The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies encourages its students to complete a portion of their undergraduate study through the University’s Education Abroad Program. Chicana/o Studies majors can deepen their understanding of indigenous cultures, globalization, community building, and grassroots organizing by spending time in other parts of the Americas. By studying in countries like Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica and even Spain, students can enrich their college experience and add an international dimension to their undergraduate education.
Studying abroad can have two overarching benefits for Chicana/o Studies majors: (1) achieving an understanding of how Latin American history and culture connect with the Chicano experience and (2) acquiring proficiency in Spanish, thus helping them fulfill the major’s language requirement.
Spending time in Latin America will enable students to gain a more global
appreciation of the local realities that affect the Chicana/o community in the
United States. For students interested in issues of colonization and post-colonization, living in Latin America will enhance their knowledge of these complex, historical dynamics; students will get a sense of how colonial legacies emerge on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.
Chicana/o studies majors will find that a term, or better yet, a year in a foreign
university not only enhances their critical thinking and writing skills, but that
the experience of adapting to another academic and cultural world expands
their self-understanding and gives them a keen sense of the political and
social differences in today’s world. The personal and intellectual growth of study
abroad provides further advantages when it comes to the challenges of graduate
and professional study.
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While it is possible for students to go abroad at almost any point in their
academic careers, the particular quarter, semester, summer or year that they
study abroad depends on what courses they plan to take. Students interested in
Language and Culture programs, or in fulfilling major preparation and General
Education requirements, can participate as early as their sophomore year.
Students wanting to fulfill upper-division major requirements should study abroad
during their junior or senior year and take classes that are taught in Spanish if
possible.
Transfer students are eligible to participate as early as their first quarter at UCSB. For more information, visit http://eap.ucop.edu/eap/transfer.
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EAP offers a variety of short-term and year-long programs in various locations
in Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile and Spain. There are programs for students with
every level of Spanish, from those who wish to begin study of the language to
those who are fluent speakers. Spanish language programs include:
Immersion Programs
(Two years Spanish or its equivalent required)
• Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico,
Spain Special Focus Program
(Two years Spanish required)
• Mexico/US Comparative Perspectives Program, Mexico City
Intensive Language and Culture
(One year Spanish required)
• Chile, Mexico, Spain No Previous Spanish
• Madrid, Spain
Any Amount of Spanish
• Monterrey, Mexico
All of the EAP programs above can work in conjunction with the UCSB summer
Querétaro program in Chicana/o Studies, a potential starting point to further
pursue studies abroad. Of particular interest to Chicana/o Studies majors is the Mexico/US PerspectivesProgram which is offered in the fall semester. Students on this program can take 24 units of upper-division classes, all of which can be petitioned to count toward Chicana/o major requirements like area A, B, and C. Classes may include History and Culture of Migration; Mexico-US Economic Relations; and Cities in Transition: Urbanization, Globalization, and Inequality in Mexico City and Los Angeles.
Additionally, the Language and Culture Program at the University of Concepción, Chile, offered in the fall, will particularly interest students who are seeking to fulfill their language requirements and learn about indigenous cultures in the Americas. Concepción is a gateway to La Araucanía, the region most heavily settled by Chile’s indigenous Mapuche communities. This location makes it possible to study indigenous communities and their political activism from academic and more experiential perspectives.
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All EAP students automatically earn UC credit for the work they complete abroad. However, the application of credit to major requirements is subject to the discretion of the department.
Keep in mind that at least 20 units of upper-division major coursework (or
12 upper-division minor units) must be completed in residence at UCSB along with other residence requirements. Consult an advisor in the College of Letters & Science for more information.
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Consult the EAP web pages to see what programs best suit you. In addition to
using EAP Course Catalog and Program Search, navigate to host universities’ websites on the available links.
Drop by the EAP office at 2431 South Hall. Peer advisors who have recently
returned from studying abroad as well as staff advisors are eager to answer your
questions.
Go see the Chicana/o Studies Undergraduate Advisor. Then make an appointment with an advisor in the College of Letters & Science to discuss general education, residence and other requirements..
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If you go abroad in your junior year, you should seriously consider doing a senior
thesis based on the coursework and intellectual interests you developed abroad.
This provides an ideal way to integrate your time abroad with the completion of
your major.
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