Location:

Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

Undergraduate

Term:

Fall Semester, Spring Semester

Program Overview

Program Description:

Study educational policies, strategies, and pedagogy in Chile and Argentina. The program offers students the opportunity to engage in rigorous academic coursework and research on educational systems in urban and rural areas of Chile and Argentina. Students spend time in a diversity of schools, gaining insight on the workings of public, private, voucher, underprivileged, coed, and single sex institutions. Students consider the application of popular education as a tool for social change. Live in a country known for sustained government engagement in educational policymaking and implementation. With a long history of innovation in educational approach and delivery, Chile provides students a dynamic social and political environment in which to study education and social change. The program is based in Chile's capital, Santiago, the focal point of protests involving high school students seeking education reform in 2006. The protests mobilized nearly a million people and underscored the importance of education for the Chilean populace as well as the controversies surrounding education funding, content, and distribution. Students examine the social contradictions and tensions manifested in the recent election of a right-wing president twenty years after the end of Pinochet's dictatorship and a period of progressive center-left governments. The 2006 protests reflected the difficult transition from the educational mandates of a dictatorship to the progressive ideas available in a democracy.

The interdisciplinary coursework in the Chile: Comparative Education and Social Change program explores the political, social, and economic factors affecting educational systems and social change in Chile and Argentina. Students examine these effects firsthand through field studies and interactions with urban and rural communities throughout Chile and in Buenos Aires. During the final month of the semester, students leverage their accumulated knowledge and research experience to complete an Independent Study Project or participate in an educational practicum.

Please inquire for costs: Fees include tuition, full room and board, all field trips and related fares, health and accident insurance, and other direct program expenses. Participants pay for international airfare and domestic travel to the point of departure from the USA.

Setting Description:

Program components The program consists of three main phases: •Five-week homestay in Santiago during which students have lectures and intensive language instruction •Three-week period studying educational systems in Temuco, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina •Four-week period when students complete an Independent Study Project or practicum Each phase of the semester exposes students to different perspectives on education and social change through interactions with a broad range of stakeholders – from students and teachers to policymakers and social activists.

Additional Program Information

Scholarships:

Yes

Scholarships Description:

Please see our website for more information.