summer performing arts in context

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• Summer 2013
• Summer 2014

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Program Overview

Boasting the most active live arts scene in Latin America, and the greatest concentration of theatrical venues on earth, is there a more fitting or dynamic city to study the performing arts than Argentina?

Integrating compelling coursework with field experience and master classes led by local artists and scholars, Performing Arts in Argentina deepens your understanding and appreciation of the relationship between aesthetic representations in the performing arts, and the socio-historical framework behind them.

In Argentina you will:

• Improve your Spanish-language skills through intensive instruction, cultural excursions, and homestays with Argentine families
• Study and experiment with local artists and experts in a series of Master classes
• Attend theatrical, musical, and dance performances in and around Buenos Aires through outings and excursions
• Explore Latin American and Argentine culture, history, and contemporary society through the lens of the performing arts

The CIEE Difference

Coursework

Attend. Observe. Analyze. Reflect. Enroll in curriculum that supplements theory with experiential learning:

• Analyze the regional and socio-historical factors in the way Rio de la Plata and Latin America have influenced the performing arts
• Attend and participate in local performances, activities, and workshops that illuminate topics and in-class work in Performing Arts Experience and Practice in Buenos Aires.

Master Classes

With study abroad in Buenos Aires, artists are your teachers. In a series of “Master Classes” you’ll engage directly with local actors, directors, dancers, musicians for tutorials, discussions, and participatory performance sessions.

Cultural Immersion

See it. Hear it. Feel it. Argentina, one of the greatest live arts cities on earth, is your classroom. In addition to popular, alternative, and fringe performances and artists, the program is supplemented by a number of trips and excursions to various points of cultural interest around Buenos Aires.

Dates, Deadlines & Fees

We want to make sure you get the most out of your experience when you study abroad with CIEE, which is why we offer the most inclusions in our fees.

• Tuition and housing
• Pre-departure advising and optional on-site airport meet and greet
• Full-time program leadership and support
• Field trips and cultural activities
• CIEE iNext travel card which provides insurance and other travel benefits

Please note, program dates are subject to change. Please contact your CIEE Study Abroad Advisor before purchasing airfare. Click the button to view more detailed information about dates and fees.

Program

Application Due

Start Date

End Date

Costs

Summer 2013 (7 wks)

04/01/2013

06/05/2013

07/21/2013

$6,650

Program Date Notes

Program Fees

In addition to the items outlined below, the CIEE program fee includes an optional on-site airport meet and greet, full-time leadership and support, orientation, cultural activities, local excursions, field trips, pre-departure advising, and a CIEE iNext travel card which provides insurance and other travel benefits.

Participation Confirmation *

$300

Educational Costs **

$4,848

Housing ***

$1,400

Insurance

$102

This breakdown has been prepared from the program budget for the purpose of calculating eligibility for financial aid. During the course of program operations, actual figures may vary. It should not, therefore, be used as a basis for calculation of refunds. CIEE reserves the right to adjust fees at any time.

Students required to study on CIEE programs through a School of Record will be charged a $340 administrative fee in addition to the Program Fees listed.

* non-refundable

** direct cost of education charged uniformly to all students

*** includes two meals per day

Estimated Additional Costs

Meals not included in program fee

$500

International Airfare *

$1,300

Local Transportation

$125

Books & Supplies

$100

Local government registration/entrance fees

$160

Personal expenses

$750

The estimated additional costs indicated are intended to assist students and parents in budgeting for those additional living and discretionary expenses not included in the program fee. Actual expenses will vary according to student interests and spending habits.

* round-trip based on U.S. East Coast departure

Summer 2014

04/01/2014

to be announced

to be announced

Program Date Notes

Program Fees

This breakdown has been prepared from the program budget for the purpose of calculating eligibility for financial aid. During the course of program operations, actual figures may vary. It should not, therefore, be used as a basis for calculation of refunds. CIEE reserves the right to adjust fees at any time.

Students required to study on CIEE programs through a School of Record will be charged a $340 administrative fee in addition to the Program Fees listed.

Estimated Additional Costs

The estimated additional costs indicated are intended to assist students and parents in budgeting for those additional living and discretionary expenses not included in the program fee. Actual expenses will vary according to student interests and spending habits.

Eligibility

• Overall GPA 2.75
• 4 semesters of Spanish Language

Recommended Credit

Total recommended credit for the semester program is 6 semester / 9 quarter credit hours.

Program Requirements

All study abroad program courses are offered by CIEE at the CIEE Study Center at FLACSO. All classes and coursework is delivered exclusively in Spanish. Each of the program courses, described below, includes 45 contact hours. Recommended credit for each course is 3 semester/ 4.5 quarter hours.

