The cost of the program includes two guided field trips to enable students
to see first-hand diverse aspects of Guatemalan culture and
contemporary life.
a. GUATEMALA CITY: This field trip allows students to have a first
introduction to Guatemala City, Some of the places students have visited
in the past are: archeological site Kaminal Juyu, the National Palace,
Cathedral, Central Market, Relief Map, San Sebastian (where Bishop
Gerardi was murdered), Cuatro Grados Norte, Popol Vuh Museum,
Museum of Archeology and Etnography, Landivar University
Campus, Universidad San Carlos Campus, viewpoints of the City, and
various historical streets.
b. PETEN: This field trip gives students the oportunity to visit some of the
most important Mayan cities of the Classic Period. Some of the places
students have visited in the past are: Flores, Aguacateca, Tikal, Ceibal, and
Yaxha. Also, students have the oportunity to stay at a community formed
by excombatants of Guatemala's Armed Conflict to learn about how they live.
NOTE: This trips is not suitable for all students, especially those with
limited hiking abilities and/or medical conditions.
The courses offered during each of the academic programs varies
depending on availability and number of students enrolled. For a
complete list of the course descriptions and professors please email
Claudia Alonzo at calonzo@cirma.org.gt.
CONFLICT IN QUICHE
DATE: From Monday May 18 to Saturday May 23, 2009
Professor: Estuardo Alvarez, leader in the Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes
(FAR), former negotiator on land rights during the administration of
President Oscar Berger, and founder of a development NGO, CEDER.
CIRMA now offers a seven-day (optional - credited) course that
explores the impact of Guatemala's 36-year civil war and extensive
12-year peace process on its people and society.
This course is open to all CIRMA students and everyone interested in
learning about the subject matter: Undergraduate and Graduate
Students, Faculty and the general public.
The course will examine:
-The repression against intellectuals, students, and activists in urban
areas during the Armed Conflict
-Indigenous people and Catholic base communities in Guatemala's rural
departament of Quiche
-Political polarization that led to the armed conflict
-The impact of the military's strategy in the 1980s, which resulted in
massacres in more than 600 sites throughout the country.
During the course participants will read and discuss some of the fallowing
important texts:
-Report on the Commision for Historical Clarification
-Guatemala Peace Agreements
-Mons. Juan Jose Gerardi Conedera's Biography
-Guatemala, Diez aņos despues de la Paz Firme y Duradera
-Se cambio el tiempo: Conflicto y poder en territorio K'iche'
-Recovery of Historical Memory Project, REMHI
-Assistance and Control: Policies Toward internally Displaces
Populations in Guatemala
-Memoria del Silencio