Developed in partnership with Universidad San Francisco de Quito, this 3-credit collaborative online international learning (COIL) and community-based global learning (CBGL) course invites Cornell students to explore the complexities of culture and community and their impact on the practice of development, with students and faculty from Universidad San Francisco de Quito, and community partners in Upstate New York and Quito, Ecuador.

Together, we will apply theories of cultural change, intercultural communication, and community empowerment to the geographic contexts of Upstate New York and Quito, Ecuador. The course will meet once per week for 75 minutes throughout the full Spring 2024 semester (Mondays, 11:40am - 12:55pm). During our in-class meetings, we will engage in close readings of theoretical texts, discussion of contemporary research on community development in both the US and Ecuadorian contexts, guest lectures from relevant community partners in both locations, and collaborative projects with USFQ student partners.

During the week of March 24, 2024, our USFQ student and faculty collaborators will come to Cornell for in-person collaborative work and will learn from and with community partners off-campus in both Ithaca and Buffalo. We will then all travel together (USFQ and Cornell students) from Syracuse to Quito, to continue our collaborative learning.

In Quito, during the Cornell Spring Break (March 30 - April 7, 2024) Cornell students will learn about community-based development in the areas of: poverty alleviation, food security, education, and elder inclusion from USFQ faculty and community experts. They’ll then spend time with community-based organizations that address these development challenges in and around Quito. Cornell students will return to NY and the remainder of the course will be focused on critical reflection of the community-based global learning experience and a final collaborative solution-focused project with our Ecuadorian partners.      

Program funding will be available to eligible students and reviewed as part of the regular application to the program.    

Travel Dates:

March 30 - April 7, 2024

This program is embedded as part of the spring course titled Development in Action: Spring Faculty-led Study Trips. Limited to 12 students. Students will receive one grade for the full course in spring semester, and travel is REQUIRED as part of this program:

• GDEV3502 Development in Action: Spring Faculty-led Study Trips
  (Spring 2024, Mon 11:40am - 12:55pm, Travel: March 30-April 7, 2024)

Faculty

Julie Ficarra, Associate Professor of the Practice, Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Sofia A. Villenas, Associate Professor of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences

Karla Díaz, Service-Learning Institute Director, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, College of Social Sciences and Humanities

Paola Nascira Ramia Cardenas, Professor, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, College of Social Sciences and Humanities

*Some program information questions in 'Application Preview' below may not be applicable to this program. Course background will be asked if relevant to that particular short-term program.