Undergraduate Research in Mexico:
“I arrived well but all seems very small.”
Hector Calderon, EAP Study Center Director, Mexico City
Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, UC Los Angeles
Author (center) with an FRP student at her field research site in the Yucatán
My years at the Mexico Study Center (MSC) have been the most challenging and rewarding in my academic and administrative career, especially regarding undergraduate research. Although professors are well acquainted with graduate research, research programs for undergraduates are usually met with skepticism. One of my first tasks as Study Center Director was to evaluate the Field Research Program (FRP). Noting the uniqueness of FRP within UC curricular programs, I implemented changes to better provide undergraduates with the critical tools and guidance to conduct independent field research abroad.
Recent improvements to FRP include a course in field research methods, restructured courses and schedules, greater coordination with field site mentors, and a longer duration of the field research component. The program begins with a six-week component at the MSC and concludes with an eleven-week field research component. A field methods course introducing students to basic theoretical and practical principles of field research now anchors the program. The course in contemporary Mexican history was redesigned to include academic excursions to local sites where students begin to write in their field notebooks. The intensive language program was improved by hiring our own language instructors who focus on teaching courses to both heritage speakers and foreign language learners. These language instructors introduce students to Spanish language manuscript conventions and prepare students for oral presentation of their research proposals.
Author (center left) with Muralism class that helped paint a mural at a local school
Prepared by course work, students present preliminary proposals at a seminar roundtable four weeks into the MSC component. Site mentors—professors at state universities—travel to Mexico City and join all program faculty, the Study Center Director, and staff at the student presentations. Site mentors offer insightful critical comments on topic conceptualization and methodology and students ask for advice. A high level of intellectual rigor is maintained in the student-mentor exchanges. The roundtable proves invaluable for the eleven weeks in the field.
Students then decide on a mentor and field site in locations such as Guadalajara, Mérida, Mexico City, Morelia, Oaxaca, Querétaro, and Xalapa. Under the guidance of their mentors, students have conducted research on a wide variety of topics—migration from Oaxacan villages to California, sustainable development in Mayan villages, presence of Afro-Mestizo culture in Veracruz, rock music and the Zapatista movement, the auto parts industry in Querétaro, English instruction in Morelia, issues of identity in Jewish communities in Mexico, and race and class in the sex work industry of Mexico City.
The program produces resourceful students with advanced language skills and an independence of thought. Students return to their home campus with new personal and intellectual horizons. Students usually decide to pursue graduate study while in Mexico. I can say that FRP is, indeed, a transformational experience for both students and the Study Center Director. I am a firm believer in the value of an international education experience. I will graduate from EAP and return to my home campus, UCLA, and probably feel like a former FRP student who wrote me after returning home: “I arrived well but all seems very small!”
Please urge students interested in the fall or spring options of the Field Research Program to explore the EAP website before the upcoming application deadline.