Spend a semester in beautiful and festive city of Oaxaca, Mexico.  Oaxaca is a UNESCO World Heritage site and this medium-sized city provides a unique blend of both old and new.  As home to pre-Colombian archeology, Spanish colonial history and a vibrant modern culture, Oaxaca gives visitors an amazing spectacle every day of the week.  This semester abroad provides a unique blend of service projects, field research, academic courses, homestay living and cultural activities. 

The balanced academic offerings are sure to give excellent insight into the local culture as well as provide a solid curriculum for academic advancement.  The program is based at university located in the historic downtown of Oaxaca and provides excellent immersion for foreign students to study alongside local Oaxacans.  Excursions that serve to enhance academic and cultural understanding include hikes through Zapotec villages in the Sierra Norte; visits to Pre-Hispanic archaeological sites such as Monte Albán, Yagul or Mitla; and volunteerism trips to communities outside of Oaxaca.

To round out the experience, students will spend time participating in local service learning projects aimed at promoting social and economic development in the local communities.  Service projects may include environmental conservation and education, construction, public health campaigns, and micro-business projects.  These projects enhance academic studies, promote cultural immersion, and provide for an extremely rewarding experience.

Cultural and outdoor outings and academically oriented adventures are offered throughout the semester. These may include:

    * A trip to the Mixteca Region of Northwest Oaxaca
    * A visit to Chacahua National Park on Oaxaca's Western Coast
    * A trip to the state of Veracruz and the Gulf of Mexico
    * Hikes through Zapotec Villages in the Sierra Norte
    * Visits to Artisan communities of the Central Valleys where ancient traditions continue to produce stunning pottery, woodcarvings and weavings
    * Visits to museums/art galleries and attendance at local cultural events
    * Visits to Pre-Hispanic archaeological sites such as Monte Alban, Yagul and Mitla
    * Community development projects

Accommodations are provided with a local family in Mexico. Each student will have a private room with a shared bathroom. Most meals will be provided.

MEXICAN STATE AND SOCIETY
Analyze the complex formation of Mexican society by learning about the ancient civilizations, the arrival of the Spaniards, Independence and the Mexican Revolution.  The class ends with the study of the modern Mexico state.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD HISTORY
Gain the general knowledge of the human society from capitalism up until modern times.  This class takes into account the correlations of economic, political and other factors.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Analyze the politics that establish the relations between the principal actors in the international system (states, international organizations, and non-government organizations).  Evaluate and problem-solve the influences that these organizations have on international relations and organizations, the emerging norms, and the subcategories of structure of international organizations.

HUMAN, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
Learn the distinct spatial analysis in their various scales, which go from local to global, going national with comparing strong contrasting regions.  The student will be able to study the society-space relations, in the dimensions of economics, political, and human, with an emphasis on territories as the object of analysis.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Students will learn the basic concepts of sustainable development and will identify and analyze the fundamental dimensions in an environmental, political, economical, and social contexts, including topics in environmental legislation, quality of life, and political planning using sustainable development.

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Study the historical, social, economic, and political processes of the formation of Latin America and the Caribbean, from its beginning stages up until recent events.  Students will learn the basic fundamentals of complex internal and external determinations of development, along with the reality of these nations.

NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS
Analyze the concept of NGOs to understand the context of civil society on an international, national, state and local level.  Recognize the role of an NGO in a social, political and economic context.  Evaluate the impact of their interventions, and their potentials, their actions, and repercussions.

CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL TOURISM
Analyze the theoretical frames of two central dimensions of reality to explain the economy of Mexico and the process of identity formation of Mexico:  culture and tourism.  The focus of these topics provides the students the fundamental theoretical tools to explore the specific treatment of both themes in diverse regions of the world.

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
Analyze the principal theory elements that explain the phenomenon of international immigration.  The course will cover the beginning of humanity up to the flow of contemporary tourism.  Deep investigation will occur in different topics of migration, such as xenophobia.

MEXICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM
Students will identify the groups of power from the 19th century, the relationship between the governed and the governors, the process of consensus and the legislation of political power.  Students will analyze the formation of the society-state actors and the political strongholds.
 
COLLECTIVE ACTION AND MOVEMENT THEORIES
Students will understand the distinct focused theories of social movements in order to study the large phenomena of collective actions in the first half of the 20th century, as historical circumstances produced them.

OAXACA POLITICAL SYSTEM
Students will be able to understand the various stages, stable and crisis periods, in the development of the Oaxaca Political System from the second half of the 19th century until present time.

HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN MEXICO
Learn the main ideological and political debates of education, especially the laymen, free, and obligatory education.  And relate the historical definition of these debates to the philosophical and legal principles of the present education system.

JOURNALISM
Explore the technique of the journalism genre of the short informative:  informative note and interview.

PHOTOGRAPHY I & II
Learn the elements of the camera and understand the process of light in taking photography.  Topics include the visualization and the analysis of the language of the image.  Students also learn about photography's historical development.

In addition to classroom and field studies, Semester in Mexico participants have the opportunity to learn more about community development in Oaxaca through hands-on development projects.  Projects complement academic studies for a few hours a week, typically on Fridays and some weekends.   

Semester projects are chosen by Site Directors based on the needs of communities. Some project options include:

    * Teach sales-based English to Zapotec women in a weaving cooperative
    * Work at local health clinic
    * Work on a state-wide AIDS awareness campaign
    * Help educate rural women of their reproductive rights
    * Help promote local agriculture and provide nutrition education
    * Support rural primary school teachers in the classroom
    * Work with community museums seeking grants and assisting with eco-tourism projects
    * Work as a tutor, teaching adults to read and write through an adult literacy program
    * Support local environmental protection projects
    * Work with local NGO to help provide basic nutrition and hygiene information to the poor

Completion of one year of university studies and one semester of university level Spanish
Good academic standing at your home university
A positive attitude and a will to help
Semester Credits: 16
Total class hours: 256
Project hours: 56
Average class hours per credit: 16
Accreditation: Jacksonville University
Language of Instruction: Spanish with English support

• Tuition and Materials
• Housing
• Most Meals
• Airport Pickup
• Health and Travel Insurance
• Project Funding & Support
• Cultural & Adventure Excursions
• In Country Transportation
• Support Services

• Fill out the IEP Application and review information on the Apply page.
• Pay a $200 deposit to International Education Programs.
• Send an official transcript from your home institution to the address below.

Send the above materials to:

International Education Programs
Jacksonville University
2800 University Blvd North
Gooding 105
Jacksonville, Florida 32211