Andean Roots: Language and Cultural Landscape

This year-long program will incorporate language instruction, linguistics, cultural ecology and geography, conservation biology, and local food systems, to explore how societies develop, change and survive in relation to their environment and interactions with other societies. Spring quarter the program will travel to Cusco, Peru, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in order to study regional initiatives to preserve indigenous knowledge systems in the midst of development pressure.

Over millennia, many cultures have developed rich linguistic and ecological traditions that have provided the means for communication, food, clothing and shelter based on a sustainable relationship with the land. More recently, cultural and economic globalization are increasingly impacting local knowledge systems worldwide, in particular when measured by changes to language, land-use and food systems. These changes, together with such factors as increasing human population, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, and climate change, compel us to explore the ways in which knowledge systems are preserved or lost. In particular, we recognize the urgent need to preserve cultural knowledge that allows a society to be rooted in place, recognize ecological limits, and provide for its needs. The Andean region of South America is an ideal region to study these issues.

In addition to our focus on the Andean region, we will also think more broadly, using literature, film and case studies from around the world to explore questions important to the future of society. The questions range from the global to the personal. How is the preservation of linguistic diversity related to the preservation of local ecological knowledge, biodiversity and traditional food systems? How is knowledge transferred across generations and between communities, and how can traditional knowledge be maximized in so-called sustainable development projects? How can learning another language and traveling abroad increase our understanding of culture and what it means to fit into place?

During the fall and winter quarters we will address these and related questions through class work, including seminar, workshops and lectures in Olympia, as well as possible short field trips. As part of the program, students will study Spanish language, Quechua linguistics, ecology and local food systems, as well as aspects of history, cultural ecology, etc. as described above. The spring quarter will involve a 10-week field trip to Cusco, Peru, where we will continue to study and explore the relationships between global and local systems of culture and knowledge. Students will have opportunities to stay with local families, continue their language learning, do service work with local organizations and undertake research projects in the region. The program is offered for 16 credits in spring quarter.

Students not already fluent in Spanish will need to attend a Spanish course offered through Evening and Weekend Studies in fall and winter to complement this 12-credit program. See www.evergreen.edu/eveningandweekend/integratedstudies for details.