During the month of May 2016, I will be travelling to the Yucatan peninsula with the Honors & Scholars Program to study and explore the culturally rich region of Mexico. Together, we will research tourism’s main role in Mexico’s socio-economic development, the historical implications of globalization, environmental preservation, and cultural diversity.
The International Affair’s Scholars Program sponsored trip to the Yucatan Peninsula region of Mexico will not only contribute to my Scholar’s program’s curriculum, but my personal educational curriculum and interests in the region. Even though the classroom portion of the program is offered through Universidad Marista de Merida, this trip is offered through the Office of International Affairs as a university-sponsored study abroad program. As a group, we will not be confined to a class room at the Universidad Marista de Merida, but we will be exploring the entire peninsula. The education abroad offers the unique opportunity to visit each of the three states of the Yucatan region of Mexico, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo. In each state, we will be observing the different cultural, economic, and social practices of the native populace while attempting to understand the historical impact of globalization on the Mexican society. In the state of Campeche, we will be visiting historic haciendas of the henequen civilization of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and analyzing the lasting economic and social implications the institution had on the region. Within the state of Quintana Roo, as a class, we will be analyzing the adventure/eco tourism industry in major cities such as, Cancun and Cozumel, as well as the cultural tourism industry at the sites of Mayan ruins. In the base state of the Yucatan, we will be staying with our host families and studying at our host institution in Merida. My trip is an extensive one country trip to Mexico where I would not only explore, three states, but over fifteen cities throughout the region.
In the Yucatan, I plan to utilize by knowledge that I have gained from my business curriculum to research and analyze tourism and the main role it plays in issues of socio-economic development of the region. Additionally, I hope to take what I have learned in the classrooms of my Latino Studies and History curriculum and employ it during the interdisciplinary program in the Yucatan to examine the preservation of the indigenous culture and historical sites throughout the region.