The Center for Latin American Studies serves as a hub for many of the connections between Vanderbilt and Guatemalaĭe Girón found that these indigenous men were exploited for their work, but often took advantage of the system. Many of these men would take jobs as security guards in Guatemala City in order to support their families back in their rural villages. While studying the implementation of economic programs, De Girón recognized that many young men in these villages didn’t have job opportunities – even those who had completed an eighth or ninth grade education, which is considered successful there. Additionally, these were people who were already better off, and tended to be men and boys. Those who could speak English and had more education benefited most from the programs due to their language experience. De Girón lived in the Alta Verapaz department, or state, of northern Guatemala while she conducted fieldwork to determine the benefit and impact of economic development programs supported by USAID and several other actors in the Chisec municipality and surrounding villages.ĭe Girón found that these programs actually resulted in increased inequality where they were implemented. She received her PhD in Anthropology from Vanderbilt after doing her dissertation work studying inequality and the security guard industry in Guatemala. “I was fascinated by the country and the people, and that’s actually what set me on my path to want to study anthropology.” Avery Dickins de Girón is the Executive Director of the Center for Latin American Studies “So the CLAS is really helpful in terms of helping create and maintain those relationships, because there’s a structure for it.”ĭe Girón’s connection to Guatemala began when she moved there to learn Spanish. “There’s always been a lot of people who have some degree of involvement with Guatemala on Vanderbilt’s campus, but previously it was very hard to connect those dots,” Savoie said. He appreciates the role that the CLAS plays in sustaining interdepartmental relationships. Brent Savoie works closely with de Girón and Fischer as a CLAS affiliated faculty member. Vanderbilt is the premier program in studying the Maya of Guatemala and Guatemala as a country.ĭr. Other universities with National Resource Centers on Latin America include Stanford University and Tulane University.Įxecutive Director Avery Dickins de Girón and Director Ted Fischer work together to run the Center for Latin American Studies, as well as facilitate collaborations between different departments and schools at Vanderbilt who are doing work in Guatemala. The Vanderbilt CLAS is one of only eleven National Resource Centers on Latin America in the country. This grant lasts for 12 years, and Vanderbilt is currently in the process of re-applying for the status. This status ensures funding for the CLAS to educate the community about Latin America. In 2006, the CLAS was designated as a National Resource Center on Latin America by the U.S. Specifically, it serves as a hub for many of the connections between Vanderbilt and Guatemala. Over 17 percent of faculty in the College of Arts and Science have a Latin American studies focus. Vanderbilt’s Center for Latin American Studies connects many of these professors and their work in the region. The Hustler explored many of these connections, which combine the study of Ancient Maya civilizations with programs that study and support the modern Maya population.
Vanderbilt University is inextricably tied to the country of Guatemala through dozens of programs, initiatives and academic networks. On the third floor of Calhoun Hall at Vanderbilt, Mareike Sattler teaches graduate and undergraduate students the dialect of the Maya language K’iche’ that is spoken in Nahualá, Guatemala. In Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing students help to implement a new healthcare model at the Primeros Pasos clinic. In the western highlands of Guatemala, Arthur Demarest oversees archaeological sites where Vanderbilt PhD students are studying ancient Maya civilizations.
0 kommentar(er)
