Education, Power, and Intersecting
Identities in Central America
2009 Exploration Seminar in Belize
THIS PROGRAM IS FULL AND NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS. PLEASE CONSIDER ANOTHER EXPLORATION SEMINAR PROGRAM!
Program Directors:
Rick Bonus, American Ethic Studies
Eric Hamilton (Diversity Minor)
Dates of Instruction: August 28th to September 18th, 2009
Belize is a country rich in cultural diversity, with a complex history of colonial rule coupled with immigration and migration of indigenous Central American peoples. In this exploration seminar, students will examine the dynamics of an education system charged with educating the many cultures, languages, and ethnic groups of this amazing country. Existing under British colonial rule for nearly 120 years, Belize very recently experienced independence, dating to just 1981. More than six different ethnic groups, with unique traditions, languages, and modernities, make Belize a unique place in which to learn and interact with peoples involved in an education system quite distinct from, but sharing foundational characteristics of, the U.S. education system. The Belizean government and its people are forging a future through rebuilding processes that involve intersecting cultures, identities, and domestic and international social relations. The goal of this seminar is to provide Diversity Minor Program students and students interested in these issues a rich, first-hand understanding of traditional versus alternative schooling practices and curricula amidst this complex social milieu.
 The Learning Site: Unique Experiences for Students in a Globalizing Age
This seminar will travel extensively between the Northern cities and towns and the rural Southern region of Belize, as well as offer excursions into Guatemala and Honduras. Over the course of our travels, participants will visit both urban universities and small, indigenous schools, dine with urban school officials and share communal evening meals with families, stay in city lodgings and room in village huts, and during a number of evenings engage in discussions of their learnings with their fellow seminar members. Belize also boasts one of the world’s greatest natural environments. The seminar will give students opportunities to experience jungle hikes, see breath taking waterfalls, and see and swim with the wildlife of the Belize Barrier Reef.
Students who choose this seminar will do so wishing to challenge themselves to better understand the systems of power relations and the complexities of cultural influences on education in different parts of the world. Like students in the Diversity Minor Program, interested students may come from majors as varied as American Ethnic Studies to Political Science to Informatics to Life Sciences.
 Seminar Activities
Over the course of the seminar, students will visit elementary, secondary, and university educational sites in both rural and urban locations, and engage in dialogues and educational practices with school leaders, teachers, and students about contemporary education practices and policies, to experience educational development first hand and in the Belizean context. Through these visits, students will develop an understanding of the historical and current political and cultural forces influencing the present-day Belizean education system. Students will also experience excursions to historic cultural sites, such as Mayan ruins, British colonial outposts, and museums important to the histories and identities of the peoples of Belize. An important component of the seminar will be engaging in community service activities including school improvement projects, as well as engaging in instruction and co-learning sessions with students as directed by the interests and needs of local school leaders.
 * See the Diversity Minor Program website and Facebook to learn more about the seminar and see photos.
Seminar Leaders:
Rick Bonus (rbonus@u.washington.edu) has taught in the Department of American Ethnic Studies since 2000. He is an associate professor, the director of the Diversity Minor program, and the interim director of the Southeast Asia Center. His research has focused on the relationship between racialized identities and public space, with a specific emphasis on Filipino American and Pacific Islander American communities, and issues of culture and education, including a focus on the experiences of underrepresented students in higher education as bases for a critique and transformation of schooling. Professor Bonus led a summer exploration seminar to the Philippines in 2007, a course that explored the consequences of Spanish and U.S. colonization on the islands.
 Eric Hamilton (divminor@u.washington.edu) is advisor for the Diversity Minor Program, is a graduate student in Educational Psychology. He has extensive travel experience in Europe, North Africa, and North America, worked a number of years as a K-12 bilingual instructor, is a fluent speaker of Spanish, and is an advocate for progressive, constructive pedagogy of cultures and identities.
Credits: This seminar will offer 5 credits in AES 498: Special Topics in American Ethnic Studies (I&S), and participants can check with their advisors to determine how these credits can count towards departmental requirements.
Student costs:
Additional costs include: round trip travel to Belize, health insurance and vaccines, some meals, and personal expenses. The program will provide participants with all housing and on average two meals per day.
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