Summer 2022 Study Abroad Program in Mexico Offers Students Professional Placements

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U of A students on Cyclo-path in Puebla, Mexico.

The Summer 2022 U of A faculty-led study abroad program in Puebla, Mexico, offers students several popular curricular options.  Participants select one of four service-learning programs, which include an immersion experience and 72 hours in a professional placement in either healthcare, business, education or engineering. Students completing the program receive six hours of Spanish credit at the 3000 or 4000 level, which can apply towards a major or minor in Spanish (and/or Latin American and Latino Studies) or serve as elective credit.

An information session on the program will be conducted at 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 17, by Zoom (link below, or email organizer at sbell@uark.edu for link). Interested students are invited to drop in for a brief presentation and slide show, with ample opportunity for questions. Students who have already applied and been accepted for the program can also attend to ask any questions they might have.  Information on scholarship monies will also be available.

Comments from recent Puebla program students included many such as the following: 

"This experience was an eye-opener that despite what the United States says about Mexico, Mexico is just a normal place with families and students who live their lives. Not only is it a great academic and cultural experience, it's also a great way to humble yourself and appreciate other places outside your home state."

"This program makes you better at Spanish without even realizing. It is valuable for all levels of Spanish, and you even get the benefit of professional placement so that you have some job experience and know better how Spanish language and Mexican culture play a part in that."

"It's a great program with a wonderful balance of instruction time, internship experience and travel adventures. The host family living situation will also rapidly help improve your Spanish."

"I have become a lot more confident in myself and in my abilities. My attitude about the host country changed because they were so welcoming and the people there were happier and kinder than I would have expected. It made me wish people in the U.S. were more like that."

The program in Puebla is hosted at the ultra-modern campus of the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP), and it offers students a true immersion experience. Puebla, a major metropolitan area, is centrally located in the heart of Mexico, between Mexico City and the Caribbean coast, in the shadows of the snow-capped Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl volcanos. It is well known as one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico, as well as one of the safest.

The program fee includes tuition and fees, course materials, room and board in Puebla, and three overnight weekend excursions to Mexico City and the pyramids at Teotihuacan, to Oaxaca and to Cuetzalan, one of Mexico's "pueblos mágicos" with enduring indigenous and colonial traditions.

For more information on the program, contact program leaders Steve Bell at sbell@uark.edu and Juan José Bustamante at jjbustam@uark.edu, and visit the Department of World Languages and the Office of Study Abroad websites at Fulbright College's Puebla Study Abroad page and the Hogs Abroad-Puebla page.

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuuxer0QsU&t=33s 

Follow the Zoom link for the 4 p.m. Feb. 17 meeting.