Annual Program Review CIEE Study Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina 2005

Transcription

1 Annual Program Review CIEE Study Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina 2005 CIEE Program Director: Christine Wintersteen, CIEE Resident Director: Andrea Rizzotti (Associate Director), Dr. Daniel Filmus (Academic Director) CIEE Academic Consortium Board Program Evaluation: CIEE Academic Consortium Board Monitor: Peter Wollitzer, University of California - EAP Each summer, program directors write a Study Center Review for each CIEE Study Center program commenting on the previous academic year. The program director writes the review based on input from the CIEE Academic Consortium Board members, resident directors, sending institutions, and student evaluations. Each report is made public on the CIEE website at Program Goals The CIEE Study Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina is designed to help students with a strong command of the Spanish language and interest in social sciences and humanities gain an in-depth knowledge of Argentine and Spanish-speaking South American politics, economics, history, literature and society. The program is unique due to its being housed at the Facultad Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), a pre-eminent social science think tank, as well as offering direct matriculation at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), a premier public university in Argentina, and the Universidad Católica de Argentina (UCA), a highly regarded private university, in a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Through course offerings at each of these institutions, the program provides students with a critical appreciation of Argentina and its importance in Latin America from the perspective of the social sciences and humanities. The program is known for attracting students who want to be intellectually challenged while immersing themselves culturally in a cosmopolitan Latin American city. The high quality of the participant groups coupled with the dedication of resident staff ensure that program goals are consistently met. There two most important recommendations from the 2004 monitoring process included exploring ways to improve the two-week Intensive Spanish course as well as looking at ways to facilitate student interaction with host families regarding meals. Although efforts were made to improve the two-week Intensive Spanish course during the year, the course still received mixed evaluations. Beginning in fall 2005, the course has been eliminated and replaced with a semester Spanish language requirement. In terms of the host family issue, beginning in fall 2004, students are receiving two meals per day with their host family. Academic Program The academic program starts during orientation with general introductory classes on the history and culture of Argentina and Buenos Aires (led by Dr. Daniel Filmus, the Academic Director and Dr. Diego Raus, professor of one of the CIEE specially-designed courses, Seminar: Argentine Reality. In addition, students enroll in a two-week Spanish language class. Depending on language competency, students may continue their language study during the semester in regular UBA language classes. During the regular semester, students may enroll in the specialized courses taught only to CIEE students at FLACSO and regular courses at both the Universidad de 1

2 Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Pontifícia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA). Typically, students choose half their courses from FLACSO classes and half from regular university courses. Intensive Spanish Language The purpose of the required two-week intensive course is to ease the transition of students into an academically challenging program through stressing both language and cultural issues. On the first day a placement test designed for CIEE students is administered and students are placed into two groups according to their current language ability. In addition to a review of essential grammatical structures, cultural themes and information are integrated into the language exercises. In fall 2004, the course included a focus on rioplatense lenguaje in order to improve the writing skills of the students and the oral delivery common in the Buenos Aires region. Despite improvements, the course continued to receive mixed evaluations. Semester Spanish Language Semester language courses are optional. Following the Intensive Spanish Language, students will take a language placement exam to determine an appropriate semester language course (one of six advanced levels). Some students may opt to replace a language class with a course on Argentine Literature taught at the Spanish Department. During the year, the language lab at UBA has begun to offer more options for courses with a more in-depth focus for advanced students, including Spanish Academic Working, Spanish Language through the Movies, Spanish Oral Workshop. Student evaluations of Spanish instruction during the regular semester are very good to excellent and students feel they make significant progress in their language skills. FLACSO courses During the course registration period, FLACSO professors presented the course syllabi and explained the evaluation process so that students were better able to select their courses. The FLACSO courses tend to be taught in an interactive method and with continuous assessment, more familiar to U.S. students. The following six elective courses are offered each semester. There were two new courses begun in spring International Relations of Latin America The Political Economy of Argentina s Development Seminar on Argentine Reality Cultural Issues in Argentine History Culture, Women and Civic Engagement in Argentina (3 credits) NEW in Spring 2005 Seminar on Community Service and Volunteerism (2 credits) NEW in Spring 2005 Students consistently evaluate the FLACSO courses very highly. Although the new course on community service and volunteerism was evaluated well, students remarked that the methodology component would benefit from improvement. The resident staff will work with the professors to improve this course in the academic year. Course Registration Beginning in fall 2004, the course registration has been greatly improved with the addition of a database developed by a staff member. This database includes a search engine for courses as 2

