academic info

Our approach to education is multi-faceted. We strive for holistic education that is experiential, intercultural, and rigorously academic. Most of the courses include numerous excursions and guest speakers. In addition to learning from lectures, required readings, guest speakers and excursions, we believe that we have much to learn from each other and that this learning takes place by discussing our own analyses of what we are reading, hearing, and seeing, particularly with regard to cultural issues, such as cultural differences that impact people involved in social services, education and other professional fields, as well as differences that may impact you as foreigners in Mexico. Therefore, we devote significant time to group discussion.

Over the course of the semester, we strive to develop a living and learning environment in which the interpersonal dynamics are consistent with the ideals of responsible global citizenship and social justice that we are studying and trying to foster through the academic programs. Our educational philosophy values personal experiences and recognizes that education involves questioning oneself and the world. Hence, we try to foster an atmosphere in which you feel safe and supported as you grapple with new realities and new questions about yourselves and the world in which we live.

In order to create this kind of healthy living/learning environment, students and staff will periodically participate in structured discussions and activities designed to foment awareness and responsible behavior with regard to issues of racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and intercultural communication. While these activities may sometimes take place outside of the formal “classroom,” they are considered an integral part of all courses and an essential part of the overall academic program.

Throughout the semester, there will be several optional activities, such as group outings to water parks, hikes, visits to archeological and artistic sites, and other interesting and fun locations.

The Center for Global Education and Experience staff in Minneapolis will register you for the program based on a course registration questionnaire in your Global Gateway account. See Course numbers/titles and syllabi for available courses.

Drop/Adds

Slight changes in your registration can be made after arrival in Cuernavaca. However, you may not change Spanish courses after the third day of the Spanish class due to the intensive nature of the Spanish courses.

You will be provided a copy of your course registration during the first week of classes, and a drop/add form. Any changes must be made using this form, which should be emailed to Margaret Anderson in the Minneapolis office. No changes will be made without this form.

Important guidelines and recommendations to consider before registering for courses:

• You may take 12-19 credits, depending upon which courses you take. Most classes are worth four credits, with a few exceptions listed below.

• Please note that the Spanish courses are taught from 8-10:50 AM, Mondays-Thursdays for only 5 weeks. That way you can immerse yourself in the course and allow time for program travel to rural communities, Mexico City, and more. It also means that students in the "Liberal Arts, Migration & Social Change" (LAMSC) program can take 2 Spanish courses, since you could take a second one after the first one is completed.

• COM 329 Intercultural Communication course (four credits) is a required course unless you have already taken it or CCS 100 Introduction to Cross-Cultural Studies, in which case you can take INS 495: Topics in Intercultural Communication in Mexico

• The Recreational Wellness course, Latin Dance (one credit)

• A lighter load will allow you to take advantage of opportunities to travel and, if we do include family stays during the semester, spend additional time with your host family. However, if you choose this option, you must check with your own school to make sure that it will not affect your enrollment status and/or financial aid.

• You may sit in on classes for which you are not registered, except for Spanish.

• Courses other than Spanish will be taught primarily in English, and translation will be provided for guest lecturers who speak in Spanish. However, if you want to complete some or all of your work in Spanish, please talk to the instructor.

• If you have never taken the equivalent of a university-level Spanish course, you should take at least one during the semester and/or arrive 3-4 weeks early (at your own expense) to take an intensive Spanish course.

• If you are bilingual or already an advanced Spanish student, you are not required to take Spanish during the semester.

• If you wish to apply for an internship or independent study, you should have completed the equivalent of Intermediate Spanish II in advance, and you MUST complete the appropriate questionnaire in your Global Gateway account.

Information for Augsburg students regarding general education requirements:

• Participation in the program will fulfill the Augsburg Experience general education requirement.

• Humanities: RLN 344 or SPA 337

• Modern Language skill credit: all Spanish (SPA) courses

• Recreational Wellness: WEL 118 “Latin Dance”

• Search for Meaning II: RLN 344

• Social and Behavioral Sciences: POL 357

The Center for Global Education and Experience contracts its language instruction with the Universal Center for Language and Social Communication in Cuernavaca. Universal is a highly respected institution among the many language schools in Cuernavaca. The school's primary focus is oral competency and having a solid grammatical base. Classes are small, ranging from two to no more than seven students.

Spanish Assessment

You may meet with the Academic Director at Universal after arrival in Cuernavaca. This informal conversation will not serve as a placement exam but rather as an assessment measure for the Spanish instructors to determine students’ strengths and weaknesses. That information will then be used to: 1) tailor some of the class sessions to address problem areas; 2) recommend special tutoring for students who are behind others in the class; and 3) divide the group into even smaller classes when there are more than six students registered for the same course.

Choosing and Registering for Spanish Courses

Choose your Spanish course(s) after reading the course descriptions, recommendations, and guidelines listed here. If you are still not certain which course to take, please review the Spanish syllabi and talk to a professor in your Spanish department. You may also email the Mexico Site Director Ann Lutterman-Aguilar with questions.

If you want to take an additional Spanish course before or after the semester, please see the section below about taking an additional Spanish course before and after the program.