• Theory and History of the Performing Arts in Latin America
• Performing Arts Experience and Practice in Buenos Aires

About The City

Founded in 1536, Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires is often referred to as the Paris of Latin America. Within this immense, yet surprisingly navigable Latin American metropolis, elegant 19th century buildings and café life are reminiscent of Europe and the Middle East. A vibrant port city, Buenos Aires is also the world’s leading Spanish language publishing center. With a population of 13 million, Buenos Aires offers its visitors the chance to experience the cultural intrigue and diversity that can only be found in a city of this size and prestige.

Meet The Staff

Carolina Alba Merlo

Carolina Alba Merlo, Associate Director, has worked with CIEE since 1996. Carolina works with the Resident Director to design, develop, and manage the study abroad program. She earned a B.A. in Communications and Social Psychology at the Pichón Riviere Institute, and is currently obtaining a Masters in Cognitive Psychology and Education, with her research interests focused on international education and adaptation processes.

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Vera Cerqueiras

Vera Cerqueiras, Spanish Language Academic Coordinator, earned her B.A. in Literature and Linguistics from UBA and an M.A. from the Universidad de Barcelona in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language. She is currently pursuing her doctorate. Before joining CIEE, Vera worked as the Academic Coordinator of the Spanish as a Foreign Language Department at UBA.

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Andrea Rizzotti

Andrea Rizzotti, Resident Director, supervises the administrative and academic aspects of the study abroad program. She has a Masters degree in Sociology from Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and a Masters degree from FLACSO in Social Sciences and Public Health. Andrea’s academic interests include public health, gender and women, adolescents, children, and family. She has done consulting work and binational research between Argentina and Uruguay, focusing on community empowerment and social participation in dengue prevention and mosquito eradication in the region. Andrea has worked with CIEE since 1994.

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Favio Rizzotti

Favio Rizzotti, CIEE Staff Coordinator for the Liberal Arts Program since 2002, is an accomplished actor as well as theater & staging director and has postgraduate degree at the Metropolitan School of Dramatic Art of Buenos Aires. Favio has had an extensive experience in the art field not only as an actor but also directing different plays and as performing arts professor. He has experience in the coordination of different workshops and courses related to dramatic arts.

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Where You'll Study

The Argentine branch of Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) hosts the CIEE Study Center in Buenos Aires. Founded in 1957 by UNESCO, the UN agency dedicated to education, culture, and science, FLACSO sponsors Latin America’s largest and most prestigious postgraduate teaching and research program in the social sciences. FLACSO-Argentina was established in 1974, and its faculty is associated with several local universities. Students take specially designed CIEE courses at FLACSO with the collaboration of IUNA under an agreement between FLACSO and IUNA.

Housing & Meals

To enhance the study abroad experience, and reinforce the themes of the program, students will have the opportunity to live with an Argentine host family where one or more members are involved in the local arts world. Students can express their preference for more or less traditional host families—families with young children or host-siblings their own age, single professionals, and younger (20-40´s) or older (50+) host parents.

Housing includes two meals a day—breakfast, and either lunch or dinner. Host families and students arrange their own meal schedules.

Orientations

A three-day study abroad orientation session at the beginning of the program introduces you to the city of Buenos Aires, Argentine culture, and the program. Orientation includes specially-designed sessions on health and safety, local living logistics, and community engagement opportunities. All orientation activities are based on the Spanish profiles of students, and are run by the study center’s student coordinators who use orientation sessions as an opportunity to create direct relationships with individual students, which each of them will monitor and support during the term. At the end of the orientation you will need to sign a commitment form by which you acknowledge and accept all the program’s policies

Transportation

Onsite orientation includes information on using local buses and taxis safely and effectively. Local transportation can be used to safely travel around Buenos Aires and within Argentina. Local transportation costs are not included in the program fee and are your responsibility.

Safety

The CIEE study abroad program orientation includes several sessions on local safety and security issues. Although violent crime is extremely rare, you must take care when traveling around the city. CIEE staff will discuss security and safety concerns with you before and during the program, and advise you about the importance of traveling in groups, avoiding walking outside after dark, and other precautions that can help ensure a safe study-abroad experience in Argentina.

Health

There are no major health concerns in Buenos Aires since Argentina has an excellent health care system, and there are numerous clinics available to you in the event of illness or emergency.

Internet

You are encouraged to bring a wireless-enabled laptop. Many host families have Internet access in their homes. You will also have access to the Internet at CIEE Study Center in FLACSO computer labs and Internet cafés throughout the city.

Culture

Cultural Activities

The academic program is supplemented by field trips and excursions to various points of cultural interest around Buenos Aires. Cultural activities are organized and conducted under the objective of providing an overview of the main performing arts and other artistic expressions in the city.

