This program is held in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, a modern port city with a small town atmosphere located on the Pacific Ocean 100 miles south of San Diego, California. Students attend classes and live with middle class families, most of which have formed part of our network of families for several years. The program is designed to provide cultural immersion. Anthropology classes are conducted partially in Spanish as part of the cultural immersion experience. You must attend the first session to participate in the second.

This program is designed to meet several objectives:

1) assist you in adaptation to Mexico, culture shock adaptation; and cultural learning;

2) provide intensive instruction in Spanish through immersion in the language;

3) provide instruction in Mexican cultural patterns, particularly family and social life;

4) introduce basic ethnographic research methods used to learn about other cultures (participant observation and interviewing) and their application;

5) instruction in formal quantitative research methods and assistance in developing and implementing a research project; and

6) participate in the research and writing of an ethnography of the municipio of Ensenada for qualified students.

You will receive 7 units of semester credit per session, with a total of 14 semester credits for the complete program. You must enroll in either ASB 302 or ASB 583, and take at least one course for credit each session. Students without conversational skills in Spanish must take Spanish classes. Seven units are considered an overload, and some students may feel that taking this amount of work for credit may interfere with their extracurricular activities. You may audit courses (no credit), take them on a pass/no pass basis (credit), or for a regular grade. Students taking classes on the pass option are required to attend class and complete most course assignments except research projects. Students taking classes on the audit option are required to attend classes and maintain field notebooks.

The research aspect of our program allows students to develop projects of their own interest or to participate in program research projects. The students are provided collaborative research experiences with local institutions and individuals, and are assisted in developing a personal research program on a wide variety of local topics and activities. Previous projects have included: traditional healing practices, herbal medicine, midwives, the health care system, intercultural communication, gestural communication, ethnic identity, work migration, maquiladoras, local economy, environmental issues, political party preferences, pottery making, film in Mexico, and religious practices.

For more information about how to apply to this program, please click here.