CREDIT FOR STUDY AT CEMANAHUAC

Students may receive undergraduate or graduate credit for sucessful completion of this professional workshop.

 

	Working with Mexicans: a Workshop for Social Workers, Teachers, Counselors, Health Professionals and Spouses - Boise State University Module 1: Saturday, May 31 - Saturday, June 14, 2008 Module 2: Saturday, June 14 - Saturday, June 28, 2008

 

Back by popular request, the professional workshop “Working with Mexicans” will be offered again during summer 2008. The course will be structured in two, 2-week modules with participants enrolling in either one or both modules. Module one will be based in Cuernavaca at Cemanahuac. Module two will be based for one week at Cemanahuac’s rural site in Buenavista a Cuellar (Guerrero) with the final week split between Cuetzalan and San Miguel Tzinacapan (Puebla) and Mexico City.

The workshop can be taken for 2-4 graduate or undergraduate credits or multiple CEUs. Workshop coordination and leadership will be provided by Boise State University School of Social Work professors Bill Whitaker and Jim Knapp. Bill specializes in social welfare policy with emphasis on poverty, hunger and international social development and coordinates the BSU MSW Program. In addition to being a licensed clinical social worker, Jim is fluent in Spanish, with a BA in Spanish and MA in Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language. Jim is Practicum Director for the School of Social Work and teaches in the areas of clinical practice,
diversity and cultural competency. Both Bill and Jim have extensive experience leading international programs for students and professionals.
Immersion Spanish: In Cuernavaca and Buenavista participants will take 20 hours per week of immersion Spanish taught by experienced Mexican instructors from the Cemanahuac Educational Community in classes of no more than 5 students.

Placement examinations will help determine Spanish proficiency so that participants are placed in an appropriate class. Immersion Spanish means that only Spanish is spoken in class.

Living with Mexican Families, in Cuernavaca and Buenavista participants will learn about family life, practice their Spanish, and experience family gatherings and celebrations. In Cuetzalan we will stay in the Hotel Taselotzin, built and operated by a women’s cooperative, and in Mexico City we will stay in a modest central hotel.

Noted Guest Speakers will include outstanding authorities on Mexico such as Dr. Ross Gandy, Professor of Philosophy & Sociology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM);Marina Castañeda, author and psychotherapist; Dr. Dan Lund, President and CEO, Mund Amerícas, and Kristine Reichert de Salgado, MA, Principal, Marymount Junior and Senior High School, Cuernavaca.

Field trips led by Charles Goff, Admissions Coordinator and Instructor of
Anthropology, Cemanahuac Educational Community, will visit archeological and cultural sites such as Cuicuilco, the Temples of the Sun and the Moon, the Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City zocalo, Templo Mayor anthropological museum, Rivera/Orosco/Sigueros murals and botanical gardens. Optional field trips to the silver city Taxco and other locations will also be available.

Meetings with women’s, social development, human rights and progressive activist organizations and visiting the homes of working class Mexicans will be key elements of the second week of module two.

Readings will include Mexico in Focus, a concise introduction to Mexican history, politics and culture by John Ross, Mexican Lives in which Judith Hellman shares the stories of fifteen diverse Mexicans, putting a human face on the political and economic transformations affecting Mexico today, and Inside Mexico: Living, traveling and doing business in a changing society. In addition, to begin to understand the Spanish conquest of Mexico through the eyes of original Mexicans, we encourage reading an excellent short novel—Song of the Hummingbird, by Graciela Limón. These books will be complemented with selected contemporary articles and reports.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For additional information, syllabus and application forms contact Bill Whitaker ( wwhitak@boisestate.edu ) or Jim Knapp (jknapp@boisestate.edu) or call (208) 426-1568.

We are looking forward to your participation in what previous students have described as a “life-changing” experience.

COMMENTS FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS

“The moment I got home, I realized that I had changed in a great and powerful way.” - (Undergraduate Social Work Student)

“The course empowered me and made me a believer that retirement does not mean giving up my goals until every door is shut tight.” - (Retired nurse)

“I came away from this trip with a better understanding and appreciation of Mexico and its people… I’m so glad I attended the full 4-week course… I am also seriously considering being a host to a foreign student because I now recognize the value of such a cultural exchange.” - (Undergraduate
agriculture student)

“I loved this kaleidoscopic crash course on Mexico. Enlarging my world view makes me a better world citizen, another step toward joining the village that raises the world.” - (Teacher/homemaker)

“In addition to the notebook stuffed with facts from all the speakers, in addition to (finally!) enough comprehension of the free market process and globalization so that I can understand articles about it and participate intelligently in activism here in the United States, in addition to greater fluency in Spanish and motivation to take a conversation course this fall, in addition to all these experiences—I have a feeling that at some point I will be spending some of the rest of my life living and working, somehow, in Mexico.” - (ESL teacher)