CAORC-ARENET FACULTY DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR
Mexico's Indigenous Languages and Cultures
Mexico City, Puebla & Tlaxcala
Seminar Overview
To support community colleges, CAORC offers fully-funded overseas seminars that help faculty and administrators gain the requisite first-hand experience needed to develop and improve international courses, curricula, and teaching materials.
This seminar, administered by CAORC in collaboration with its member center in Mexico, the Americas Research Network (ARENET), funds participation in a two-week seminar in Mexico that will include stays in Mexico City, Puebla, and Tlaxcala. The United States has many of its roots in the deep historical traditions of Latin America, and the dynamic processes that are multiplying the interconnections between Mexico and the U.S. are due, in large measure, to the resilience of Mexico’s Indigenous peoples.
This seminar - based in Mexico City, Tlaxcala, and Puebla - will provide concrete exposure to the geography and culture of Mexico and its historical ties to the U.S. Participants will gain first-hand experience of Mexico’s Indigenous communities and will meet local scholars, artists, and advocates. The seminar will also explore the rich collections held in Mexico’s museums, libraries, and archaeological sites. Round-trip travel, accommodations, in-country transportation, and selected meals will be provided for the seminar.
Seminar dates: May 18 - June 1, 2025*
*Dates listed are tentative program dates, and are not inclusive of travel. Dates may be adjusted slightly due to flight availability.
Meet the ARENET Seminar Team
Omar Aguilar Sánchez
Doctor, University of Leiden
Izaira López Sánchez
University of Umar–Campus Huatulco, Oaxaca
Fátima Vicke
University of the Americas, Puebla
Eligibility
The program is open to full-time or part-time faculty and administrators at U.S. community colleges. The program is open to faculty in all fields, at all academic ranks, and from any academic or administrative department.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens at the time of application and must hold a valid, current U.S. passport that does not expire within six months of the last date of the program.
Applicants may apply to more than one seminar. Each application will be reviewed individually.
Previous Overseas Faculty Development Seminar awardees are requested to observe a one-year waiting period before applying for another program. For example, a January 2025 participant would next be eligible to apply in January 2026, and participate in Summer 2026.
Program Expectations
As an outcome of the Overseas Faculty Development Seminar program, participants are required to develop and implement a project on their campus. Details and examples of these projects will be shared with awardees during pre-departure orientation. Projects should be implemented within one year of the conclusion of the program, at which time participants will be asked to submit a project report and share curriculum and/or documentation of the project for inclusion on CAORC's Open Educational Resources site.
Application Process
Applications can be accessed via CAORC's SM Apply application portal. You must sign up for an account to access the seminar application. This will allow you to save and return to your application before submitting. Please save your login/password information for future applications.
In addition to providing basic personal and professional information, applicants are required to respond to the four essay questions (up to 500 words each).
In addition, applicants are required to:
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Upload a current cv/resume (maximum of 2 pages)
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Request a letter of support from a department chair, academic division head, or academic dean at your college or institution. You will be able to send a link to your recommender via the online grant portal, SM Apply, by entering their contact details, which will trigger the system into sending an automated email. Your recommender will then be able to upload their letter. Recommendation letters will be confidential in the system. In their letter, the recommender should address the following questions/points:
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Please tell us why you support the applicant’s participation in the CAORC faculty development seminar. From your perspective, how will they benefit professionally from the program?
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Please describe the applicant’s engagement with your institution’s internationalization efforts and how their participation in the seminar might benefit students, colleagues, and the broader campus community.
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Please discuss the applicant’s collegiality, teamwork, and professionalism. How have they demonstrated the ability to cooperate, work, and share with others to achieve goals and positive outcomes?
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It is advisable to enter your recommender's contact details into the recommendation letter section of the application as soon as possible (and click 'mark as complete') so that they have sufficient time to complete and upload their letter. The applicant is responsible for checking in with their recommender to ensure the letter is submitted by the recommender deadline. CAORC is not able to reach out to recommenders on behalf of the applicant.
Opening date for applications: July 10, 2024
Application deadline: December 2, 2024 at 5:00pm ET
Recommendation letter deadline: December 6, 2024 at 5:00pm ET
Notification of award decisions: January 31, 2025
If you have questions, please email: fellowships@caorc.org.
Funding for this program is provided to CAORC through a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
