Summer Program in Puebla, Mexico Offers Students Professional Placements and Spanish Immersion

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UA Students on Cyclopath in Puebla, Mexico

The Summer 2024 U of A faculty-led study abroad program in Puebla, Mexico offers five popular academic options: students select from among five discrete programs that all include a Spanish for the Professions class, combined with 72 hours in a professional service-learning placement in either Healthcare, Business, Education, Engineering, or Community Service.  2024 dates are 26 May to 30 June.

All students completing the program receive 6 hours of Spanish credit at the 3000- or 4000-level, which count towards a major or minor in Spanish and Latin American and Latino Studies, or alternatively as general elective credit.

Drop-in Information Session

A drop-in information session on the program will be held from 3-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, in Kimpel Hall 416. (A zoom link for remote attendance is also available.) Interested students are invited to drop in for a brief presentation and slide show, with ample opportunity for questions. Students who have already applied for the program can also attend one of the sessions for further information.

Comments from recent Puebla program student participants 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 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, full room and board, local tours with UPAEP students to sites of historical and cultural significance; and three overnight weekend excursions:  to Mexico City and the pyramids at Teotihuacan, to Oaxaca City, and to Cuetzalan, one of Mexico's "pueblos mágicos" with deep Spanish colonial and indigenous roots.

For further information, or for a zoom link to join one of the sessions, please contact program leader Steven Bell at sbell@uark.edu, and visit the Office of Study Abroad website.