(Picture of Wall mural at the Community Cultural Center (CCC) in Yaxunah).
Professor Maureen Porter, IISE Associate Director, recently completed another round of research and partenership building in the Yucatán, Mexico. Students will be excited to see that a substantial, hands-on community engagement opportunity is one of the important outcomes of her ethnographic fieldwork in March, 2020.
While there for a second partnership-building trip she further strengthened our relationship with core faculty at the Universidad de Oriente (UNO) in Valladolid. This prominent university is a hub for language programs and cultural anthropology throughout the Yucatán peninsula.
Maureen was particularly glad to spend more time with her colleague and anthropological counterpart, Dr. Elias Alcocer Puerto. The two of them added on extra fieldwork time together as fellow anthropologists interested in community-initiated development initiatives, culturally affirming education, and critical museum pedagogies.
One of Dr. Alcocer Puerto’s ongoing programs that Maureen wants to highlight for Pitt people is the grassroots Community Cultural Center (CCC) in the nearby small Mayan town of Yaxunah. In the photo above, you can see the striking mural welcoming visitor to the (CCC), marking it as the focal point for community engagement for residents of all generations. This mural, like the CCC’s local history museum, is part of the overall combination of anthropological displays of community events and artwork, small library, computers, ethnobotany and beekeeping gardens, turtle rescue, and authentic buildings including teaching palapas (well-used typical shelters).
This is a substantial opportunity to do authentic and needed community engagement. Pitt students who are interested in community service, internships and/or research in all modes of life-long education are able to volunteer in many areas of education and non-profit community development. This includes, but is not limited to the areas of entrepreneurship, culture and Mayan language, biology and jungle ecology, sustainability, ethnobotony, youth programs, folk and fine arts, music, teaching English, library stewardship, as well as in individualized topics.
This customizable applied experience in the lovely, multicultural Yucatán will enable interns to gain a regional perspective on critical debates in education and culture. Interns will be able to make a positive impact on multiple levels by working in concert with community members, sharing ownership of the project and the CCC programs that they develop. Because this is a long-term and still growing partnership, Pitt community engagement interns will be able to contribute to our established cycle of reciprocity. Student internships and faculty research agreements have been designed to meet all the ethical standards for research and engagement so that the community members collectively benefit from visitors’ focused efforts. Be sure to contact your advisor and Maureen to design a thoughtful and meaningful academic project and to gain all necessary prior permissions.
As the Associate Director of IISE, Maureen is proud of the dynamic networks of colleagues that IISE has cultivated throughout the world. As a result, current IISE Faculty fellows, Affiliates, and students have unparalleled opportunities to do research and applied work abroad. IISE will continue to play an unduplicated role across the entire School of Education by facilitating students’ opportunities to engage in meaningful and challenging international experiences.
Our graduate students often enhance their degree programs by earning formal certificates in Latin American Studies/Social and Public Policy or in one of the five Global Studies Concentrations. Depending on the year, students may be able to do this internship in conjunction with the Center for Latin American Studies’ Seminar and Field Program in Valladolid. See the CLASiscos Report for a review of the last CLAS-sponsored program there.
Maureen notes, “Our MA and PhD students who are interested in Comparative and International Education and who are in the department of Foundations, Organizations, and Policy certainly appreciate that they can gain formal recognition for their global scholarly engagement through these certificates!”
Come and discuss your ideas for contributing to this exciting Community Cultural Center in Yaxunah. Maureen will have regular office hours in the IISE Suite in renovated Posvar Hall at the School of Education. She can also be contacted directly at (412) 251-3515 or via mporter@pitt.edu.
For other internship opportunity at Museum of Ethnic Clothes of Mexico, see the link below.
Learn more
Maureen Porter Embarks on Continued Fieldwork and Outreach in México
Internship Opportunities at Museum of Ethnic Clothes of Mexico