Programs Description / Spanish, Social Justice and Sustainable Development in Latin America

Based on the applied research undertaken by the International Center for Development Studies (ICDS) and the practical expertise of its faculty, ICDS Spring semester program “Spanish, Social Justice and Sustainable Development in Latin America” gives participants the chance to understand the main challenges that Latin America countries face to secure the sustainability of their development processes. Special emphasis is given to human rights and social justice. The different forms of exclusion, as well as policies and programs that could be implemented to fight poverty and create conditions for sustainable livelihoods and inclusiveness are analyzed. The spatial aspect of development is also included, along with the impact of tourism on conservation and local development. These aspects are covered through five courses, three of which participants may select out of an array of six courses, including two taught completely in Spanish.

The bilingual character of this program, along with the homestays with Costa Rican families, offers students an excellent opportunity for complete language and cultural immersion, thus helping them improve their Spanish language skills and furthering their knowledge of Latin American culture and current sustainable development issues.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIETY IN LATIN AMERICA

This course provides students with theoretical and practical knowledge as well as analytical tools to enable them to understand the complexities of development, its challenges and the set of policies and programs that could be implemented to secure the sustainability of the development process in Latin America. That sustainability is studied adopting a multidimensional approach, based in part, on the work of United Nations, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Social policies as well as sectorial ones (i.e, health, education, social security, employment and housing) are reviewed and thru seminars, students have the opportunity to participate in policy discussion. The role of the State and that of different stakeholders is looked into to broaden the scope for policy design and implementation. Last but not least, the vulnerability of certain groups (e.g., indigenous, Afro-Latin Americans, women, youth, people with disability and migrants) in Latin America is analyzed as well as their forms of exclusion and their survival strategies.

SPANISH LANGUAGE COURSES

During the first week of classes, students will complete a Spanish placement exam, according to which they will be placed in the appropriate level Spanish class. Descriptions of the three course levels most commonly taught through ICDS are below. For more detailed information in Spanish, see Appendix.

This course introduces the student to the Spanish language, therefore previous knowledge is not necessary, though some previous exposure would be helpful. The student will develop a basic linguistic capacity to navigate simple daily situations. Also, the student will develop the vocabulary and appropriate expressions to communicate with friends and family and interact in different situations such as restaurants, stores, buses, and the bank.
Intensity: 60 hours, 4 hours per week.

Upon finishing the course, the student will be able to:

• Produce the sounds and patterns of intonation of the Spanish language
• Write sentences and short paragraphs
• Understand simple readings on a variety of topics
• Know about relevant aspects of Latin culture

• Greet and introduce him/herself properly
• Use pronouns correctly
• Acquire basic vocabulary for oral and written communication
• Use the verbs ser, estar, tener, haber, and hacer correctly
• Conjugate regular and irregular verbs in the present indicative
• Correctly use the simple preterite and the imperfect indicative
• Use the imperative appropriately
• Express likes/dislikes and opinions

This course is directed to foreign students who need to acquire quickly and efficiently oral and written competence in the Spanish language.
Intensity: 60 hours, 4 hours per week.

Upon finishing the course, the student will be able to:

• Use the basic grammatical structures of Spanish in real conversational contexts
• Write more complex sentences and paragraphs
• Understand reading on various topics
• Learn about the Latin culture

• Conjugate regular and irregular verbs in the present indicative
• Understand and use appropriately the differences between simple past and the imperfect tenses and the compound indicative tenses
• Use prepositions correctly
• Use the present and imperfect subjunctives correctly

This course is for foreign students who want to develop expertise in the use of the Spanish language as well as more fluent and precise oral and written communication. The course will be based around topics of interest that the group will propose.
Intensity: 60 hours, 4 hours per week.

Upon finishing the course, the student will be able to:

• Communicate effectively
• Understand and interpret written and oral messages
• Strengthen intonation and pronunciation of the Spanish language
• Learn about relevant aspects of Latin American and specifically Costa Rican cultures

• Use verb tenses correctly
• Put into practice complex syntax constructions
• Write appropriately and with good spelling
• Acquire and practice orally and written the vocabulary of the chosen topics
• Reach fluency and confidence in the use of the language

DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA FROM A GENDER PERSPECTIVE

The aim of this course is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the links between gender and development, and to show how equal relations between women and men are both, an end and a means of development. The focus is on the implications of gender and development theory for policy and practice, and the need to work on the creation of a more egalitarian society. The analysis is grounded on Latin America but looks into domestic approaches and policies as well as trends in the international arena, fundamental in today’s globalized scenario.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN LATIN AMERICA: A DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH

This course is aimed at providing students with a profound understanding of the essence of Human Rights, both by analyzing their moral and political grounding, as well as the legal mechanisms in place for their protection at domestic and international levels. The relation between human rights and human development is the main focus that guides the progression of the concepts studied. The first part of the course introduces students to the basic concepts of human rights, their philosophical foundations and historical evolution, including the generational approach. The International Bill of Human Rights is reviewed, and the legal and political implications of cultural relativism discussed. In addition, institutionalized mechanisms for human rights protection are studied, starting with national institutions (the Constitutional Court and the Ombudsman’s Office), moving on to the regional mechanisms (Inter-American Human Rights System), and concluding with the international system (that of the United Nations). The second part of the course focuses on some of the main populations in situations of vulnerability: women, children, indigenous peoples, and migrants. The specific human rights of these groups will be reviewed as well as current efforts to provide them with special protection.

CURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN LATIN AMERICA

This course enables students to understand the most relevant issues and challenges of sustainability in Latin America. To this end, case studies and examples are used as a base for policy discussion. In addition, a practical approach to the environmental green, blue, gray and brown agendas and cross-cutting critical topics (energy, climate change and land-use systems) constitute the mainstay of the course. The course has been structured under the following three main headings: (a) context, important values and principles; (b) threats and sources of threats; and (c) strategies to improve status.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable tourism refers to nature-based tourism involving education and understanding of the natural environment and its relationship to local communities, managed so as to be ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable. The course is enriched by Costa Rica’s, as well other Latin American countries’ experience in tourism and ecotourism. The course will be given in a seminar form, and will be complemented by guest speakers, tutorials, and field trips that are designed to provide an overview of ecotourism.

CENTRAL AMERICAN LITERATURE (taught in Spanish)

This course provides students with the opportunity to study Central American literature through different periods and movements. The class introduces the principal authors of both, the narrative and poetic forms within historical and cultural contexts. In particular, it examines the impact of the revolutionary period of the sixties and seventies to the democratic period of the eighties, as well as the inflow of migrants in a period of globalization on Central America’s literary production. These issues are illustrated and analyzed by new generations of writers relying on a critical assessment of the region and expressed in literary works of high aesthetic level, philosophical depth and structural richness. This course will also provide the students with basic tools for literary analysis.

LATIN AMERICA: A MIRROR OF REALITY THROUGH FILM (taught in Spanish)

This interdisciplinary course seeks to review and analyze the complexity and richness of Latin American culture and history using films as a vehicle to facilitate students´ understanding. The films selected will provide social, historical and ideological frameworks to study the changes which have taken place in contemporary Latin America. The course will be a seminar, encouraging student participation and discussion.