Ecuador: Culture and Development

Beginning Spring 2010, this program will be titled:

Ecuador: National Identity, Ethnicity, and Social Movements


Program Overview

Discover a stunning range of natural environments as well as a rich and diverse traditional heritage in Ecuador, a nation rooted in ancient cultures. Today, development in this highly indigenous nation faces new challenges, including the recent dollarization. As Ecuador copes with political and economic transition, increasing participation on the part of indigenous organizations offers hope for a more inclusive and representative democracy.

Quito, Ecuador's picturesque 9,000-foot-high capital, is a bustling city with international, colonial, and indigenous influences. Homestays in the semirural outskirts of Quito, as well as educational excursions to communities in the high sierras of the Andes, Amazon basin, and Pacific Coast, further students' understanding of the impact of Ecuador's cultural, political, and economic transformation on its national and cultural identity.

Browse this program's Independent Study Projects/Undergraduate Research