¡Bear Left in Costa Rica!

Georgia Magazine (June 2007)
Originally uploaded by BearLeft

Six days from today, I will be leaving Athens, Georgia for six weeks in Costa Rica, where I'll be teaching at the University of Georgia's campus in San Luis, on the edge of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. I'll be one of three professors on the Spanish Language, History, and Culture Program, and I'll be teaching a new course, Beyond Banana Republics: Rethinking the Americas -- that is, a survey of political, cultural, and social relations between the United States and Latin America. We'll have 15 students, roughly, who'll each be taking an upper-level Spanish language course and either my history course or a literature class.

I'm launching this blog to keep family, friends, and other interested readers up to date on this great adventure. 17 years ago, I began keeping a paper journal when I was a summer study abroad student in Leningrad, in what was still the Soviet Union, and I remember quite well how that summer was critical for both my personal and intellectual growth. Now, as a professor, I'm hoping that this opportunity allows me to help undergraduates grow in similar fashions, and marks the beginning of my longer-term involvement in international study abroad programs.

To introduce the program, I'm blogging the June 2007 Georgia Magazine's cover story on UGA Costa Rica - it's a pretty good summary, even if it skips the somewhat shady origins of how the University purchased this 160 acre site, and it doesn't feature our specific progam.


Disclaimers
The views and opinions expressed in any of these posts here are solely those of the author, and should not be taken as those of the University of Georgia (including the Department of History, the UGA Costa Rica Program, the Office of International Education, and the San Luis Research Station), or of any other organization or individuals.