Ecuador: Culture and Development

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This program is titled Ecuador: National Identity, Ethnicity, and Social Movements for the fall 2010 semester.

Discover the rich and diverse traditional heritage of Ecuador - a small, complex, and multilayered country with fascinating cultural and biological diversity

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This program immerses students in Ecuador's different socioeconomic, cultural, and natural environments. Students explore Ecuador's current realities and conditions, which are being shaped by its politics, history, intercultural and interethnic relations, identity issues, and the new political and socioeconomic challenges implicit in the implementation of its innovative and highly inclusive new constitution.

Ecuador is currently in the process of significant political and economic transition: students witness the ways in which the increased participation of indigenous organizations and other formerly excluded minorities is paving the way toward a more inclusive and representative democracy. 

Learn from Ecuadorian leaders in academia, civil society, local government, and rural and indigenous communities
Students engage with activists from social movements who have dedicated their lives to promoting change, supporting minority rights, fighting discrimination, protecting the environment, and creating sustainable living alternatives. 

Lecturers are drawn from institutions such as Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, Universidad Intercultural Amawtay Wasi (Ecuador's first indigenous university), Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), and Universidad San Francisco de Quito.

Experience Ecuador's three principal regions: Andean highlands, tropical rainforest, and coastal lowlands
Through the program's fascinating excursions, students pass through multiple ecological zones and experience dramatic changes in the surrounding environment. During excursions, students receive lectures by indigenous representatives and leaders of grassroots organizations who discuss the various threats to Ecuador's ecology and present alternative strategies of development. Learn more about the program's excursions.

Share daily life with Ecuadorian host families
Students live with three different host families. In sharing daily life with families of diverse socioeconomic levels, students experience the contrasting variables among Ecuadorians and discover the impact their physical environment has on food, daily activities, and even language. Learn more about the program’s homestays.

Connect with a range of Ecuadorian partners
Students typically have the chance to engage with the program's partner organizations including:

• Fundación Equidad - supports Ecuador’s GLBTI population
• Fundación de Acción Comunitaria (FACES) - provides innovative outreach to children and adults with disabilities
• La Pastoral Migratoria - works with Colombian refugees
• Defensa y Conservación de Intag (DECOIN) - grassroots organization which works against extractive industries and promotes community development