Course Details
Syllabus
Instructional Dates
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Travel Dates
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Credits
UEPP 437
Total Credits: 5
This is an exciting multi-phase program to allow students to prepare and implement service learning around globalization and its impacts in central Mexico. Students prepare spring quarter for travel during summer break. Assignments are due immediately after the program ends. Experiences include workshops in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve and local communities and organizations (Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda), with Caminos de Aguas (a Mexico nonprofit with ties to Engineers without Borders), and cultural site visits with partner organization, Olé . Students also experience language, culture, and history classes along with a final day trip to the market to gather ingredients for a guacamole making contest followed by course graduation ceremony.
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Program Highlights
- Earn 5 WWU undergraduate credits
- Program fee incudes all lodging, most ground transportation, and most meals
- Stay with a local family in a homestay to get a inside look at local language and culture
- Learn from Mexican faculty, businesses and nonprofit leaders through lectures and excursions, including to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato
- Visit the Sierra Gorda UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, a local collaboration for economic development and biodiversity conservation. You will stay at a local ranch, and visit various sites including Rancho Suelo Vivo, Living Soil Ranch, and Mission of Santiago de Jalpan (one of five UNESCO-designated local temples)
Expectations of Participants
Activities include visits to museums and cultural sites, as well as participating in regenerative agriculture and local businesses. With or without reasonable accommodations, must be able to: walk for several hours at a time in warm weather, climb stairs, and stand for some periods.
- Estimated Walking 1-2 hours/day
- Estimated Sitting 1-2 hours/day
Limited refrigerator space available.
Students will live and study alongside people in Mexico, as such they should not expect the same amenities that they may be used to in the United States. This may include but is not limited to access to the internet (including cellular data and wifi), sanitation facilities, air conditioning, or other amenities. Students will be housed in shared rooms for this program. Please also check with your faculty director if you have questions about dietary restrictions or personal care products you hope to find in Mexico, as various foods and products available in the United States may be difficult to find.
Students must work with the WWU Disability Access Center, Wilson Library 170, (360) 650-3083, drs@wwu.edu. For service eligibility, a complete diagnostic description from a qualified professional is required. Specific accommodations or services are determined on an individual basis and are modified to meet the unique needs of the student and their academic experience. Accommodation policies and procedures are highly individualized and centered on self-advocacy, realistic self-appraisal, and student growth. Each quarter, students need to activate their approved accommodations for each class. Students choose which of their approved accommodations they want to activate for each class.
We strongly recommend that all students traveling on this Global Learning Program are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to maximize the safety of the student cohort. Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines remains the most important step to protect yourself and your community.
Participants are expected to abide by all attendance policies of the program, including those for classes and excursions, and to adhere to the program schedule. Since the programs are academic in nature, parents, friends, partners, and families are not permitted on any part of the Global Learning Program. Personal travel must be outside of the course dates and not conflict with coursework or excursion schedules. Travel plans should be vetted by faculty beforehand to ensure personal plans do not interfere with meeting the learning objectives of the course.