JAN 410 - TRAVEL: Globalized Mexico

Course webpage: JAN 410

Level: Upper-division (400 Level)

Please note: First-year students are not permitted to travel internationally for Jan Term

Travel dates: Wednesday, Jan. 1 - Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025

Course fee: $3,300

Contact: Álvaro Ramírez, aramirez@stmarys-ca.edu

In this course, students will analyze the globalization process that has occurred in Mexico and which has put in doubt the national project initiated by the Mexican Revolution. As they do so, they will travel to famous archeological sites such as Teotihuacan, the colonial cities of Puebla and Oaxaca as well as the postmodern metropolis of Mexico City, where students will visit the Museums of Anthropology, National History, and Frida Kahlo. Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. students will have academic activities. During the first two hours, Prof. Ramírez will lead seminar-type discussions in English. We will discuss the post-revolutionary politics that helped to define the national project and its nationalism that created a Mexican identity that had its heyday in the mid-twentieth century and has lately been transformed by the forces of globalization. We will particularly focus on Mexican identity during the NAFTA years and the late cultural transformation of rural communities, in particular traditional Indigenous communities. From 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. all students will attend conversation workshops according to their level. Most excursions will take place on weekends with some outings on some afternoons. All students will be housed in hotels in Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca City, and a weekend in the beach town of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. Four meetings scheduled prior to leaving on the trip are considered part of the course.

Prerequisites & Notes

Attend at least 1 information session
Permission of the instructor

General Travel Requirements

Attend at least 1 Health & Safety Orientation (October)
Submit a valid passport (November)
Apply or renew no later than September for on-time delivery
Submit completed & signed health forms + proof of vaccination(s) (November)

Note: Failure to complete one or more of the above requirements will result in an immediate drop from the course. Once registered, all course fees are non-refundable.

Credits: 1-CU