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Friday, July 27 to Thursday, August 9, 2012

QUICK LINKS: 
About the Course
Graduate Credit
About Puebla
The Instructor
Trip Itinerary
Costs & Payment Deadlines
Cancellation & Refunds
Information Packet & Registration Forms

This two week experience for Spanish teachers in middle and high schools will help you become more fluent in Spanish, as you earn three graduate Spanish credits. Participants will have daily classes in advanced grammar, conversation, culture, and Latin American literature. What better way to do this than while immersed in Hispanic culture with a native speaker? The course comes alive through the sights and sounds around you as you travel to Puebla, one of Mexico's most picturesque and culturally rich cities.

To ensure a high quality experience, enrollment in this program is limited to 6 to 12 students. Register early to ensure a place in the class!

About the Course 
The course will be divided into four segments:
1. Advanced grammar (very specific problems of writing/composition/with proper usage of words not influenced by the English language);
2. Culture of Latin America
3. Conversation classes with the objectives of “conversation classes for US students” as well as advanced conversation to increase teachers’ fluency in the Spanish language (many professors are not able to practice the language beyond the classroom work at their schools)
4. Latin American Literature.

Topic of Latin American Literature: Escritoras Latinamericanas
This course will study the writings of women from Latin America from Sor
Juana Inés Cruz, from the XVII century (the first woman to advocate for women's rights to learn) to the present.
A list of readings and an orientation packet will be sent one month before departure.

Grading:

30% participation in class and excursions

30% oral presentation on a Latin American cultural aspect (from any country)

40% research paper of 20 pages on one of the following novels: La mujer habitada (Gioconda Belli) or Los recuerdos del porvenir (Elena Garro) or on any other novel on a woman writer from Latin America

Paper is due one month after return: By mid-September

Credit Information:

Students who successfully complete the course requirements will receive 3 credits through Mount St. Mary's University's Master of Liberal Studies Program:  LIST 502 Spanish Educators Abroad.

About Puebla
Puebla has the largest colonial center of any city in México with many mansions, convents and churches and due to its magnificent architecture it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has one of the best climates of the Mexican highlands. It is also considered the cradle of Mexican cuisine, the place where the famous mole was born (at the cocina de Santa Rosa) and the chiles en nogada (as described in the novel Like Water for Chocolate).

Puebla has a unique art: talavera. Artisans from the town of Talavera in Spain arrived in Puebla three centuries ago and began the craft of painting tiles (an art from the Moors in 8th century Spain). Nowadays, plates or any other objects with this style are called by the name “talavera”. Puebla is also the site of the battle celebrated by the “Cinco de mayo” holiday.

About the Instructor  
Dr. Diana Rodríguez-Lozano holds a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature from the University of Maryland. She is an Associate Professor at Mount St. Mary's University, specialized in Latin American Literature and Civilization. Her book, Conceptos ocultistas en la narrativa de Rafael Arévalo Martínez, was among three finalists for the Letras de Oro competition. With a passion for learning, extensive  expertise as a travel study leader, and an exuberance true to her Latin American heritage, Dr. Rodríguez-Lozano will personally guide you through classes, excursions, and all of the details you need for a safe and satisfying experience.

Tentative Itinerary
All meals are included while in Puebla at Hotel Colonial. http://www.colonial.com.mx/

Breakfasts are served from 7-9 a.m. 
Lunch 1:30 p.m.
Dinner 7:30 p.m.
Lunch is the heavier meal in México and it is eaten, normally, between 2 to 3:30. Dinner is a lighter meal. 

Friday, July 27

Arrival in Puebla, Mexico. Check in at the Hotel. Only dinner will be included if arriving before 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, July 28

Excursion to Cholula (largest pyramid in Mesoamerica) and the churches of Santa María Tonantzintla and San Francisco Acatepec (for the “churrigueresco style and Indian influence)
Lunch box. Breakfast and dinner at Hotel Colonial.

Sunday, July 29

Day in Puebla to visit the different “tianguis” of Sundays in Puebla and to visit the mercado de artesanías El Parián.
6:00 p.m. Meeting to discuss these cultural experiences: the tianguis of the Aztec times to the present.

