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Mexico: Sustainable Development and Social Change

• Program Overview
• Program Highlights
• Educational Excursions
• Homestays

Program Overview

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Students in the SIT Mexico: Sustainable Development and Social Change study abroad program explore the role and impact of Mexico’s civil society, particularly Mexican grassroots movements, in shaping the country’s social, economic, and political development. From the program base in Oaxaca and during excursions throughout the region, students discover the sharp contrasts that currently exist between privilege and poverty in Mexico.  Students consider how modernity and indigenous traditions have collided in responses to the country’s ongoing struggles for justice, democratic change, and economic development. Throughout the program, students explore the notion of development, with a focus on projects and initiatives that are socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable.

Exploring Oaxaca, Mexico City, and beyond
Learning takes place in the program base of Oaxaca as well as during group excursions to Chiapas, Mexico City, and the Oaxaca Isthmus. Intensive instruction in Spanish and three very different homestay experiences further immerse students in Mexican society and culture.

Key topics for inquiry include:

• Development theory and alternative, sustainable development
• Current economic policies and "free" trade agreements
• Indigenous politics and culture
• Feminism and gender issues
• Alternative education and cultural preservation
• Natural resource management and indigenous autonomy
• Food production, the agricultural crises, and issues of food sovereignty
• Popular movements, resistance, and repression in Oaxaca and Chiapas

Lecturers and program partners
Students enjoy exceptional learning opportunities by engaging with in-country experts from academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and community organizations. Institutions and resources we work with include:

• Universidad de la Tierra
• Centro de Desarrollo Integral Campesino de La Mixteca, A. C. (CEDICAM), a democratic, farmer-led local environmental organization, recently awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. Learn more.
• Centro Indígena de Capacitación Integral (CIDECI)
• Gustavo Esteva, world-renowned author and leading thinker on alternatives to conventional development
• Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca (UABJO)
• Benito Juarez Autonomous University of Oaxaca
• Instituto Nacionál de Antropología y História (INAH)
• Coalición de Maestros y Promotores Indígenas de Oaxaca, A.C. (CMPIO)
• Tierra del Sol, an ecovillage and experiential learning center for sustainable living

Lecturers provide valuable perspectives and reflections on traditional indigenous culture and community, gender, and ethnicity issues in Mexico; popular movements and the struggle for social change; the impact of neo-liberal economics; civil resistance; and initiatives to create alternative development models that are sustainable and inclusive.

Engage with a wide variety of Mexican civil society groups
During the program’s lecture series, students regularly meet with leaders from some of Oaxaca's leading NGOs, giving them insight into the complex realities of Mexican society, politics, and culture. Students learn about the multifaceted ways grassroots political groups—particularly those working in southern Mexico, such as the Zapatistas and the People's Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO)—have drawn international attention to the struggles of this largely impoverished region.

The program’s NGO Week provides a firsthand glimpse into the specific initiatives, challenges, and goals of Oaxacan non-governmental organizations, and students visit local NGOs according to their specific interest. Students have the opportunity to review projects and conduct one-on-one interviews with NGO leaders.

Browse this program's Independent Study Projects/Undergraduate Research