The University of California’s Education Abroad Program has had a presence in Mexico since the 1980’s, and offers three excellent programs:
- UNAM Program (The National Autonomous University of Mexico)
- Mexico-U.S. Comparative Perspectives Program (in English)
- Field Research Program
All programs include a four-week intensive language review and contemporary history courses at Casa de California.
These courses are conducted by highly qualified and experienced Mexican instructors
- UNAM Program
- Mexico –U.S. Comparative Perspectives Program
- Field Research Program
EAP students at Casa de California
Located within walking distance from Casa de la Universidad de California is the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) where UC students can enroll in semester and year programs.
UNAM is the leading research university in the Spanish-speaking world. According to a recent study conducted by England's The Times, UNAM ranks 95th among the top 100 universities in the world, placing it above international institutions such as Shanghai, Bologna, Frankfurt, Tel Aviv, Georgetown, and the Sorbonne. In Arts and Humanities, UNAM ranks higher than the University of Chicago, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Johns Hopkins.
UNAM offers a wide variety of courses from its facultades--Filosofía y Letras, Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, Economía, Escuela de Trabajo Social, Arquitectura, Escuela Nacional de Música, and Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. UNAM is Mexico’s intellectual center and its Ciudad Universitaria provides students with many opportunities for intellectual, cultural, and political involvement.
Running from July to December, this five–course multidisciplinary program is ideal for juniors and seniors. Mexican specialists teach courses on economics, urban studies, migration, muralism, film, music and literature utilizing the cultural and political richness of Mexico City to enhance the classroom experience. A series of guest speakers open additional perspectives on relevant questions.
All students participate in a nine-day academic excursion to Oaxaca and Chiapas. The excursion includes visits to Mitla, Monte Albán, and Palenque and lectures by local experts on migration, cultural and linguistic diversity, and history and problems of social inequality of the southern border.
A significant number of Mexican students from UNAM, including exchange students from other Latin American countries, also enroll in the program creating exciting intellectual dialogues and social exchanges inside and outside of the classroom.
Students begin the program with five-weeks of course work in Spanish, Mexican history and politics, and research Methodology. At a seminar roundtable, students present preliminary projects for all program site mentors, professors at Mexican state universities. Students travel to field sites to work under the guidance of a site mentor for the remainder of the program and return to Casa for a final presentation. Field sites are located in: San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas; Mérida, Yucatán; Oaxaca, Oaxaca; Xalapa, Veracruz: Morelia, Michoacán; Guadalajara, Jalisco; Querétaro, Querétaro; and Mexico City. Recent research topics include: The impact of direct foreign investment in the auto parts industry in Querétaro; youth movements for social justice in Guadalajara; traditional medicine practices among the ethnic Chol community in Chiapas; micro-financing in a female hammock weaving collective in Yucatan; AIDS awareness among university students in Morelia.
EAP students’ experiences
"My research project near Mérida was on traditional Mayan farming. This experience was really pivotal for me, and I returned to the Yucatan to continue similar work after I graduated, and am now working with the Community Agroecology Network. It was great to be guided through the process of applying some of what I had learned in classes, and my time in classes at UC would have seemed pretty meaningless if. I had not had the chance to do that."
Devon Sampson, UC Santa Cruz
Sandra Orozco (far right) at her field site pueblo in Yucatán
"Conducting field research in a rural community was a very enriching experience at all levels, academic, cultural, and personal. I learned about research, culture, language, food, customs, and the realities of community development. My mentor was resourceful and supportive, and to my gratification as a researcher my final report was presented to the community and host university, which will publish it and use it to further the community project."
Sandra Orozco, UC Davis
