Location: Cochabamba, Bolivia
Faculty Leader: Dr. Vivian Schwarz Blum
Service Opportunities: Working with children at a local orphanage, working with children with disabilities, and possible opportunities to support ongoing Amizade school-building projects.
Housing: Comfortable homestays with Cochabambino families
Travel Highlights: Program includes trips to the Incallajta Incan Ruins, The Uyuni Salt Flats, Lake Titicaca, Isla del Sol, and La Paz
Academic Highlights: Improve/learn Spanish, learn about Latin American politics, learn about Bolivian culture and history
Application: application coming soon!
Overview
Spend a semester living with a family in Cochabamba, Bolivia (Bolivia’s third largest city, encircled by the breathtaking Andes Mountains); study Spanish and contemporary Latin American history and politics; serve 12+ hours per week for a local nonprofit organization; and explore the country and culture through field trips and community events.
Academic Courses
Bolivia semester students enroll in five courses worth three credits each, to earn a total of fifteen credits during the term. Six credits are dedicated to Spanish language courses. Students are accommodated at all levels of language learning, from introductory to advanced. The remaining three courses are Civil Society in Bolivia, The Global Service-Learning Seminar, and The Field Placement Internship Seminar (political science credits). Together, these courses are designed to provide theoretical and historical perspectives on civil society and political concerns, with a particular focus on the role of indigenous politics in the region today. The Global Service-Learning course focuses on the relationship between individual ethics, local social service efforts, and international dilemmas. The political science courses are taught in English by local and expatriate instructors.
Integrated Community Service
You will have a number of service opportunities relating to human needs. Amizade has long-term relationships withseveral organizations that work with children and youth with disabilities. You will be placed with the organization of your choice taking into account your experience and the needs of the organizations.
Location
Amizade has maintained partnerships with community organizations in Cochabamba, Bolivia for more than twelve years. Cochabamba is located in a highland plateau and boasts of a perfect climate with a daytime seasonal average of 72 F with no humidity. Cochabamba is a bustling city of more than 600,000 people, home to many beautiful plazas, fountains, churches, and the largest open-air market in the Americas. Despite the beautiful scenery and perfect climate, Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in all of the Americas and faces a variety of social and economic challenges.
As a Bolivia semester student, you will have opportunities to experience boththe urban and rural aspects of the region with field trips and excursions to regional cities, Inca ruins, and local festivals. Your homestay accommodations with local families will allow for deeper language learning and understanding about local life and culture. You’ll improve your Spanish, and you’ll learn about regional civil society from a Bolivian Professor with substantial related academic and professional experience. You’ll enjoy Cochabamba’s famously pleasant and sunny environment, where residents regularly gather under palms to discuss politics and life in plazas ringed by sixteenth century Spanish buildings.
Contact us to be sure to receive your semester application as early as possible.
Program Tuition Includes:
- Course delivery and instruction accredited through West Virginia University
- Arranged home stay with a local family and housing during field trips
- Two meals per day at home stay families (Breakfast and lunch, the large family meal in Bolivia)
- 3 meals per day during field trips
- Multiple field trips during semester and scheduled educational, cultural and service activities
- Comprehensive Travel Insurance
Additional Program Related Expenses:
- Airfare to Cochabamba, Bolivia and travel related expenses
- Course textbooks, course packet and materials
- Transcript fees
- Applicable passport or visa fees
- Supplemental meals
- Personal spending money
*West Virginia University students automatically receive a $1,250 scholarship toward the Bolivia Semester Program. West Virginia Promise Scholarship funding may be applied toward program costs and Eberly College Students are eligible for Enrichment Grants.