Embedded Spring: Media and Struggles for Democracy in Central America (Guatemala)
The Program
Learn about the role of media in the struggle for democracy in Central America, using Guatemala as your classroom.
Explore issues such as human rights, freedom of the press, indigenous rights, and feminism in the press through visits to local news and community media organizations. Learn about how colonialism and neoliberalism have had an impact on Guatemala and Central America in general.
Program Locations
Guatemala
Guatemala City
Students will visit the capital of Guatemala City, home of the country’s major media outlets, and speak with journalists at newspapers, radio and TV stations. These include grassroots media projects dedicated to promoting Mayan linguistic and cultural programming and Indigenous rights. We’ll visit “Voces de Mujeres,” Central America’s first feminist magazine and radio station.
Guatemala
Lake Panajachel
From there, the class will travel to villages along beautiful Lake Panajachel to understand the daily life and struggles of Guatemala’s Mayan communities and the role grassroots media play in education, empowerment and employment projects.
Guatemala
Antigua
Finally, we will meet with journalists and media activists in the lovely 16th century colonial town of Antigua, Guatemala’s first capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Surrounded by picturesque volcanoes, this town is a living museum, filled with Spanish colonial architecture, museums, art galleries, performance spaces, shops, cafes and traditional craft markets.
Academics
Students must have completed "Gender, Race, and Class in the Media" (preferably with Professor Marchi) or "Media and Social Change" before going abroad in order to be eligible for this program.
To view the program’s 2019 syllabus, please click here. Please note this is a sample syllabus, all of its content is subject to change.
This 9-day travel experience takes students to Guatemala to learn about the role of media in historic and contemporary struggles for democracy. This is hybrid course with 6 mandatory meetings on campus before we travel to Guatemala during spring break. Final papers will be due a week after returning to the US and there will be one final class after spring break to debrief and conclude the course. (There are no class meetings for the rest of the semester, since the required 40 course hours will be completed.)
Students will visit the bustling capital of Guatemala City; the lovely 16th century colonial town of Antigua (a UNESCO World Heritage site), the lakeside town of Panajachel and several Mayan villages. The class will meet with journalists, human rights activists, Indigenous rights associations, women’s collectives and other community groups. We will visit news agencies, community radio and TV stations, the office of the country’s first and only feminist magazine and radio station, museums and historic sites. Through readings, films, lectures, and site visits, students will learn about the regional effects of colonization, US military intervention and neoliberal economic policies in Guatemala and neighboring Central American countries, as well as the role of media in local struggles for political autonomy, human rights and democracy.
Housing and Meals
Students will stay at historic hotels in each program location. Breakfasts will be included daily and breakfast and dinner will be included while in Antigua. A celebratory Welcome Dinner the first night is also included, along with a couple of lunches.
Financial Information
Program Costs
| All Students | |
|---|---|
| Program Cost | TBD |
Program Cost includes:
• Tuition
• Housing
• Some meals
• Excursions
• In-country transportation
• Administrative Fees
• International SOS Health Insurance
Out-of-Pocket Costs
| Airfare | $500 |
| Meals | $100 |
| Personal Expenses | $200 |
| Total | $800.00 |
Out-of-Pocket Cost includes:
The above costs are estimations and represent the known out-of-pocket costs students encounter during their time abroad.
Some of these expenses will be paid for prior to going abroad, such as an airline ticket, while some of these expenses, such as meals and personal expenses, will be paid in-country as part of your daily expenses. As you plan, you will need to budget these costs and spend wisely throughout your time abroad.
Faculty Leader
Dr. Marchi conducts research and teaches on topics related to journalism and media, focusing on the intersections of media, culture, and politics. She is fluent in Spanish and formerly lived and worked as a journalist in Guatemala. She is Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies and is also an affiliated professor with the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies and the Rutgers Center for Latin American Studies.
Email Professor Marchi at: rmarchi@rutgers.edu