Study Abroad Program

The Mexico Solidarity Network study abroad experience offers a dynamic, student-centered pedagogical approach combined with direct interaction with some of Mexico’s most important social movements. Our unique integration of theory and practice provides you with important lessons for organizing work back home and an in depth appreciation of the struggles of:

• Indigenous Communities [Chiapas]
• Campesinos, Braceros, and organized sex workers [Tlaxcala]
• Autonomous urban organizing around housing and culture [Mexico City]

Schedule for Fall/Spring semesters through 2011:
Spring 2010: January 31 – May 8
Fall 2010: September 5 – December 11
Spring 2011: January 30 – May 7
Fall 2011: September 4 – December 10

Semester breakdown by week:

Week 1: San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas – UniTierra
Weeks 2-6: Oventic, Chiapas – Zapatista community

Week 7: Vacation
Weeks 8-10: Tlaxcala – Campesino communities

Weeks 11-14: Mexico City – “Los Panchos” autonomous urban community

Accreditation

The Program is accredited by the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City. Hampshire College is the US school of record and issues formal transcripts. The program is also recognized by the State University of New York (SUNY) system, New Mexico State University, Appalachian State University and 70 other institutions.

Course work

The program is a 14-week inter-disciplinary course offering up to 16 credits at the undergraduate or masters level. While the course is interdisciplinary, MSN offers the following course breakdown for accreditation at institutions that do not work under interdisciplinary regimens (example Mexican Social Movements syllabus):

Interdisciplinary Course work (each course is 3 credits, 45 class hours)

Political Economy (Econ 351/551)
Modern Mexico (Pol Sci 352/552)
Mexican Social Movements (Soc 353/553)
Mexican Culture (Ant 303/503)

Intensive Language Study (4 credits, 60 class hours)

Non-native Spanish speakers take:
Intensive Conversational Spanish (Span 203, 303, 403, or 503)

Native Spanish speakers take:
Introductory Tzotzil (Tzotzil 101)

Independent study is open to students whose universities will not accept the credits listed in the core curriculum.

Independent Study (Ind Study 355/555) 1 to 9 credits, 15 to 135 class hours (content developed in discussions with students and professors)

Housing

A centerpiece of the Mexico Solidarity Network’s study abroad program is your immersion in communities actively involved in political, economic, and cultural organizing. During the program your lodging includes:

• Housing in rustic collective dormitories on the campus of the Universidad de la Tierra, a center for educating indigenous youth in practical trades [San Cristóbal, Chiapas]
• Collective dormitories [Oventic, Chiapas]
• Homestays with campesino families living at the base of La Malintze, one of Mexico’s largest mountains [Toluca de Guadalupe, Tlaxcala]
• Homestays in La Polvorilla, a cooperative which is part of Mexico’s largest urban housing movement [Mexico City, Federal District]
  

Workshops

Get out of the classroom and into the community! To help you gain a better understanding of the day-to-day realities of the communities you live in, students participate in at least two workshops each week conducted in Spanish, including:

• Traditional weaving, boot-making, indigenous culture, introduction to autonomous education [Chiapas]
• Traditional cooking, herbal medicine, migration dynamics, organic fertilizer production, local festivals [Tlaxcala]
• Meetings with former political prisoners, student organizers, and human rights defenders [Mexico City]

Philosophy

The Mexico Solidarity Network created this unique study abroad program in 2005 to introduce students to dynamic new experiments in autonomous, community-based organizing and to build solidarity with Mexico’s most important and dynamic social movements. The lessons you learn from organized communities in Mexico will strengthen your social justice work back home. This program offers a truly unique opportunity to learn the theory and practice of living social movements directly from the people building those movements. You will develop lifelong, cross-cultural alliances, new analytical tools, and dynamic organizing skills that will literally change you life in important ways.

The Mexico Solidarity Network uses all proceeds to support grassroots organizing via the Albany Park Autonomous Center in Chicago. When enrollment in the study abroad program grows sufficiently, we hope to open an Autonomous University of Social Movements in Albany Park, allowing undocumented immigrants to access a university-level education that accredits students both for traditional coursework and for organizing in their community.

Apply Today!