Study power and oppression and theories of civil society on location in rural Guatemala! UBC Professors Sylvia Berryman (Philosophy) and Thomas Kemple (Sociology) are teaming up once again with Go Global to offer a unique encounter with global systems, oppression, poverty, and civil society activism. Divided between UBC classrooms and a three-week study tour in Guatemala, Global Citizenship Term Abroad combines philosophy, sociology, and experiential learning. Visit coffee cooperatives, women’s initiatives, indigenous communities, and local NGOs combatting the effects of extreme poverty and global impacts.
Summer 2023 Seminar (May 15-June 30 2023)
Philosophy 335 and Sociology 430 begin together by examining classical theories of oppressive power and civil society offered by European theorists struggling to understand the complexities of emerging modern industrial society (De Las Casas, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx and Mill, Arendt and Marcuse), with some consideration of the consequences of colonial conquest. Our encounter with the colonial experience as narrated from the perspective of the dominated re-situates and problematizes this narrative: the impacts of globalization on a developing country highlight new questions about structural oppression (the focus of Phil 335) and the potential for civil society resistance (the focus of Soci 430). More recent theorists of power, oppression, and civil society, including both Western and Indigenous scholars focusing on the Guatemalan case, complement and illuminate the particular instances we encounter in‐country of groups confronting gender and ethnic oppression, systemic violence, and the oppressive nature of extreme poverty. Students research topics of their choice relating the course themes to the local environment.
Sociology majors who have completed their second year by May 2023 are eligible for ARA funding. The application deadline is December 13, 2022.
