ANNOUNCING THE FIRST SEMESTER ABROAD PROGRAM IN MILLSAPS HISTORY:
Spring Semester in Yucatán
Millsaps College is proud to announce a new Semester Abroad Program in Yucatán, which will be offered in the Spring Semester of 2011. Using your regular tuition, room and board, you will be able to live and study abroad for the entire spring semester in Mexico. Taking a direct historical approach to the study of literature and history, archaeology and anthropology, the semesterlong program will embody the immersion experience we at Millsaps call “Living in Yucatán.” Realizing a comprehensive interdisciplinary vision featuring instructors from the humanities and the social sciences, students will move archaeologically, historically and literarily from the present to the past and back again, gaining intimate knowledge of Yucatecan life and culture.
BLOCK PLAN Structured on a “block plan,” the Spring Semester in Yucatán will be comprised of the following courses:
COURSE BLOCK 1: January 17-February 4 SPAN 1052-4752: SPANISH CONVERSATION (2 SEM. HRS.) All students will spend three weeks studying Spanish language at the Centro de Idiomas del Sureste (CIS), Mérida, at a level appropriate to their needs—from “survival” through advanced. Taught by the institute staff. LAST 3750/ ENGL 3750: SOUTH OF THE BORDER: VISIONS OF MEXICO IN ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURE, FILM, AND POPULAR SONG (4 SEM. HRS.) Featuring literature, film and music from the heart of the twentieth century, the course will explore the various ways Mexico has been envisioned in the Anglo-American public mind. (May be used to satisfy the CORE 5 requirement in Literature.) Taught by Eric Griffin.
COURSE BLOCK 2: February 8-25 LAST 4750/HIST 4750: COLONIAL YUCATÁN AND THE ATLANTIC WORLD Moving from the contact period, through the era of conquest and colonial domination, the course will explore the Yucatán in its broader, Atlantic context. There will be regular film screenings and weekend excursions to Campeche, Sisal, Valladolid, and Izamal. (May be used to satisfy the CORE 4 requirement in History.) Taught by Eric Griffin.
FINAL EXAM PERIOD, BLOCKS 1 & 2: February 28-March 2 SPRING BREAK: March 3-March 13 COURSE BLOCK 3: March 14-April 1 SOAN 3110 READING THE MAYA RUINS: BUILDING FORM, FUNCTION, AND MEANING This course will provide an introduction to ancient Maya art and architecture. While gaining a basic knowledge of the cultural and environmental history of the region, it will observe changes in art and architecture through time, relating local stylistic developments to major social and political changes. This block will include field trips to many important museums, archaeological and historical sites, including an excursion to Palenque in the state of Chiapas. Taught by Tomás Gallareta.
COURSE BLOCK 4: April 4-23 SOAN 3120 CONTEMPORARY CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT IN THE YUCATÁN (4 SEM. HRS.) The final course of the Yucatán semester will define “environment” very broadly to include everything from deforestation to the foods people eat. Divided into three broad topics: food, culture, and sustainability; conservation and communities; and globalization and the changing Yucatec landscape, the course will offer experiential activities and a number of local and regional excursions, including a stay on the Maya Riviera. Taught by Jessica Piekielek
YOUR
Instructors DR. ERIC GRIFFIN is Chair of English and Director of the Latin American Studies Program at Millsaps College. Dr. Griffin is the author of English Renaissance Drama and the Specter of Spain: Ethnopoetics and Empire (2009), an exploration of Anglo-Hispanic literary and cultural relations from the late fifteenth through the early seventeenth centuries. His comparative work on English and Spanish colonial efforts appeared in Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the Invention of the North Atlantic World, Robert Appelbaum and John Wood Sweet eds. (2005). Involved with Millsaps’ Living in Yucatán Program since 2003, Dr. Griffin is coordinating director of the college’s first Yucatán semester. DR. JESSICA PIEKIELEK studied cultural and applied anthropology at the University of Arizona. Her research interests include environmental anthropology and she has done fieldwork in the U.S.-Mexico border region. At Millsaps, Jessica’s classes in anthropology and environmental studies often include experiential or service-based learning. She is currently developing research at the Kaxil Kiuic biocultural reserve and neighboring Maya communities that will merge her interests in conservation and sustainability. TOMAS ` GALLARETA NEGRON, ` Millsaps Scholar of Maya Studies, is an internationally known archaeologist who has conducted research for INAH, Mexico’s National Institute of Archaeology and History, for over 30 years. He as worked at such important Maya sites as Cobá, Uxmal, Chichen Itzá, and Isla Cerritos. He is the former chairman of the Ar-
chaeology Section of INAH in Yucatán, and a member of the Mexican National Council of Archaeology. The idea to create Kaxil Kiuic came out of his desire to undertake a new way of doing archaeology that considers biological and cultural resources as well as archaeological remains. Tomás has been teaching in Millsaps’ Living in Yucatan Program for more than a decade.
COST The cost of Millsaps’ Spring 2011 Yucatán Program will be the same as a regular semester on campus, plus only an additional $4,230* (the price of a typical Millsaps summer abroad course). This will cover all four courses (16 semester hours), plus the two hour Spanish class, as well as room and board at all three of the Millsaps facilities in Yucatán: in the city of Mérida, the town of Oxcutzkab, and the bio-cultural reserve at Kaxil Kiuic. The program will include no less than four major field excursions—including trips to the Caribbean (or Maya Riviera), Campeche, and Chiapas—as well as a number of day trips to archaeological sites, museums, national parks, and other destinations of interest. All expenses for these trips will be included. The schedule will also feature an extended spring break for personal travel (cost not included). If you are interested in Millsaps’ semester in Yucatán, visit or email Dr. Eric Griffin (Director of Latin American Studies and Chair of English: griffej2@ millsaps.edu) or Dr. George Bey (Associate Dean of International Education and Professor of Anthropology: beygj@millsaps.edu). The program will be open to only 12 students, nine from Millsaps College and three from other schools in the ACS Consortium.** *Apply for a Robinson International Fellowship by September 27. **Check out Millsaps Latin American Studies Facebook page 1701 North State Street Jackson, MS 39210-0001 millsaps.edu
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