Maya Exploration Center: Education Through Exploration
Study Abroad
Art and Culture of Ancient and Modern Maya of Chiapas, Mexico
A Study Abroad Course for the Students of Professor Ellen Barclay - Carroll College, Wisconsin

This 10-day course is designed for college level students to learn about the artistic traditions of the ancient Maya History and their modern descendants. Ancient Maya history, architecture, and hieroglyphic writing will also be studied along the way. Back in Carroll College, the students will try to bring together their experiences in Mexico with the reading and lectures to develop both an illustrated journal (in the form of a Codex) and a final project in their chosen media.
The guides/instructors are top scholars in the field of Maya archaeology conducting ongoing research.

Art and Culture of the Ancient and Modern Maya of Chiapas, Mexico
Price $1500 per student (add $250 for single lodging)
add $400 for non-education affilated participants
Deposit of $300 due upon registration
Date March 9 - 18, 2007
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March 9, Friday: Arrival and Orientation
Students fly into Villahermosa, Mexico in the afternoon and check-in to their hotel. That evening, they'll attend an orientation meeting and the first lecture, about Olmec Art.
 
March 10, Saturday: La Venta Park
After breakfast, the day tours begin where the Maya began, with the Olmec Culture. Visit La Venta Park with archaeologist Christopher Powell and see the giant stone monuments salvaged in the 1950's from the Olmec site of La Venta. In the afternoon the group travels to Palenque and checks into their hotel. An evening lecture will present an overview of ancient Maya history as reconstructed by archaeology.
 
March 11, Sunday: Palenque
In the morning, take a tour of the jungle-shrouded Palenque, considered by many the most beautiful of all the Maya ruins. Site archaeologists will guide the group through the site's famous temples and the incredible on-site museum while explaining why archaeology believes that Palenque represents the height of Classic Maya scientific achievement. The day ends with a demonstration on reproducing some of Palenque's ancient pottery. In the evening, attend a lecture on Iconography in Maya Art.
 
March 12, Monday: Bonampak
The group will depart early for the ruins of Bonampak. MEC staff will guide the students through three rooms of full color murals that tell the story of King Chan Muan's battle against the nearby (though still undiscovered!) city of Sak Tz'i (White Dog). That afternoon the students will have lunch in the Lacandon village of Lakamja. After lunch, the Lacandon (an indigenous group of Maya who number less than 1000) will demonstrate they ways in which they make traditional ceramics and jewelry. The day will conclude with transport to Frontera Corozal and a lecture on Maya calendars at the Escudo Jaguar Hotel above the mighty Usumacinta, Central America's largest river.
 
March 13, Tuesday: Yaxchilan
The students will take a one-hour boat ride through the morning mist to the remote ruins of Yaxchilan. The site tour that day will involve exploring labyrinths, visiting the temples of the city's greatest kings, and learning to interpret the complex messages encoded within Yaxchilan's beautifully carved lintels and stelae. From the top of the ruin's massive acropolis students will look out over the Usumacinta at the incredible expanse of Guatemala's Peten rainforest. In the afternoon the group will boat back to Frontera Corozal, have a late lunch in its museum, and bus back to Palenque.
 
March 14, Wednesday: Tonina
The students will depart early morning for the Chiapas highlands. Near the town of Ocosingo, they will stop into the mountainside ruins of Tonina, famous for capturing a king of Palenque in the early 700's AD. Nine levels of architecture and stucco art panels scaling up the mountainside and a museum full of excavated monuments paint the vivid picture of Tonina's dark and warlike character. After a late lunch in Ocosingo, the students will travel on to San Cristobal, their base of operations for the next few days.
 
March 15, Thursday: Chamula
Chip Morris, a leading authority on Maya textiles and a fluent speaker of Tzeltal Maya, will guide the students all morning through the Maya community of Chamula, visiting the homes of weavers and religious officials along the way. In the Chamula's central cathedral, taken away from the Catholic church by the Maya community in the 1980's, the group will witness healing ceremonies and a very unique combination of Christianity and ancient beliefs. The afternoon will be free to explore San Cristobal. That evening Chip will present a lecture on the evolving forms and fashions of Maya textiles.
 
March 16, Friday: Amatenango
The students will spend the day in the Maya village of Amatenango learning to create ceramics in the traditional way. Chip Morris will again lead the group through the community. After a pottery making demonstration and lunch of local cuisine, the students will spend the afternoon making their own pots. The pieces will be fired in the tradition way and ready the next day for the students to being home. The evening will be spent back in San Cristobal, with a bit more free time to explore the city's bohemian nightlife.
 
March 17, Saturday: San Cristobal
The morning will be free to explore San Cristobal for a final time. After an early lunch and hotel check out, the group will descend out of the highlands and back down to Villahermosa along the beautiful Pichucalco Highway. A Maya quiz bowl followed by closing ceremonies will bring the course to its official end.
 
March 18, Sunday: Departure
Morning hotel check out, transport to the Villahermosa airport, and flights back to the USA
 

LODGING
Hotel Cencali: Two nights in Villahermosa will be at this hotel along the trails of the city's central park: AC, cable TV, pool, room service, internet access

Hotel Arecife de Coral: Three nights in San Cristobal will be at this hotel two blocks from the walking mall

El Panchan: Three nights in Palenque will be here: bungalows, onsite restuarant,pool, fans, private bathrooms.

Hotel Escudo Jaguar: One night in Frontera Corozal will be at this hotel along the shores of the Usumacinta River: bunglows with private bath, fans, on site restuarant

PRICE INCLUDES
- Lodging
- Breakfasts & lunches
- Ground transportation
- Entrance fees
- Day tours with anthropologists/archaeologists
- Lectures
- materials for art projects
- Course resource packet


PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE
- Airfare to and from Villahermosa
- Travel insurance
- Dinners

Proceeds from MEC Tours are the center's primary source of research funding. As such, a portion of the tour costs are tax deductible. MEC will provide participants with receipts and proper documentation regarding the center's 501(c)(3) non-profit status for your records.
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