Doing Human Ecology in

Cross Cultural Contexts: Mexico

College of the Atlantic

Winter Term in the Yucatan Ð 2006-07

  Instructors: Gray Cox and Suzanne Morse

 

      This course deals with the social and political aspects of human ecological problems as they are experienced, in MexicoÕs Yucatan Peninsula. We will look both at the ways the Yucatan is representative of the rest of Latin America and also at the ways in which it is unique. The course has a dual focus on two basic goals -- one substantive, the other methodological:

 

      Substantively, it aims to introduce a significant amount of background information that will help explain how socio-political structures and dynamics provide contexts for the visual, economic, and natural ecological features of the world in Latin America and, in particular, in urban and rural settings in the Yucatan. This part of the course will help provide context for the other courses in this Winter Term program and also help prepare people for independent study in the future.

 

      Regarding methodology, this course also aims to develop skills for investigating socio-political structures and dynamics:

      * skills in language learning,

      * in ethnographic observation,

      * in historical interpretation,

* in planning projects for research and/or action dealing with socio-political issues. 

We will constantly be cultivating ways to relate specific sights, sounds, actions, and passages of text to general ideas about the patterns of the world and the changes going on in it. This part of the course should be of  help in processing experiences we have here in field trips, in other classes, with families, and in other kinds of encounters. This course is intended, in these ways, to provide  orientation and debriefing activities for the Winter Term Program here in the Yucatan.   

 

 

Readings and Homework:

      The first portion of this course consisted of the readings, homework exercises and discussions in the fall back in that other world on MDI. We will refer back to these in the remainder of the term.

      For readings here in Mexico, handouts will be supplemented with reading options that vary in how much competence in Spanish they require. These will include materials from Howard RichardsÕ  THE EVALUATION OF CULTURAL ACTION (in English and Spanish versions), academic articles and reports, articles from papers and magazines, brochures, posters, graphs, maps, charts, short sections from books, management plans, et cetera. Besides these readings, homework will often involve short activities that provide opportunities to interact with people or observe things. These activities will provide materials for your journal observations and for the short writing assignments.

 

Class sessions

 

     Mini-lectures will be used to provide general background and introduce some basic theoretical perspectives. In class, group exercises will be used frequently to help prepare for a field trip, homework activity or writing task or to debrief from one. Considerable time will be spent in discussion.

       We will also have some visits with people representing different points of view on human ecological problems in the Yucatan and, in some cases, we will visit with these people at the institutions where they work. Such trips will provide important field experiences that should be reflected on carefully in your journal. In some cases it will make most sense to visit related but different spots in small groups and compare notes afterwards. 

      Our schedule for meeting with other people will have to remain flexible enough to adapt to things that come up for them because of current events, schedule changes at their institutions, weather, et cetera. We will shift readings to the extent necessary to adapt to such schedule shifts. It will be

important to stay informed about the class schedule.

 

Themes:

      In the course of the term, various  themes will arise depending on your interests, current events and our travels. However, themes very likely to be prominent include:

* the historical processes and current institutions that provide the context for the production of food in Mexico Ð including the Òsector socialÓ and ÒejidosÓ

* tensions between ecological and economic interests

* social conflicts related to class structure, ethnic divisions, racial differences, gender and age differences, and language differences

* historical origins and likely futures of these conflicts and other features of the Yucatan

* lessons we can learn from successes in Mexico that we might apply in the U. S. [e. g. the comparative success here in conserving indigenous peoples' cultural traditions]

* difficulties in establishing the social infrastructure and civil society needed for democratic governance and collaborative action

* instabilities, crises, and opportunities created by participation in the global political economy

* tensions and synergies between scientific processes of investigation, political processes of planning, and economic processes of development  

* contrasts between basic categories used in U. S. and Latin American contexts to understand ecological issues

 

Writing Assignments

      There will be four sorts of writing assignments.

      First, you must keep a daily journal.  The word "daily" means that you should write at least something in it every single day and on most days you should write at least a page or so of reflections. The almost universal experience of people trying to learn about other cultures is that writing a daily journal [or "log"] of this sort is the single most important, invaluable, indispensable thing they have done. If you have not kept a journal before and find it difficult in any way, talk with class mates and with me immediately.

            This journal can be kept as a private record. I will not collect it for grading or review as such -- but you should bring it to every class and field experience. You will be asked to share selected passages from it and you will need to use passages from it to develop materials for your other two types of writing.