Weekday Schedule of classes and cultural activities:
9:15 – 10:15 Advanced Grammar class
10:30 – 11:30 Culture Class
12:00 - 1:00 Conversation class
(for fluency)
1:30 Lunch
2:30 - 4:30 Cultural Activity in Puebla
5:00 -- 7:00 Latin American Literature Class

Monday, July 30

Classes
Cultural activity: Museo Amparo

Tuesday, July 31

Classes
Cultural activity: Catedral & Capilla del Rosario

Wednesday, Aug. 1

Classes
Cultural activity: La cocina de Santa Rosa

Thursday, Aug. 2

Classes / Possible visit to the talavera making

Friday, Aug. 3

Excursion to Teotihuacan. Lunch box. Breakfast and dinner at the Hotel Colonial.

Saturday & Sunday,
Aug. 4 & 5

Free days to take an optional trip (optional excursions to be arranged individually. Possibilities: Oaxaca or Taxco. Each town is six hours away from Puebla. Overnight is recommended)

Monday, Aug. 6

Classes
Cultural visit: Walking tour: Patios de Puebla (Tentative)

Tuesday, Aug. 7

Classes
Cultural visit: Walking tour: Conventos de Puebla (Tentative)

Wednesday, Aug 8

Classes 
Last afternoon in Puebla

Oral Presentations

Thursday, Aug. 9

Leave Puebla at 10:00 a.m.
Only breakfast is included on our last day in México. One stop only to the airport and Hilton Hotel at the airport to leave luggage.
Museo Antropólogico visit: noon to 3:00 p.m.**
Hotel night is not included.

**Important notice: the visit to the Museo antropológico is optional but highly recommended. A participant could select to return to US on this day or spend the night in Mexico City.
If departing this day, August 9th, no return flights should be scheduled before 6:00 p.m. if visiting the Museo. If staying the night in Mexico City, participants must make their own hotel reservation.
Hotel recommended for its convenience: Hilton at the Mexico Benito Juarez international airport. Holiday Inn and Best Western also have hotels with shuttle transportation to the airport.
If participants reserve at any other hotel other than the Hilton at the airport, a taxi must be taken from the Museo to their hotel. No transportation will be provided.

Costs  
Program Fee: $1,689* 
Includes double/triple room in the Hotel Colonial, Meals, Excursions, Gratuities and Administrative Fees.  Please note that Mount St. Mary’s does not assign roommates. Those interested in finding a roommate will receive a list of other interested students in order to contact them to discuss suitability / preferences. Names of roommates are to be forwarded to the Mount Summer Office no later than May 15.  Those without a roommate will be assigned a single room and the single room rate.

*If you would like a single room, add $365.

Tuition Fee: 3 credit Graduate Spanish Course:  $1230.  A limited number of scholarships are available for participants whose school systems do not reimburse for graduate tuition.

Payments
1st Payment - Nonrefundable Deposit: $450 - due by April 15

2nd Payment - $1500 - due by May 15

3rd Payment - Balance - due by June 15

Program fees do not include:

• Our travel expenses to and from Puebla. You must purchase your own airfare
• Books*
• Optional excursions
• August 9 overnight in Mexico City
• Entrances to any sites, museums or cultural activity (estimated at around $5 per activity and $10 at archeological sites)

*Once registered, students will receive a book list directly from Dr. Rodriguez-Lozano.

Cancellation Policy and Schedule

• Student withdrawing on or before May 15, will receive a full refund minus the non-refundable deposit of $450.

• Student withdrawing on or before June 15, will receive a refund minus $950 (the nonrefundable deposit of $450 plus an additional $500 cancellation fee)

• Student withdrawing after June 15 but before the program start date of July 27, will receive a refund for the cost of tuition only.

• After July 27, no refund will be received.

For more information about the program or trip content, contact:
Dr. Diana Rodríguez-Lozano, lozano@msmary.edu  or 301.447.5322

For more information about how to register, contact: 
Angie Hamlin, Mount Summer Office, summer@msmary.edu or 301.447.8329

 Information Handout

Registration Information and Forms

Join our EMAIL LIST for occasional updates about Spanish Educators Abroad 2012: Puebla and other Summer programs:  Mount Summer Email List. 

For more information, you can contact us at 301-447.8329 or summer@msmary.edu. 

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