- July 24, 2014
Juliana took a break from her summer engineering internship at Eaton to spend the last two weeks of June traveling around Guatemala as part of the USC Problems Without Passports class, ANTH 400: Maya Resilience. Juliana has a minor in Cultural Anthropology, so this class was a great opportunity for her! The course, taught by USC professor and Maya archaeologist Thomas Garrison, studied how the Maya people of Central America have forged a strong cultural identity in both the past and present. With just three students, one professor, and a diverse selection of guest speakers along the way, the group traveled to four different regions of Guatemala and visited archaeological sites, museums, and Maya communities where students discovered the complexities of issues related to the conflicting interests of indigenous cultural heritage and national economic development. At ruins and museums in Guatemala the students could see how the Maya of the past are presented to the public, both nationally and internationally. During visits to modern Maya highland markets and towns students witnessed how the modern Maya live today. This unique abroad experience was a great way to delve into the culture!
[glg_short_two_thirds][glg_short_content_box style=”sunset” title=”Juliana’s Experience”] The entire trip to Guatemala was amazing. Although it’s hard to choose just one favorite part, I loved seeing the different Maya ruins. We got the opportunity to see the sites of Tikal, Yaxha, Topoxte, and Iximche, and we learned about several others as well. I liked that we had such a small group on the trip because it made the experience more personalized – we spent most lunches and dinners discussing what we saw that day, learning from exceptional guest speakers, and generally taking advantage of Professor Garrison’s vast experience working in Maya archaeology in Guatemala. I can’t imagine a more amazing learning opportunity, and it’s certainly an experience I’ll never forget. [/glg_short_content_box] [/glg_short_two_thirds] [glg_short_one_third]#ViterbiAbroad Tweets
Learn More About Juliana on her Profile!
