RW
Rachel Warmke
  • Class of 2012
  • Janesville, WI

Rachel Warmke experiences life in Latin America

2009 Aug 21

Fifty-nine Augustana students are heading back to school over 3,000 miles away for a 10 week international studies program in Latin America next week. The program, established at the college over thirty years ago, immerses students in Latin American culture as they live and study in Ecuador, Peru and Mexico.

The program begins in late August in Cuenca, Ecuador, where students will spend four weeks living with host families and studying at the Center for Inter-American Studies. They will then take a three-week tour of Lima and Cusco in Peru and five-day excursions to the rainforest and Machu Picchu, the famous sacred city of the Incans. Their trip will end with four weeks in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where the students will again live with host families.

The students represent a broad range of academic majors, and many have little or no Spanish-speaking experience. "The Latin America term is really not a program geared towards Spanish majors," said Dr. Allen Bertsche, chair of the Spanish department and the program's director. "It is a program designed to increase cultural and global awareness among all majors at Augustana." During the first four weeks, international professors will teach Spanish courses at all levels from introductory through advanced alongside courses taught by Augustana faculty.

Junior Emma Fane, of Berkeley, California is one of the many students with a limited Spanish background. Fane is studying French and communication sciences and disorders with a psychology minor. She admits she is nervous about communicating with her host family, but is also excited for the wide array of opportunities she will have on the trip. "I can hardly wait to live with my two different host families, go to markets, explore Machu Picchu, and even hike through the jungle," she said.

Liz Hinds, a junior pre-med and biochemistry major with a Spanish minor from Monticello, Illinois, is similarly excited. "I've literally been planning my classes around this trip since my freshman year," Hinds said. Hinds is from a Puerto Rican family and has been taking Spanish her whole life, so she looks forward to experiencing the culture first hand. "When people ask me about this term, most are confused and wonder if I'm taking time off from my major. Why else would someone majoring in pre-med and biochemistry go to Latin America? But I graduate in '11 and this might be the last chance I get to travel to these amazing countries and learn so much about them while I'm there."

The students will take up to four courses in Spanish, biology, literature, history, art, or political science. All of the courses are specifically designed to integrate classroom learning and cultural experiences. For instance, students in the "Art in Americas" course will study native arts in Latin America and then travel to sites where these artistic styles are produced and displayed. All students will also participate in a cultural seminar that uses sites, speakers and excursions that go beyond the usual "tourist" experience.

Dr. Bertsche recognizes the unique academic opportunity that the program gives students. "When students go on Latin American term, they are asked to combine the perspectives, attitudes, strategies and knowledge of artists, scientists, writers, social scientists and historians to try to decipher the experiences they have as part of the trip. Our hope is that students develop a more nuanced understanding of the world, their home culture, and their own background and values. Many a student has returned from the trip with a new perspective on the United States as much as on Latin America."

Bertsche is one of several Augustana faculty members who will teach a course during the trip. Other faculty include art professor Ms. Rowen Schussheim-Anderson, environmental studies and biology professor Dr. Bohdan Dziadyk, political science professor Dr. Mariano Magalhaes and history professor Dr. Molly Todd. The students and professors will return to the United States at the end of November.

Four of the students will be keeping a blog of their adventures on Augustana's Globologs. To read more about their trip, log-on to http://www.augustana.edu/blogs/international.

Rachel Warmke from Janesville, WI is among the students participating in the program. Rachel is a sophomore at Augustana and is majoring in general studies.

About Augustana: Founded in 1860 and situated on a 115-acre campus near the Mississippi River, Augustana College is a private liberal arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college enrolls nearly 2,500 students from diverse geographic, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds and offers more than 60 majors and related areas of study. Augustana employs 226 faculty and has a student-faculty ratio of 11:1. Augustana continues to do what it always has done: challenge and prepare students for lives of leadership and service in our complex, ever-changing world.