SOCWRK 494/594:
Working with Mexicans:
A Workshop for Social Workers, Teachers, Counselors,
Health Professionals and Spouses
May 31-June 15 & June 14-June 29, 2008
complete
course syllabus
cost information (3/25/2008 - final cost structure available by 4/1/2008)
Back by popular request, the professional workshop “Working with Mexicans: a Workshop for Social Workers, Teachers, Counselors, Health Professionals and Spouses” will be offered again during summer 2008. The course will be structured in two, 2-week modules with participants enrolling in either one or both modules.
Module one will be based in Cuernavaca at Cemanahuac. Module two will be based for one week at Cemanahuac’s rural site in Buenavista a Cuellar (Guerrero) with the final week split between Cuetzalan and San Miguel Tzinacapan (Puebla) and Mexico City. The workshop can be taken for 2-4 graduate or undergraduate credits or 30-60 CEUs. Special arrangements are available for additional credits.
Workshop coordination and leadership will be provided by Boise State University School of Social Work professor Jim Knapp. In addition to being a licensed clinical social worker, Jim is fluent in Spanish, with a BA in Spanish and MA in Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language. Jim is Practicum Director for the School of Social Work and teaches in the areas of clinical practice, diversity and cultural competency. Jim brings extensive experience leading international programs for students and professionals.
Immersion Spanish: In Cuernavaca and Buenavista participants will take 20 hours per week of immersion Spanish taught by experienced Mexican instructors from the Cemanahuac Educational Community in classes of no more than 5 students. Placement examinations will help determine Spanish proficiency so that participants are placed in an appropriate class. Immersion Spanish means that only Spanish is spoken in class.
Living with Mexican Families in Cuernavaca and Buenavista participants will learn about family life, practice their Spanish, and experience family gatherings and celebrations. In Cuetzalan we will stay in the Hotel Taselotzin, built and operated by a women’s cooperative, and in Mexico City we will stay in a modest central hotel.
Noted Guest Speakers will include outstanding authorities on Mexico such as Dr. Ross Gandy, Professor of Philosophy & Sociology, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); Dr. Nelly Salgado, Director, Community Health and Social Welfare, Mexican National Institute of Public Health, Center for Health Systems Research, Cuernavaca; Marina Castañeda, author and psychotherapist; Dr. Dan Lund, President and CEO, Mund Amerícas; and Kristine Reichert de Salgado, MA, Principal, Marymount Junior and Senior High School, Cuernavaca.
Field trips led by Charles Goff, Admissions Coordinator and Instructor of Anthropology, Cemanahuac Educational Community, will visit archeological and cultural sites such as Cuicuilco, the Temples of the Sun and the Moon, the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico City zócalo, Templo Mayor anthropological museum, Rivera/Orosco/Sigueros murals and botanical gardens. Optional field trips to the “silver city” Taxco and other locations will also be available.
Meetings with women’s, social development, human rights and progressive activist organizations and visiting the homes of working class Mexicans will be key elements of module two.
Readings will include Mexico in Focus, a concise introduction to Mexican history, politics and culture by John Ross; Mexican Lives in which Judith Hellman shares the stories of fifteen diverse Mexicans, putting a human face on the political and economic transformations affecting Mexico today; and Inside Mexico: Living, traveling and doing business in a changing society. In addition, to begin to understand the Spanish conquest of Mexico through the eyes of original Mexicans, we encourage reading an excellent short novel—Song of the Hummingbird, by Graciela Limón. These books will be complemented with selected contemporary articles and reports.
For additional information contact Jim Knapp or call (208) 426-1568. We are looking forward to your participation in what previous students have described as a “life-changing” experience.