Globalization and Nicaragua

Instructor: Dr. Ann Marie Fallon

This 11-day overseas program is part of the first-year honors course, "Colonialism to Globalization." In Nicaragua students will be immersed in public literacy fieldwork and study the connections to historical and political developments in the last half of the 20th century. Part of program includes working with a community to help construct a school and education center. Students will also study the regional and global impacts of these movements including discussions on the indigenous culture of Nicaragua and the impact of globalization on literacy, economic development and public education programs. Students will gain an appreciation for alternative models of development and local empowerment projects.

The four-credit honors seminar is part of our larger year-long course in which we emphasize the ways that knowledge is shaped by colonialism and globalization and how these forces, in turn, shape the lives of people and places today and the ways that we all know and connect in the world. Classroom discussions will focus on connecting theories of globalization to the history of Nicaragua and the narratives of development and resistance that have shaped the modern state.

Program Dates

Orientation and pre-departure course meetings: Feb 14 and Feb 28, 2012

The international component runs: March 22 – April 1, 2012, not including travel time.

Program Application

Apply through Education Abroad by December 5, 2011.

Draft Itinerary

Participants will arrange for their own travel to Nicaragua and will need to arrive prior to the first day of class in Nicaragua on March 22. Most flights arrive in the middle of the night; therefore, participants are expected to arrive in enough time to begin class rested by 9 am on March 22.

Daily activities will include meeting with the community and then proceeding to the project site to help with construction of a school. Lunch will be the big group meal of the day, eaten with community partners, afternoons will include scheduled tours of other school building sites, the Central Cathedral, artisan coops, museums, the national park with a memorial dedicated to the victims of the civil war, and the national theater.

Partner Organizations

Seeds of Learning, partners with communities to build schools. These partnerships are the core of its philosophy of cooperative development. Students will be engaged in helping to build a school with a community.