Dominican
Republic
Campus Contact: Off-Campus Programs, Edgar Paiewonsky-Conde, Modern Languages Faculty Director: Rafael Nunez-Cedeno, University of Illinois, Chicago (Fall '00)
The program in the Dominican Republic is sponsored by a consortium of schools (Colgate, Hobart and William Smith, and the University of Illinois at Chicago). The semester-length program is designed to offer students interested in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Latin America the opportunity to study on site a Hispanic culture and a society of the Caribbean region, from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will attend class at Pontifica Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) in Santiago de los Caballeros and for one week in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.
APPROXIMATE
DATES
January 10 - April 30, 2003
ACCOMMODATIONS
Students will reside in homestays with a family from Santiago de los
Caballeros which will allow them a perspective into Dominican family
life and the daily practice of the language. During the week in the
capital students will be housed in a local tourist hotel, and in various
hostels and hotels on other overnight excursions.
EXCURSIONS
Students will visit the city of Santo Domingo (the first urban center
in the New World) for a one-week colloquium involving lectures by prominent
scholars who live in the capital and will participate in a number of
cultural activities including visits to museums and historic sites.
Excursions to other parts of the island such as Jarabacoa, a site in
the Dominican mountains, La Isabela, the first settlement established
by Columbus in the Americas, Montecristi, a traditional town with century-old
homes and Samaná, a costal resort town on the northwestern coast will
expose students to the present social conditions, the history and the
vivid beauty of this tropical country.
ELIGIBILITY
Students must have demonstrated language competence in Spanish, preferably
at the 300 (third year) level, and a strong academic record. Applicants
must submit a personal statement in which they outline why participation
in the program is important to their academic and personal goals.
APPROXIMATE
COSTS
Students will be charged a program fee of approximately $16,850 that
includes the regular fall tuition, $500 administrative fee, room, and
board charges. Additional costs include airfare, some books and personal
expenses. These additional costs vary according to individual needs
and tastes, but we estimate a total of at least $1350.
COURSE
DESCRIPTIONS
The academic program will be conducted in Spanish and will consist of
four courses: a language course, a community service or social themes
course with community service placement, and two electives from area
studies or humanities/social science.
Workshop in Spanish Conversation -- A course in Spanish will be offered, differentiated by the ability level of the student. Abilities will be developed in speaking, listening, reading and writing in a course with a communicative focus. The class will meet five hours each week. Those students who are at a very high level of Spanish (native or near-native proficiency) are exempt out of the Spanish language course and strongly encouraged to take the resident director's course, "Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics".
Community Service: Theory and Practicum or Dominican Social Themes - The course will consist of a practicum and theoretical aspects of the work. The general areas of service will include many work sites involved with public health, children and education, and community organizations. There will be regular required meetings with the resident director each month during the program to discuss problems and achievements encountered in the internships.
Elective courses-a few of the elective courses are: "Afro-Caribbean Cultures", " Culture and Society Through the Cinema", "Dominican Social Themes", "Caribbean Short Story", "Introduction to Dominican History", and "Dominican Economy". For very advanced students regular courses at PUCMM may be possible. Students can also enroll in the ESL/EFL training course taught at the Dominican/American Institute as an elective.