thematic explorations OFFERING - Fall 2008

January Travel Study Opportunity

Traditions and Cultures: Tepoztlán, Mexico
Nancy Waring and Gene Diaz
LINTD 6045
DATE: January 9–18, 2009
LOCATION: Tepoztlán, Mexico
FEES: Includes academic instruction, a double room and board with a local family, Spanish lessons, lectures, professionally guided field trips, museum admissions, and pick up and drop off at Mexico City Airport. Participants can choose a semi-private room (an additional $3 per night) or a private room (an additional $8 per night).
NOTE: The fee does not include air fare to and from Mexico City. Participants must make their flight arrangements to arrive in Mexico City Airport by 3:00 pm, January 9, and to depart no earlier than 12:00 pm, January 18.
Non-Lesley students: $1,700 an additional $450 for 3-credit option.
Lesley students: $900 plus their regular tuition rate.
All participants pay a $30 registration fee.

DESCRIPTION: Students in this exciting new travel study course, offered in collaboration with the CETLALIC Center for Language and Cultural Exchange, will immerse themselves in the heritage and culture of the small town of Tepoztlán and the surrounding villages. The course blends study of the region’s inhabitants, land, and history, with an eye to relations among indigenous/Indian peoples and the larger population of “Mestizos,” the descendants of Spanish settlers. Students will gain knowledge of the politics and economic situation of the region, and learn about the area’s architecture, art, literature, mythology, and traditional and contemporary medical practices. Home stays enable students to experience Tepoztlán culture within the intimacy of a family setting. To enhance their learning, and as an integral part of the cultural immersion, students will participate in intensive Spanish language instruction, geared to their current level of proficiency in conversation, reading, and writing. Bilingual home stay families will provide informal opportunities for students to practice speaking Spanish. The program includes local historians, artists, and community activists, as well as expert field guides for excursions to such sites as the birthplace of the mythical Aztec God, the Plumed Serpent Quetzacoatl, and local museums such as the Regional Museum of Anthropology and the Ethnobotanical Gardens in Cuernavaca. Students will explore pre-Columbian culture, including traditions, customs, and arts originating in the pre-Hispanic period and continuing to the present time. Importantly, the language of the Aztec Empire, Nahuatl, continues to endure, and is reflected widely in Aztec art, local topography, the names of Aztec gods, and the name of a major archaeological site, Xochicalco. Students also will become familiar some of the differences and similarities between the U.S. and Mexican cultures, and aware of mutual cross-cultural perceptions and misperceptions, perhaps gaining understanding of ways to bridge the gap. Students seeking credit will complete a research project designed to focus on a particular area of interest.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

Day 1, Friday
Arrival in Mexico City and group pick-up at airport.
Meet with home-stay family in Tepoztlán.

Day 2, Saturday
9:00am-11:00am - Welcome. Program Discussion, and cultural and safety tips. Interview to determine Spanish language level.
11:00am - Walking tour of Tepoztlán with hike to mountaintop pyramid. Meet with Arturo de Mesa to see and discuss the "seed wall," a 20 x 30" arch built by the people of Tepoztlán each year entirely out of colored seeds.
1:00pm - Lunch (out).
3:00pm- Lesley Cultural Identity Circle/Study Groups. No evening program; free time.

Day 3, Sunday
10:00am-5:00pm - Visit to municipality of Amatlan de Quetazalcoatl (pop. 11,000; two miles from Tepoztlán). Ecological walk with Lucio, ecotouristic guide in Parque Nacional El Tepozteco. Visit to birthplace of Aztec God, Quetzalcoatl. Discussion of indigenous language and mythology with Ignacio.
7:00pm - Lesley group reflections on the weekend's experiences.

Day 4, Monday
8:30am - Introduction to the language class.
9:00am-1:00pm - Class with snack break at noon.
1:00pm-3:00pm - Free time.
3:00pm - Main meal with home-stay family.
5:00pm - Discussion of Tepoztlán history and tradition, including the impact of the Spanish conquest (Jorge Torrez). 7:00pm - Lesley Reflection/journal writing/study groups.

Day 5, Tuesday
9:00am-12:00pm - Language classes.
12:00pm-12:30pm - Break.
12:30pm - Discussion of alternative health (Sra.Vicenta from the local health care movement).
3:00pm-5:00pm - Main meal with homestay family.
5:00pm-7:00pm - Video: "No Al Golf" (about Tepoztlan's successful community resistance against the state of Morelos and developers to the building of a golf course in the town).

Day 6, Wednesday
9:00am-12:00pm - Language Class.
12:00pm-12:30pm - Break.
12:30pm - Discussion of the economic and political situation in Mexico (Alfredo Dominguez).
Afternoon free for visit to market in Tepoztlán and individual research.
3:00pm-5:00pm - Main meal with home-stay family, or at recommended restaurant.
7:30pm - Lesley study group.

Day 7, Thursday
9:00am-12:00pm - Language class.
12:00pm - Break.
12:30pm - Visit with the indigenous women potters in the small town of Cuentapec.
5:00pm-7:00pm - Discussion of the Zapatista Movement (Jorge Torrez).

Day 8, Friday
9:00am-12:00pm - Classes and assessment of language proficiency.
12:00pm - Break.
12:30pm - Lesley Reflection, identifying themes and issues, and project reports.
5:00pm - Papel Picado (an art form for celebrations that may involve cutting through 50 sheets of paper at a time to create elaborate designs associated with specific holidays); or candle making.
7:00pm-9:00pm- Potluck and poetry reading/discussion.

Day 9, Saturday
8:00am-8:00pm - Excursion to the archaeological site Xochicalco, a fortressed commercial and religious center founded c. 650 by Mayan traders (includes the Quetzacoatl pyramid, named after the Aztec god Quetzacoatl); and to Cuernavaca for visit to the Regional Museum of Anthropology, and the Ethnobotanical Gardens (former site of the Palace of Hernan Cortez).

Day 10, Sunday
Travel home.

FACULTY BIOS:
Nancy Waring, Ph.D., teaches in Lesley’s Division of Interdisciplinary inquiry. She is a professional non-fiction writer (journalism and memoir), with research interests in mindfulness meditation, public health, the history of western and integrative medicine, and interculturalism. For the past several years she has spent time in Mexico, focusing on social and cultural issues.

Gene Diaz is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences. She is a visual artist and ethnographer, and teaches graduate courses in curriculum theory, ethnographic research methods, and arts based action research. She presents her work on research in arts curriculum at national and international conferences, including El Arte de la Pedagogía at the Conferencia de Redes Artísticas de Medellín (Artistic Networks of Medellín). Colombia, October, 2007 and A Community of Recognition at the State of the Arts Leadership in Education Conference, Sacramento, California, May 2007. In 2002 Gene spent six months in Medellin, Colombia as a Fulbright Scholar, collaborating in research and teaching in the faculty of education at the Universidad de Antioquia.

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