Migration, Globalization, and the Environment

Program Description

CGEE programs offer a unique model of experiential programs, rooted in social justice, and focused on direct community engagement. Our Mexico programs offer optional Spanish-speaking internships opportunities.

The "Migration, Globalization, and Environment" (MGE) program in Mexico is based in Cuernavaca, a city known for its perennial springtime (70-80 degrees), which is located about a 1 1/2 hours drive south of Mexico City. A city of more than one million, Cuernavaca is also known for its innovative grass-roots education programs, economic cooperatives, and base Christian communities inspired by liberation theology.

On the MGE program, students will learn about the history of Mexico and its culture, along with the program themes of the relationships between globalization, migration, and the environment. Students will also learn how communities that are responding to the forces of globalization and migration and fomenting positive social change around issues of race, ethnicity, socio-economic class, gender, sexuality, economics, politics, and the environment.

Highlights

CGEE offers engaging conversations with the local community, including speakers such as: feminist and environmentalist scholars and activists, members of rural and urban communities, managers and workers at transnational corporations’ assembly plants, people who have migrated to Cuernavaca, people who have worked in the U.S. with and without documents, family members who have been left behind, and people who have been deported.

Students will also hear from officials from the US embassy in Mexico City who address U.S. economic, environmental, and immigration policies.

Spanish-speaking internship opportunities in the Cuernavaca community, along with our 30 year history in the region make CGEE a great choice for any student looking to truly gain an understanding of Mexico and its rich culture.

What`s Included

Two houses in Cuernavaca serve as a home base for most students. Four- to six- week homestays are an integral part of the academic program. Longer homestays are available upon request, as are lesbian- and gay-friendly homestays.

Regional travel within Mexico, including: a rural village with Nahua Indigenous community, Mexico City, a Monarch butterfly sanctuary, Oaxaca, Puebla, Taxco, Teotihuacan, Toluca, and the Nevado de Toluca volcano.