March 22.
Daily activities will include meeting with the community and then proceeding to the project site to help with construction of a school. Lunch will be the big group meal of the day, eaten with community partners, afternoons will include scheduled tours of other school building sites, the Central Cathedral, artisan coops, museums, the national park with a memorial dedicated to the victims of the civil war, and the national theater.
Partner Organizations:
Seeds of Learning, partners with communities to build schools. These partnerships are the core of its philosophy of cooperative development. Students will be engaged in helping to build a school with a community.
- Website: http://www.seedsoflearning.org – Contact Person: Daniel Plies,
CESTA (Centro Salvadoreño de Tecnologia Apropiada), or, Amigos de la Tierra El Salvador (Friends of the Earth, El Salvador) offers student lodging in San Salvador. As a professional organization that promotes appropriate forms of technology in El Salvador, CESTA has become a public foundation with the capacity to complete environmental projects.
- Website: http://www.cesta-foe.org.sv/
Program Duration
Relevant Academic Disciplines
Agriculture, Anthropology, Applied Linguistics, Chicano/Latino Studies, Child and Family Studies, Communication Studies, Community Development, Culture, Education, Foreign Languages, Gender Studies, Geography, Globalization, History, Humanities, International Studies, Latin American Studies, Liberal Arts, Linguistics, Literature, Most Majors, Political Science, Service Learning, Social Science, Sociology
Program Provider
Pre-Requisites
- Open to seniors, juniors, sophomores of any major. Freshman that are Honors students are eligible to apply.
- Non-Honors students pay $50 application fee. Application fee waived for Honors students.
- Non-Honors students must complete a pre-acceptance interview with the Education Abroad Advisor, Joseph Miller. Interview waived for Honors students.
- GPA 3.0 or above;
- Preference will be given to PSU honors program students; however, students from most majors and disciplines will be considered and are encouraged to apply.
- Graduate students not eligible to apply
- The order in which (completed) applications are received will be considered in acceptances.
Language Skill: None
Housing Options
DormitoryProgram Links
PSU
Globalization and El Salvador – Winter 2012 Application
El-Salvador_Globalization_Flyer_W12.pdf
Deadlines
Application Deadline: Monday, December 5, 2011
Program Contact
Miller, Joseph
Faculty Led Programs Coordinator
503-725-5309
East Hall - 209
To make an appointment with an advisor call 503-725-4094
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