HIST 309 Tropical Ecology of Guatemala, Belize and Spanish Immersion (SI)
In Guatemala students will live humbly and simply with host families in a small village, with one or two students per home. Mornings will be spent at a Spanish language school, studying one on one with native instructors. Afternoons will include excursions to forest reserves and Maya ruins including Tikal where we study tropical ecology and examine the cultural history of the Maya. We will work on several service projects at a small health clinic and a medicinal plants garden. The course includes a rigorous 3-day, 40 mile trek through tropical forests and Maya ruins, hiking and camping along the way. In Belize, we will stay at a field research station on a small island twenty miles off the coast on the second largest barrier reef in the world. We will explore coral reefs, mangroves, and coastal lagoons, mostly via snorkeling. The course will involve some fairly rigorous physical activity as well as some potentially challenging living conditions. The first week of the course will be on campus at Augustana.
Cross Listed Courses
BIOL 309
Prerequisite
1 course from Science of Natural World (NS),
SPAN 111 or higher, OR permission of Instructor.