GLOBAL CITIES & TRANSNATIONAL IDENTITIES (3 Credits, Undergraduate/Graduate, EDU/GEO 300, CFE 600)
The course is offered through the Syracuse University 2018 summer abroad program and will be based in Mexico City’s Roma neighborhood. It is a graduate and undergraduate, three-credit course that will begin on May 17 and end on June 2, 2018. This summer course is open to all majors; students from any college or university (non-Syracuse University students may enroll); and undergraduate, graduate, professional, and non-degree seeking students. Although there is no Spanish language requirement to take the course (as it will be taught in English), some Spanish language skills will help.
Using México as our site of study, we will learn how México’s history, culture, and political system has been affected by global migration. We will visit places that will help us examine how notions of citizenship, race, ethnicity, religion, labor, and education are shaped by globalization and transnationalism. We will learn how people move between communities, states, and countries and how these people reshape the places they live in.
In Mexico City, we will visit numerous sites and meet with multiple organizations. In general, we will learn about the ways migration, global policies relating to human mobility, and local economies affect people who migrate. For example, we will visit La Casa Azul (Frida Kahlo’s House), take a public art tour organized by Street Art Chilango, take a day trip to Teotihuacán, and work with the Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (México’s first transnational migrant workers’ rights organization). Although we will be based in Mexico City for most of our stay in México, we will also travel to the states of Hidalgo and Yucatán.
In the State of Hidalgo, we will travel to an ecotourist site called EcoAlberto to participate in a night hike that simulates the experience of undocumented immigrants who cross the México-USA border. The night hike, better known as la caminata nocturna, was created more than fifteen years ago by the Hñähñu natives (Otomi) of El Alberto, Hidalgo. The Hñähñu have garnered international media attention for their efforts to showcase the experiences of undocumented immigrants.
In the State of Yucatán, we will stay in the City of Mérida and meet with members of the Confucius Institute at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY) to discuss the way Chinese migration has affected the Yucatán Peninsula, and México more broadly. We will also visit Chichén Itzá, among other cultural sites in the City of Mérida.
As a whole, the sites we will visit and organizations we meet with will address global migration and transnational identities. For a more robust listing of sites we will visit, read the itinerary section of this website.
The application deadline to be considered for this course is February 20, 2018. Syracuse Abroad recommends that you apply in the fall semester as there are only a few spaces available for this course.
Check out the printable flier here.
To apply to the course, go to the SU Abroad page.