Important information regarding registration for Spanish courses:

• If you are in the "Liberal Arts, Migration, & Social Change" (LAMSC) program, you may register for more than one Spanish course since they are usually taught intensively and consecutively for 5 weeks, Mondays-Thursdays from 8:00-10:50am. However, if you are completing a SWK Field Work placement or conducting an internship, it may be difficult to take multiple Spanish classes, so please be sure to check with us before registering.

• All courses meet for 60 contact hours.

• Most of the basic Spanish courses meet daily for three hours a day (8:00 - 10:50am) for four days per week (Mon.-Thurs.) for five weeks, although the schedule may vary. Advanced Spanish courses will likely meet less often but throughout most of the semester. We will let you know what your Spanish schedule will be after arrival in Cuernavaca.

• Please note that if you are taking two or three Spanish courses, your schedule will likely change over the course of the semester. Again, that may not be possible if you are completing Social Work Field Work.

• If you are taking a 100 or 200-level course, you should register for whichever course follows the last course you took. If you are at the 300-level and above, register for whichever course you are most interested in or most need.

• In the case of SPA 316, you do not need to have taken SPA 311 first; those two courses may be taken in any order. However, please note that SPA 311 is a prerequisite for all other advanced courses.

• We strongly recommend that if you have already completed the equivalent of SPA 212, you take *SPA 316 Conversations in Cultural Context, as it is geared toward developing oral competency in Spanish and is therefore particularly appropriate to take in Mexico.

• Augsburg students may NOT take SPA 356 in Mexico, as it is offered on campus in Minneapolis.

• SPA 411 counts for the writing skill graduation requirement at Augsburg College. If you are from another school and are majoring or minoring in Spanish, check to see which courses will count toward your major or minor.

• If you are not an Augsburg student, check with your Spanish department BEFORE registering for your courses so that you make the appropriate choices in advance.

• You may not change Spanish courses after the first two days of the first week of Spanish classes because each course is typically an intensive 5-week course.

• You may change classes in the first two days only under the following conditions: 1) There is still space in the course that the student wants to take (no more than six students per class), 2) The student’s Spanish level is adequate, as indicated by the pre-test or the online placement test and/or previous Spanish coursework.

• You are not required to take Spanish if you already speak the language, although most students choose to do so. If you are already fluent in Spanish, you will not be as busy as you would be otherwise during the semester. In fact, if you don’t take Spanish, you will have more time to complete the required internship hours if you are conducting an internship.

• If you have never taken the equivalent of a university-level Spanish course, you should take at least one during the semester and/or arrive 3-4 weeks early (at your own expense).

Class Schedule and Contact Hours

Please note that unlike courses on your home campus, your class schedule for every course except Spanish will change throughout the semester. You will be given access to an online calendar once in Mexico. The daily schedule for each week will be finalized and provided to you by lunchtime on the preceding Friday. The reason for the changes in class days times for non-Spanish courses is that we rely heavily on guest speakers and excursions, which cannot always fit into the same time block on the same day. In addition, most of our guest speakers & excursions are interdisciplinary and count for multiple courses.

Most of the basic Spanish courses meet daily for three hours a day (8:00 - 10:50am) for four days per week (Mon.-Thurs.) for five weeks, although the schedule may vary. If you are taking both SPA 211 and 212, SPA 212 won’t begin until after you complete SPA 211. You will be given more information once you are in Mexico.

You will be expected to practice your Spanish during your rural and urban homestays, at meals, and in the community.

January Spanish Classes

If you have not had any previous Spanish instruction, we strongly recommend that you take a full three weeks of Spanish before the program starts. We offer you the opportunity to do this at our language school partner, Universal Center for Language and Social Communication, just a few blocks away from our study center.

There are two options:

• Spanish Classes without Academic Credit

We encourage you to choose this non-credit option as a way of improving your Spanish because it gives you the most flexibility in terms of the number of weeks of Spanish that you take. If you aren’t seeking academic credit, you don’t have the pressure of grades; you are simply free to advance at your own pace and to concentrate on learning as much as you can as quickly as you can.

• Spanish Classes for Academic Credit

In order to receive academic credit for one course (four credit hours), you will need to take 60 hours of Spanish: five days a week (number of hours per day TBD). You would start Spanish classes approximately three weeks before the start of the program.

The additional academic Spanish course will incur a “tuition overload fee” of $1,228 per credit in addition to your regular tuition, if this 4-credit course will push you beyond the 19-credit/semester limit at Augsburg.

Housing in January

You will be housed at either CGEE’s study center, Casa Augsburg, just minutes from Universal, or with a local family. We will pick you up at the airport and get you settled when you arrive in Cuernavaca. Please send your flight arrival information to Margaret Anderson and Antonio Ortega in order to arrange pick-up times.

Cost

• Universal fee for three weeks of class: $515

• Room and board, ground transportation: $550

• Total: $1,065

This will be added to your program fees for the semester.

How to Sign Up

Please contact Ramiro Cuellar cc Ann Lutterman-Aguilar, Antonio Ortega and Margaret Anderson to make arrangements for the course for which you need to register. Let Ramiro know that you will be participating in the Augsburg semester program and that Augsburg will pay for your tuition.

General Academic Information

Explanation of grades, assessment, attendance, etc.