Study in Mexico

Students will enroll in SPN 394 (3 credits) or SPN 494 (3 credits) with Dr. Boomershine or HON 212 (3 credits) with Dr Segovia during Spring 2024. The prerequisite for SPN 394 is SPN 202 or 215 and permission of instructor. The prerequisite for SPN 494 is permission of instructor. Both native and non-native speakers of Spanish are encouraged to apply.

The class will meet weekly throughout the spring semester and the remaining contact hours will occur in Mexico. Students will explore the effects of immigration and globalization in North Carolina and Oaxaca through study of language maintenance and use, immigration patterns, economic trends, demographics, policies, and one-on-one interviews with Oaxacans living in Wilmington and in Oaxaca.

Most of the Mexican immigrants in this region of North Carolina are from Oaxaca, which will allow students the opportunity to learn from immigrants residing in Wilmington and then travel to their home state/country to meet their relatives, as well as immigrants who have returned to Oaxaca from the U.S.

This course fulfills the Explorations Beyond the Classroom component of University Studies as well as the Applied Learning requirement for the Spanish major. Classes in Mexico will take place each morning at the Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez Oaxaca (UABJO) in Oaxaca City.

The instructor of the Spanish seminar will be Amanda Boomershine, PhD, professor of Hispanic Linguistics at UNCW. Dr. Boomershine has experience leading students abroad and last took groups of students to Mexico in 2007 (Puebla & DF), 2017, 2019, 2022 (Oaxaca). She is excited to return to Mexico this year!

The instructor of the Honors seminar will be Dr. Edelmira Segovia, director of UNCW's Centro Hispano. She traveled with the group in 2017, 2019, 2022 and has experience traveling throughout Latin America.

The home base for the trip will be the capital of Oaxaca – the city of Oaxaca. There, students will explore its many markets, gardens, zócalos and historic buildings. Students will also have the opportunity to learn how to cook traditional Oaxacan dishes, see how traditional wooden figurines are made, and visit a ceramic workshop. All students will stay with a local Oaxacan family, and daily class meetings will take place at the Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez Oaxaca (UABJO).

Additionally, students will visit sites outside the city including Teotitlán del Valle, Mitla, Hierve el Agua and Monte Albán. Teotitlán del Valle, founded in 1465 by the Zapotecs, has managaed to preserve the Zapotec culture and language, and is known for its hand-woven rugs and delicious mole. Both Mitla and Monte Albán are archeological sites dating back 10,000 years. Hierve el Agua boasts natural rock formations in the shape of waterfalls over cliffs, as well as natural pools.