6 undergraduate credits in anthropology

Registration deadline: March 23, 2012 

Program Director:  Dr. Maury Hutcheson: mhutcheson@vcu.edu

Program cost: $2,250 (includes roundtrip airfare) plus applicable VCU tuition (6 credits—approx. $1,908)[1]

Course description:  Based in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, this six-week program provides students with a comprehensive overview of Mayan indigenous life in Guatemala, past and present, including opportunities for individual and group research through participant observation, attendance at cultural events, lectures on selected topics, and excursions to museums and major archaeological sites dating from the earliest days of the Olmec/Maya transition to the contact-era capitals that were toppled by the Spanish conquistadors. 

Highland Guatemala provides an ideal setting in which to explore anthropological topics such as cultural pluralism, religious conservation and change, local responses to globalization, and cultural revitalization movements. 

Students will gain practical experience in a variety of ethnographic research techniques as well as the ethical dimension of anthropological fieldwork while exploring historical continuities and transformations in Mayan culture and religious practice, especially in response to economic globalization and tourism. Students live with Guatemalan families. Course instruction is in English, but incorporates two weeks of individualized one-on-one tutoring in Spanish. The program is especially well suited to students in anthropology, international studies, history, and religious studies. Interethnic relations between the Maya and their non-indigenous Ladino neighbors are a special focus of the program. 

Program website. 

Registration deadline: March 23, 2012

The international program fee of $2,250 includes the following:

•          Roundtrip airfare between Washington, DC and Guatemala City [2]

•          All accommodations in Guatemala

•          All meals while living with Guatemalan families

•          Study visits and cultural excursions to museums and archaeological sites

•          All ground transportation in Guatemala

•          On-site program director support

•          Application fee and deposit

•          International Student Identification Card

   (Personal expenses not included in the program fee are estimated at $500)

For more information, and to apply, visit the program website at:

http://www.global.vcu.edu/abroad/programs/vcu/programdetail/p80.aspx

[1] Transfer credits are available for non-VCU students. The Virginia in-state tuition is $318 per credit ($1,908 total for six credits). Out-of-state students who participate in faculty-led VCU Study Abroad programs are eligible for a 40% discount on the regular out-of-state tuition costs. For 2012, the discounted out-of-state tuition for this program will be $514 per credit (or $3.068 total for the six credits). 

[2] Pending authorization, out-of-state students students may, in special cases, be permitted to depart from and/or return to another major airport hub.