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Note: Starting with the 08-09 academic year, the Chile: Andes to the Rainforests Enclave will be offered every SPRING semester.

This program explores the contrasts between ancient traditions and modern civilizations. Through intensive classes/seminars, hands-on internships, and field observation in the region, students will examine the inherent tensions and interrelationships that exist within South America.

The home base for the semester is Chile, a country that provides a stimulating environment in which to study the emerging political and social realities in Latin America. Students are exposed to the creative strategies that the country's leaders are developing to keep their economy stable and healthy, in the midst of a region undergoing serious economic and political upheaval. They live in Santiago, the capital, a city of five million which is bordered by the spectacular snow-capped Andes Mountains to the east and the nearby Pacific Ocean to the west.

A team of staff with vast knowledge of and experience in South America and the US supervises the program. Beginning with a language and cultural orientation program, Andes to the Rainforests participants spend their first few days becoming acquainted with the host culture in Chile and reviewing survival Spanish.

Each environment that students study and visit reflects a diversity of cultures from traditional and indigenous to modern and cosmopolitan. With a rich blend of influences from ancient populations, such as the Incas, to European and beyond, contemporary Chile, Peru, and Brazil represent a mosaic of cultures. Although the semester is based in Santiago, students participate in academic field trips to sites in Chile, Peru, and Brazil. These site visits complement course work and provide interaction with local leaders who influence the very issues which the students study.