September 11, 2009
During
the 2009 Summer Session, a group of undergraduate and graduate
students from St. John’s University participated in a study abroad
academic program in Argentina, organized and led by Dr. Alina
Camacho-Gingerich, Chair of St. John’s Committee for Latin American
and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and Professor of Languages and
Literatures. Accompanying Dr. Camacho-Gingerich and her
students this year was Dr. Yvonne Pratt-Johnson, Professor in the
School of Education and some of her students, who also participated
in the program. The participants studied primarily in
Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires. There they visited a
variety of important cultural and historical landmarks, such as the
Casa Rosada—the presidential residence— in the famous Plaza de
Mayo, the Recoleta Cemetery, where Evita is interred, the Museum of
Fine Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Latin American Art, tying all
these academic field trips to the lively class discussions and
readings on Argentine culture, history, politics, art and
literature.
Students had the
opportunity to experience first-hand the excitement of Argentine
life: attending live tango shows, visiting Las Pampas, the gorgeous
countryside, and walking through the colorful “Caminito” in La
Boca, where they ate delicious food at restaurants and watched live
entertainment in the streets. One of the participants,
Brittany Wilkinson remarked: “Through the study abroad program in
Argentina, I was able to see with my own eyes many of the
historical and cultural landmarks I have been learning about for
years. I returned to St. John’s more knowledgeable and
passionate about the region of the world I have dedicated my
studies to—Latin America.”
One of the highlights of the program included
an excursion to the breathtaking Iguaçu Falls, on the
Brazilian-Argentine border. In Brazil, students had the
opportunity to experience a taste of Brazilian culture and the
Portuguese language, touring the area and interacting with the
locals. Christine Wunderlich, a participant, said “The trip
was amazing! It was fun and also educational for me as an
educator. I am better prepared to work with my immigrant
population at school because I have become more empathetic.”
Through their experiences, students who had already studied Spanish
were able to improve their conversational skills, and students who
had not studied Spanish before got their first lessons not only in
the vacuum of the classroom, but in the heart of the world of the
language. Mohanie Lauther, a student in the program,
remarked: “Now I can begin to understand what my second language
learners must experience as they study in New York City and learn
English as their second language.”
The group
also had the opportunity to attend, as part of the program,
informative lectures on Argentine history, culture and literature
by Argentina’s foremost intellectual and literary figure, Dr. Noé
Jitrik, author of more than eighty-five books, and the Executive
Director of the Instituto de Literatura Hispanoamericana of the
University of Buenos Aires. The program participants also
benefited from a surprise guest lecture on the bilingual mind
delivered by St. John's University Professor of Psychology, and a
member of CLACS, Dr. Rafael Javier, who was in Buenos Aires at a
professional meeting.
The program also included a day trip to Uruguay, where the group
toured the nation’s capital, Montevideo. There students
visited many sites of interest, including the Independence Plaza,
the Solis Theater, the presidential residence and Congress. A
short trip to the Paraguay also added to the excitement of the
program, totaling the number of countries visited to four!
Student participant Shirley Cisneros said, “I have studied abroad
several times through St. John’s Discover the World programs.
Argentina was another exciting study abroad experience with a Latin
American flair!”
Dr. Yvonne Pratt-Johnson remarked: “The Argentina Program was a
great experience for our School of Education participants. The
opportunity to study and live in Argentina was an extraordinary
experience on many levels.” Dr. Camacho-Gingerich stated:
“This academic experience was a wonderful and successful
collaborative effort between two schools and professors who,
although they taught their classes separately, shared many of the
academic activities and all fieldtrips. As one student said:
‘We were all one big family.’”
Written by two participants: Brittany Wilkinson & Shirley
Cisneros