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Archives: 2010-2011

Summer 2011

Through the Lens: Teaching about Latin America through Film
June 5 – June 10, 2011

The Latin American Resource Center and Vanderbilt’s Center for Latin American Studies will collaborate to offer a week-long institute on Latin America for high school teachers. The institute will be held on the campus of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. Teachers will study different aspects of Latin America through feature films and documentaries with specialized faculty from Tulane, Vanderbilt, and Millsaps. Enriching their knowledge of Latin America, teaches will develop curricula for increased coverage of Latin America in their school. Housing & per diem allowance for food as well as CEUs will be provided.

Learn more about the films screened at the institute and resources developed from the institute by clicking here.

Spring 2011

Coffee, Culture, and Community Development Teacher Workshop
March 17, 2011
8:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans, LA

In collaboration with Vanderbilt University’s Center for Latin American Studies, Institute for Coffee Studies, Tulane University’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies, and the National Coffee Association present a K-12 teacher workshop in coordination with the NCA centennial convention March 17-19, 2011 at The Roosevelt Hotel.

This workshop will introduce teachers to the history of coffee around the world and explore the industry within Latin America. Participants will hear from acclaimed author Mark Pendergrast as well as receive a copy of his recent book Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed Our World. Coffee roaster and Latin American Studies educator Elizabeth Van Sant will trace coffee through Latin America and work with teachers on preparing hands-on and engaging activities to work into a curriculum on Latin America and/or Geography. This workshop is open to all K-12 teachers seeking to engage their students in the world of coffee. It is recommended that all teachers attend the public symposium, Coffee, Culture & Community Development immediately following the workshop.

Cost of participation is $15 and includes lesson plans, Pendergrast’s book, parking, and lunch. All teachers may receive professional development CEUs for full participation from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.

K-12 Maya Teacher Workshop
February 17, 2011
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Workshop on the ancient Maya. Featuring a session called Classroom archaeology: Methods used to understand the lives of the ancient Maya by Diane Davies, Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Anthropology. This session will discuss how to teach the subject of archaeology in the classroom in reference to the ancient Maya civilization. A general background to archaeology and what archaeologists do will be given, followed by techniques that archaeologists use to aid in the understanding of how the ancient Maya lived. The second session Mayan Lives in 21st Century Guatemala, by Judith Maxwell, Professor of Anthropology, will discuss the modern Maya. Mayan peoples of Guatemala count their friends on Facebook as well as in base twenty. They carry cellphones, often in handwoven pouches designed for that purpose. They surf the internet, download and upload music, text-message and e-mail. They may commute to work either in urban offices, street markets, or local fields and sweatshops. They may worship in Catholic or Protestant Churches as well as on hillsides. They have recently won the right to give their children Mayan names and to ask that their children be educated, at least partially, in their own languages. Mayan activists have strategically deployed a checklist of essential Mayan traits to argue for their collective and human rights (Mayan cosmovision, Mayan language, Mayan dress). In this session, we will explore this trait list and some “traditional" cultural arenas, situating them within the modern socio-political context.