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This 6-week program is an opportunity to join a small group of students learning about Maya culture, history, and activism by academic means and by living, speaking, and working with Mayas in villages, forests, and fields. We stay in villages beside Lake Atitlan in the highlands of Guatemala, explore Tikal National Park, and work at El Mirador, a remote archeological site. Immersed in cultural and natural worlds, we learn by speaking with Maya experts, putting our shoulders to the wheel on local projects, hiking in rainforest wilderness, and participating in an archeological expedition.
The Maya of Guatemala are perhaps the largest indigenous group in the Americas. Weavers, midwives, farmers, fishermen, ritualists, political leaders, and cultural activists teach us about symbols woven into huipiles (blouses), growing and cooking corn, divination with the 260-day ritual calendar, impacts of the recent civil war, and their projects of self-determination, cultural vindication, language renewal, pan-Maya unity, and political voice. We learn about Maya women’s achievements today and in the ancient past. At the key archeological site of Tikal we study ancient Maya statecraft, theology, calendrics, literacy, astronomy, mathematics, architecture, art, and agriculture. We hike for two days through tropical rainforest to participate in research and restoration at the Preclassic Maya site of El Mirador.
Summarized Schedule (subject to change)June 28
Arrive in Guatemala City, travel to Antigua.
June 29 and 30
Orientation and overview in Antigua. Lectures by instructor, discussion of previously assigned readings. Julio Cochoy, an economist with the Guatemalan Government Department of Human Rights, lectures on the recent civil war, Maya cultural resurgence, and Maya immigration to work in USA.
July 1
Travel to Panajachel at Lake Atitlan in highland Guatemala. Orientation to Maya life in the highlands.
July 2 to 7
Group in residence in Panajachel. Lectures and discussions for the second course, The Maya in Guatemala: Culture, History, Current Issues. We learn backstrap weaving from two expert weavers in the village of Santa Catarina Palopo. Two Maya ritual specialists spend several days with us teaching about Maya ceremonial life and healing. They conduct rituals, calendar-based divination, and sweat baths for our group. Students begin individual research projects--based upon interviews with Maya people including ritual specialists, weavers, and cultural activists--for the Maya in Guatemala course.
July 8 to 15
We spend eight days in San Pedro La Laguna at Lake Atitlan. Local experts teach us about economic development, agriculture, medicinal and dye plants, healing methods, and spiritual life. Ajpub’ Garcia, a native of San Pedro and linguist at the Universidad Rafael Landívar, introduces us to calendric practice, sacred landscape, and ceremony. We teach English in the village secondary school. Students continue their fieldwork on a cultural topic by interviewing our Maya hosts and instructors. Students’ project presentations. Review and test for the Maya in Guatemala course.
July 16 and 17
Travel to Antigua, prepare for journey to the northern lowlands.
July 18 to 20
Travel to Tikal National Park in the Peten forest of northern Guatemala. Group in residence at Tikal National Park, a Classic Maya archeological site. Exploration of the site in the company of the instructor. Students undertake projects—such as drawing hieroglyphs—designed to develop their capacity to perceive and comprehend Classic Maya architectural patterns, iconographic communication, and hieroglyphic texts. Readings and discussions for the Ancient Maya course.
July 21 to 24
Travel to Yaxchilan, a Classic Maya site situated within a horseshoe bend of the largest Peten river, Rio Usumacinta. Explore the site in the company of the instructor, discuss architecture, glyphic texts, and art. Discussion of the impact of the recent civil war on Maya settlements in the Usumacinta region.
July 25 to 27
Prepare for trip to El Mirador, a Preclassic archeological site in Peten, Guatemala. Walk two days with mule support through the Peten forest to the site.
July 28 to August 1
Group in residence at El Mirador. Explore the site in the company of the instructor and project archeologists. Assist archeologists with investigations. Participate in evening classes in spoken English and Spanish literacy for Guatemalan workers. Students undertake individual projects on a Preclassic Maya topic or on archeological methods by interviewing archeologists. Lectures, readings, and discussions.
August 2 to 3
Travel by foot from El Mirador and by van to Finca Ixobel.
August 4 to 6
Group in residence at Finca Ixobel, a lodge in the Peten district of northern Guatemala. In this quiet location we recover from two and a half weeks of travel and review what we have learned for the Ancient Maya course. Students present their research projects and take the final exam for the Ancient Maya course.
August 7
Travel to Antigua where we reflect on the program and prepare to leave.
August 8
Travel to the international airport in Guatemala City by airport van for return flights.
Maya Field Studies Slide Show by Instructor Bret Blosser
ARTICLE: Maya Field Studies student returns to work at archeological site
Student comments (anonymous) from the Maya Field Studies program:"One of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life."
"This was to date the most meaningful and empowering thing I’ve ever been a part of. I learned so much about Guatemala, Mayan culture, and myself on a daily basis."
"We had the opportunity to be intertwined in an entirely unfamiliar culture which allowed us to feel less like tourists and more like friends and family. We got to have hands-on interactions as well as discussions with students, teachers, weavers, merchants, healers, and more which allowed us to establish relationships with individuals and understand and learn about their culture."
"Every…guest speaker we had left me astonished by the information they provided us. Their care towards us in sharing their knowledge, wisdom, and personal experiences will be never forgotten and propelled me to be inspired and motivated in a new direction."
"This course put us in challenging positions both physically and mentally and allowed us to learn through our failures, successes, struggles, and group discussions."
program info | courses | field conditions | instructor | costs
See SLIDE SHOW