PROGRAM DATES

The Program will take place during winter term of 2006.

DIRECTOR

Jerome Levi, Associate Professor of Anthropology

Jay Levi is leading Carleton’s first “Social and Cultural Field Research Seminar in Guatemala” and is currently the Director of Latin American Studies. He has taught at Carleton since 1993 and conducted ethnographic research on Mesoamerica for nearly three decades, initially focusing on the Tzotzil Maya in the Chiapas highlands and later on the Tarahumara (Rarámuri) of southwest Chihuahua. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of indigenous rights, the anthropology of religion, ethnicity, economic and environmental anthropology. He recently served as the Editor for Mesoamerican Ethnology for the Library of Congress’s Handbook of Latin American Studies, and contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures.

PREREQUISITES

The program is designed for students who are interested in social change and development in Latin America, and who want to undertake independent field research focused on these issues. To participate in the program, students must have completed Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 by January 2006. The ability to communicate effectively in Spanish, as indicated by advanced work in Spanish beyond Spanish 204 or its equivalent, is also necessary to the participant’s success in conducting field research in highland Guatemala. The instructor reserves the right to issue special permission to interested students who have not taken Sociology/ Anthropology 110 or 111, but who have equivalent preparatory work in Latin American Studies or another related field.

INTRODUCTION

Guatemala is a land of stunning physical beauty and stark contrasts. With its population comprised of 23 ethnic groups—some 22 indigenous Mayan linguistic groups and the economically and politically dominant ladinos—Guatemala has long been know for its rich local cultural traditions. But it is also marked by extreme inequalities and poverty. Today, after decades of a brutal civil war, Guatemalans struggle to build a nation based on the multilingual and pluricultural principles mandated by the 1996 Peace Accords.

Through coursework and independent research, this program provides students with the opportunity to examine issues of cultural empowerment, community development and social change in Guatemala, as that nation’s people attempt to come to terms with the pressing concerns of poverty, extreme inequality, and human rights abuses of the past, and build a multi-ethnic society.

The program is based in the western highland city of Quetzaltenango. Known as Xelajú (or simply Xela), Quetzaltenango is the center of the K’iche people, and Guatemala’s second-largest city. During the first three weeks of the program, students will travel to Quetzaltenango, where they will live with families, participate in program seminars, and prepare their independent field projects.

The following four weeks will be devoted to the student’s independent field research projects. Students will live with families in the western highland communities in which they carry out their field projects. The field sites provide opportunities for research on topics such as sustainable development and conservation, women’s issues, human rights work, the role of religion in community development and empowerment, ecotourism, and other topics. In most cases, students will pursue individual projects; however, collaborative research projects will also be possible.

Students will then return to Quetzaltenango to finish analyzing their field research material, write their research papers, and present their work to the group as a whole.

During the last week of the program, we will travel to neighboring Chiapas, Mexico, to meet with community leaders and others involved in the struggle for indigenous rights and social justice in that region. This part of the seminar will provide an important comparative case for the coursework and research students will carry out in Guatemala.

COURSE OF STUDY, 18 CREDITS

All coursework counts towards Latin American Studies major or concentration

SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY 251: Community Development, Cultural Empowerment, and Social Change in Guatemala

(4 Credits)

This seminar focuses on the role of community groups, social movements, local governments, and non-governmental organizations in promoting cultural empowerment, human rights, and more equitable and sustainable development. Through readings, as well as meetings and interviews with cultural and human rights activists, development practitioners, and others, we will study the ways that Guatemalans are working to rebuild communities, promote cultural revitalization and empowerment, and forge paths to more equitable and sustainable economic growth. The final week of the program will involve a field trip to Chiapas, Mexico, to provide a comparative study of these issues in that region.

Instructor: Jay Levi

Sociology/Anthropology 241: Field Research Methods

(4 Credits)

Designed to prepare students for their independent research projects, this course will train students in field research methods. It will cover topics in participant observation, interview methods, and research ethics. Students will develop the prospectus for their field research project as their major assignment for this course.

Instructor: Jay Levi

Sociology/Anthropology 205: Indigenous Language Instruction

(2 Credits) S/CR/NC

During the first two weeks of the program, students will receive intensive instruction in a Mayan language spoken in the field research area (either K’iche or Mam). While this intensive language instruction will not provide fluency in the language, it will provide basic language skills that will facilitate and enrich students’ field research.

Instructor: Staff

SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY 295: Independent Field Project

(6 Credits)

Students will carry out a field research project of their own design related to the concerns of cultural empowerment and development, developed in Sociology/Anthropology 241. This component of the program will consist of 4 weeks of intensive field research in a Guatemalan community, followed by a 1-week period in Quetzaltenango, during which participants will write their research papers. The course will conclude with a research symposium, in which students will present their research to program participants and interested community members.

Instructor: Jay Levi

SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY 290: Directed Reading

(2 Credits)

During winter break 2005-2006, participants are asked to read selected works chosen to provide background on Guatemalan history, Mayan culture, and contemporary social issues in preparation for the field seminar. Students will write an integrative essay on this material and participate in discussions covering the readings during the first week of the program.

Instructor: Jay Levi

EXPENSES

Students pay the 2005-2006 Carleton comprehensive fee, which covers the cost of instruction, room, board, all program events, and transportation from Guatemala to Chiapas for the final week of the program. Students are responsible for the cost of transportation from the U.S. to Guatemala City and for return transportation from San Cristóbal de las Casas (Mexico) to the U.S. at the conclusion of the seminar. Participants are also responsible for purchase of books, personal items, independent travel during term, personal field gear such as tape recorders, and personal travel during the seminar.

APPLICATIONS

Application forms are available from the Office of Off-Campus Studies, Leighton 119. Applications are due to Jill Tollefson, Leighton 321, by Friday, May 6, 2005.

There will be two information meetings:

­ Wednesday, October 6, 2004,

4:30, Leighton 304

­ Tuesday, February 15, 2005,

12 noon, LDC 104

For more information, please see:

Professor Jay Levi
SoAn, Leighton 227
jlevi@carleton.edu
x4110

or

Helena Kaufman
OCS, Laird 131
hkaufman@acs.carleton.edu
x4349