As an integral part of the program and course offerings, you will be required to participate in a significant number, and wide variety, of field experiences namely to attend performances that will form the basis of your observation and analysis of the performing arts, but which will also constitute a central pillar of your cultural experience. Additionally, you will be required to attend a certain number of elective performances in order to diversify your experience and that of the the participant group, and allow students a measure of specialization in terms of their individual interests within the broader performing arts arena. Resident and instructional staff will assist students in accessing information about local offer and selecting performances that will support their academic learning goals and personal interest and enjoyment. Students will be actively encouraged on an extracurricular basis to take full advantage of the huge array of performances available in Buenos Aires in order to enhance their academic and cultural study abroad experience.

The program will also include a series of “master classes” where local artists and experts will meet with students for tutorials, discussions, and participatory performance sessions that will allow students a direct and immersive experience with local representatives of the performing arts world.

Overnight Field Trip

Potential field trip sites are still being assessed but it is anticipated that students will be offered one of the two following options for the overnight field trip.

Option 1: Rosario, Santa Fe

Rosario is the third-largest city in Argentina by population, with a growing and important metropolitan area. It is located 185 miles northwest of Buenos Aires, in the province of Santa Fe, on the western shore of the Paraná River.

The city is located at the heart of the major industrial corridor based on the Port of Rosario.

Rosario has many cultural activities in many artistic disciplines with national and international reach. The city has produced important personalities in the fields of music, painting, philosophy, politics, poetry, literature, medicine, and law. Important theaters are El Círculo, Astengo Auditorium, La Comedia, etc. The city has several museums, as well.

Rosario will be a great option for students to find a different perspective of Argentina’s social and cultural diversity.

Option 2: Ciudad de Mar Del Plata

Located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, 250 miles south of Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata is one of the major fishing ports and the biggest seaside beach resort in Argentina.

An outstanding seafood culture leads the city’s gastronomy. Natural forests and parks are available for tourism, along with sightseeing and cultural tours focused on the first half of the 20th century, a time of social construction in Argentina. All this turns Mar del Plata into a great option for experiencing and understanding many of the important contrasts between Buenos Aires and the rest of Argentina.

Academics

The main goal of this intensive summer study abroad program is to offer students the possibility to perceive Latin American and Argentine culture, history, and contemporary society through the lens of the performing arts. This approach will integrate the acquisition of new knowledge through theory, history, and field experiences in the area of the performing arts (theater, dance, music). Field experiences include observation, analysis, and practice of specific artistic manifestations in the Rio de la Plata region.

The academic components and co-curricular/extracurricular design of the program are oriented towards helping students observe, analyze, and reflect upon the history, and socio-cultural and political contexts of the performing arts in the Rio de la Plata region as part of Latin America. This will be achieved through classroom-based and co-curricular study of theater, dance, and music in the Rio de la Plata and Latin America.

The program duration is six weeks, with 14 contact hours per week.

The study abroad program will offer two courses focused on the performing arts (see description in appendix):

• Theory and History of the Performing Arts in Latin America. This course focuses on performing arts theory and the analysis of how regional socio-historical contexts in the Rio de la Plata and Latin America have influenced the performing arts.
• Perfoming Arts Experience and Practice in Buenos Aires This course is based on experiential aspects of the performing arts, including practical experience and reflection on the arts within the local Buenos Aires context. Students will attend, observe, and participate in performance activities and workshops in which they will have the chance to experience, analyze, and reflect on actual performances as well as the topics they have studied in the program.

Language Acquisition

To fulfill the program's goal of developing students’ general and performing arts-related Spanish language skills, the program will integrate two different teaching strategies successfully used in other CIEE Buenos Aires study abroad programs, and implemented by a team of CIEE’s resident Spanish instructors.

• Faculty Teaching Team Throughout the program and both courses, a team teaching methodology will be used, through which content and language professors, organized in pedagogical teams, will assist students with the content of their courses as well as prepare them for their out-of-classroom experiences. Working as tutors and facilitators, these arts and language specialists will accompany students through different aspects of the program to ensure that they achieve their academic and linguistic objectives.
• Spanish Tutoring Tutorial support will be offered/required for students that want/need to improve their language skills. This will be available through personalized follow up with the purpose of helping students produce written and spoken/performed required tasks.

Academic Culture

Classes in the program are for CIEE study abroad students only, and based on instructional methods and teaching standards that will be familiar to most students who have studied foreign languages at typical U.S. college campuses. Program staff and resources will be available to assist students in navigating any challenges faced in adjusting to differences in academic culture, and students will be introduced to and prepared for the academic life of the Program through orientation activities and materials, regular advising, and contact and language exchange with local students.

Nature of Classes

The academic content of the program will be designed, managed, and delivered by CIEE with the collaboration of the Department of Dramatic Art of IUNA. Classes are for CIEE study abroad students only. Class instruction is provided by professors with extensive academic and practical experience and expertise in the arts and performing arts fields.

Grading System

Letter grades of A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D and F are given. Students are assessed based on a combination of participation, papers, oral presentations, and a final exam. Attendance is mandatory and Incompletes are not accepted.

Language of Instruction

Spanish

Course Description

Program Blog

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