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Tropical Classroom Expeditions crafts educational experiences focusing on any variety of cultural topics. Exploring issues ranging from indigenous lifeways, the African Diaspora, and post-colonial identity construction to gender, race, and social justice, our programs bring these issues to life. Tropical Classroom Expeditions specializes in anthropological experiences focused on Latin America and the Caribbean. Several of our staff and affiliates are anthropologists with experience in a wide variety of settings and with ongoing research agendas. Your course will benefit from the involvement of active scholars on the cutting edge of anthropological research. We are uniquely prepared to create travel courses focusing on the African Diaspora. Our staff includes anthropologists that work in Africa, with Afro-Caribbean groups in Latin America, and members of Afro-Caribbean indigenous groups. We are expanding our trips to include West Africa. We plan to take our first trip to Mali in 2008. These trips will be led by anthropologist Dr. Erin Kenny, who has years of experience in the region. You may choose to focus your cultural expeditions on the groups of the Mosquito Coast of Honduras, with which our staff has worked for years. Two of our staff members are members of these indigenous groups, and our trips provide unprecedented access to this complicated and dynamic cultural crossroads. |
- Anthropology/Cultural Expeditions - |
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Pech Indians in Olancho, Honduras |
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Cultural courses may include:
The African Diaspora
Cultural Tropical Ecology
The Modern Indigenous Situation
Race and Ethnicity in the Postcolonial World
Identity Politics in Modern Latin America
Gender and Tradition among Indigenous Groups |
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To contact us: |
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Phone: 859-608-2478 Email: info@explorationfoundation.org |
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Mali—Global Political-Economy, Identity, and Contemporary Social Change (18 days) This course takes students to Bamako, the capital city, to the historic town of Djenne, and then to Dogon Country to study issues of identity creation, globalization, and tourism. We explore the history of Empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay and then move on to discuss the notorious Middle Passage, acknowledging the crucial role West Africa played in the accumulation of wealth during Europe’s early industrial period. We also examine the spread of Islam and the French colonial period, and the legacy of these influences on Mande peoples. Next, we look to the contemporary international climate and to structural-adjustment policies, and the strains they placed on households throughout Africa. We conclude the course with questions about how the rest of the world sees West Africa, and how West Africans see themselves.
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Upcoming Trips with a Cultural Component: |
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Annually (see itinerary) Honduras—River raft trip (14 days)—moderately strenuous Archaeological Tour of the Rio Platano. Traveling primarily in rafts, this tour focuses on the renowned archaeological sites located along the beautiful Rio Platano in the heart of the Rio Platano biosphere reserve. Guided by naturalist Jorge Salaverri and Dr. Chris Begley, the leading archaeological expert in this region. This trip was just named one of National Geographic Traveler’s ‘50 Tours of a Lifetime’! Click here to see the article. |