 

     The second sort of writing will involve usually very short pieces  that will also be used in class and handed in. These will typically consist of a question, comment or proposal with a brief explanation. You will often be asked to write some portion of them in Spanish. These exercises will help to prep and debrief various field activities and reading assignments and cultivate methodological skills for studying socio-political structures and dynamics. 

            Third, at the end of the classes, before your final project  you will turn in a short [1,000 to 1,500 word] reflective essay  that answers both  of the following questions:

 

* In learning to observe and interpret the social and political aspects of another culture, what things work best for you? Also, what things are most difficult and how can you best deal with the difficulties they present?

* How might you best make use of theories and information covered in this course and also skills and methods of investigation covered in order to pursue your final project? (Note: In answering this second question you should pay special attention also to specific ethical issues that might come up and how you might best deal with them.)

 

     Fourth, as part of your final project,  you will need to turn in a written proposal for it prior to undertaking it and you will need to turn in an outline of your presentation when you present it. [We will provide more detailed material on the final project as the term progresses.]

                                                                                                                       

Spanish and English [and Yucatec Maya]

     The basic plan is to teach in this course in English as much as is necessary and to learn in this course in Spanish as much as is possible. Some class sessions or portions of class session will be in English but we will talk about Spanish words, phrases, and texts. For example, in some cases it will be useful to work in English in dealing with ideas and theories which have been previously studied in English or which are especially challenging in conceptual terms.  From time to time role plays and other activities that might be useful in preparing for field observations may be done partly in Spanish. Interviews with visitors will vary. In some cases we will speak in English, in others, translate, and in others use various forms of paraphrase and restatement in Spanish as well as English to try to make communication as effective a vehicle as possible for both understanding other people's perspectives and understanding them "in their own terms". Since members of the class are at different levels in their ability we will have to experiment some with this -- and pay attention to ways in which different levels and kinds of abilities can complement one another in the observation process. Beginners notice some things native speakers overlook, for example. [Note: As peculiar as it may seem at the start, you may find that trying to pick up a little Maya will also serve as an excellent way to learn some Spanish.]

 

Grading:

     The final evaluation will be based as follows: 25% in-class participation, 25% short writing assignments and homework activities, 20% reflective essay and 30% final project.

     Note that apart from reasonable and appropriate allowance for medical excuses and the equivalent, no work will be accepted late. There is a really good reason for this. The written work is intended to help you process experiences as they occur. Timeliness is essential to its effectiveness.

     Note also that while no grade is directly given for journal writing, the frequency, quantity and quality of your journal writing will directly affect your performance in all four areas that are directly graded.

     Written work and class participation will be evaluated based on:

* the extent to which they draw on theoretical ideas and general information presented in the course;

* the extent to which they demonstrate improved skills in methods of studying socio-political structures and dynamics and:

~ the extent to which they reflect careful, systematic, thoughtful journal observations;

~ the extent to which they take multiple points of view into account;

~ the extent to which they demonstrate, specifically, progress made in working in relevant Spanish vocabularies; 

~ and the extent to which they are written in effective prose. 

 

 

Schedule:

Week

1/6

Treasure Hunt exploration of Merida and vicinity

1/13  Monday orientation, meet Tuesday and Thursday

their questions,

market

State and Federal Government  

"Mexico", chapter 16 from Charles Haus' COMPARATIVE POLITICS

1/20  "Ten Assumptions", HANDBOOK ON MULTICULTURAL AWARENESS

Selection from Kraus on cultural differences between U. S. and Mexico, discuss families

Video on San Crisanto

Lecture on Merida, Federico Sauri

 

1/27  Mexican NGO's

Selections from "Ethnography Demystified" by Dan Rosenberg

Video on Celestun   

2/3   Academic Community

materials from UADY and CINVESTAV

Extended Field Trip [Chichen Itza et cetera]

 

2/10  Demographic Differences

readings on race, class, language group, gender

Faculty Retreat

 

2/17 Business Community

2/24  Religious Communities, Maya Cultural Communities, and the Mass Media

Selections from Nelson Reed's THE CASTE WAR IN THE YUCATAN, Gary Bevington's MAYA FOR BEGINNERS, and others

3/3        Individual and group projects and trips

3/10       Projects and trips

-  and final presentations and collective debriefing