3 well as brief descriptions and syllabi of the courses. The UBA and UCA course registration orientation occurred during the second week of the program and covered the following topics: 1) general introduction to the host institution, with a detailed explanation of the grade and course evaluations and the classroom format in the different types of courses at both institutions; 2) presentation and description of course offerings; 3) initial selection by students of the courses they are interested in and according to their home school requirements; this also included individual consultation with the resident staff; and 4) final registration for their courses. In spring 2005, CIEE also began a new affiliation with the Instituto Universitario Nacional de Arte (IUNA). As a result, CIEE can offer art courses to students who fulfill prerequisites in the field of art. During spring 2005, one student took courses at the national conservatory of music, a department within IUNA. This student was able to play classical music with the prestigious academic band at the Colón Theater. The following list includes IUNA departments: Multimedia & Audiovisual Arts: Sound Production, Animation, Digital Imaging Music: Composition, Instrumental Performance, Voice, Orchestral & Choral Directing Performing Arts & Dance: Dance, Theater, Choreography, Stage & Lighting Design, Directing Visual Arts: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Printmaking Tutorials: As in previous semesters, specific tutorials are offered to assist individual student needs, according to the course work and subjects that students are taking at the University. Non-academic Features Orientation As in previous years, all students stayed in a hotel next to FLACSO for the first day of orientation. Students move into their residencia or host family after two nights at the hotel but the orientation continues for two weeks. The activities focused on identifying different geographic points from the city that are of daily use of the students; using the transportation guide of the city; and activities educating students about how to move around the city, keeping their personal security in check in a large urban setting like Buenos Aires. There were also workshops on cultural aspects and safety in Buenos Aires. Students had to solve possible cultural situations in preparation for those that they may expect to encounter in the city. These activities forced the students to express feelings and ideas with respect to the city as to the difficulties and limitations that their Spanish language may present. This also allowed the group to express any concerns and for the staff to assess where students needed more guidance in regards to cultural and safety adaptation. Housing This is one of the few CIEE Study Centers in Latin America that offers students two options in housing: a home stay or sharing a room with a native Spanish-speaker in a student residencia. At the end of the orientation, students, resident staff, host families, roommates and jóvenes guías participate in Family Day, a full day of planned activities together in a location outside of Buenos Aires, such as a ranch en Capilla del Señor or an island in the Tiger River Delta. This special opportunity allows students to get to know a different area of Argentina and promotes the integration and improves the communication between students and family members. During the academic year, roughly 90% of students lived with host families. Beginning in fall 2004, students are receiving two meals per day with their host family. 3

4 Cultural Activities The program organizes several cultural activities throughout the semester. Students attended soccer games, went to movies and the theater, participated in day trips in and out of the city, and visited places of historic and cultural interests. These activities are always accompanied by a member of a group of historians named Los Eternautas. These guides are specialized in historic circuits around the city and outside the city as well. During the first weeks of the program the students participated in the following activities: Buenos Aires: La Aldea Metrópolis ; Buenos Aires Sur and Buenos Aires Aristocrática to better focus and understand the variety of neighborhoods in the city. Other cultural activities were planned during the semester including a play called El Fulgor Argentino performed by residents of one of the oldest neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, La Boca. Field Trips Beginning in Fall 2004, CIEE also organized an extensive academic field trip to Tilcara, a small village in the Jujuy province in northern Argentina near the border of Bolivia. The main objective of this field trip is to provide students exposure to the pre-hispanic and Inca cultural influences on this region of Argentina and Latin America. This field trip was very well evaluated by students. The program also organized a 4-day excursion outside of Buenos Aires to show students the rural side of the country, visiting Entre Rios Province in the fall 2004 semester and Tandil in the Buenos Aires province in the spring 2005 semester, both about 5 hours from the city of Buenos Aires. Many students also traveled independently within the country to several national parks in Patagonia, or to other Latin American countries including Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. Student Guides In an attempt to increase the integration between CIEE participants and Argentine youth, we have organized a group called Jóvenes Guías. The members of Jóvenes Guías are children and friends of host families that are interested in meeting U.S. students. The majority are students and are between the ages of 15 and 25 years old. These students accompanied four smaller CIEE student groups to do informal tours of the most important neighborhoods of Buenos Aires: Palermo, La Boca, Recoleta and San Telmo. In addition, the Argentine students are invited to the Family Day, the 10th Anniversary party, and other CIEE activities. Internships and Volunteer Work Students may participate in volunteer opportunities through the FLACSO course, Seminar on Community Service and Volunteerism. Volunteer placements include: Centro Comunitario del Barrio Mitre: assist in English homework for children and adolescents Casa del Niño: assist in English homework for children and adolescents; provide lessons in computer skills, teach musical instruments, art classes, sports, assist in administrative work in the medical office. Intercambios: translation work for health articles related to HIV/AIDS FEIM-Fundación para el Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer: compare and analyze documents from various countries about gender and reproductive rights, fundraising, design of outreach and publicity materials Madres de la Plaza de Mayo: organization and creation of index regarding human rights violations during the Dirty War in the center of documentation and work on their website. 4

5 Student welfare CIEE organized several counseling sessions for the students to work through culture shock and various aspects relating to adaptation to the city and the different academic environment. Due to the large group in the spring 2004 semester, the Director of the Counseling service and the CIEE Associate Director established and implemented an -monitoring process for all the participants. During this process, the counselor sent a questionnaire to students to explore the cultural adaptation process. Through analysis of the results, staff were able to better anticipate student problems. In addition, the counselor is available to contact the host families to discuss difficult issues between students and families. Additional Updates During the spring 2005 semester, the program office was relocated to a new section of the remodeled and larger FLACSO offices. These offices better accommodate the larger group of students and the larger number of staff members now working for the program. Each staff member now has an individual desk and there are separate rooms for tutorial meetings, one new classroom and a separate office for the counselor and professors to use. There is also a new computer lab with 40 computers and wi-fi internet access exclusive to the CIEE students. Students Enrollment Gender Semester 123 Male 50 Academic Year 20 Female 93 Average Student GPA 3.50 Top Enrollments by Major Political Science Latin American Study History International Affairs Spanish Language & Literature Top Sending Schools Tulane University Georgetown University Wesleyan University Brown University University of Colorado at Boulder Future Directions Beginning Fall 2005, the two-week, two-credit Intensive Spanish Language course at the beginning of the program will be eliminated. In lieu of offering the two-week Intensive Spanish language course, students will receive a mini-workshop on "Porteño Spanish" during the general orientation. In addition, all students will be required to enroll in a semester-long Spanish course. The semester-long Spanish language requirement will better serve the academic goals of this program by ensuring that there is continuous and structured linguistic work for all participants. This will also assist in resolving linguistic difficulties during the course of the semester, and will better equip students to succeed in your direct enrollment courses and your general adaptation to Argentine life. Considering that spring 2005 was the first semester these courses were taught, evaluations were good. However, during the academic year, the resident staff will work with the professors to improve the courses. 5