Overview
Challenge. Investigate. Engage. You could choose to watch the impact of underdevelopment on communities and nations from afar—or you could experience it for yourself in Nicaragua. Despite a history of conflict, Nicaragua is now rated the second most peaceful nation in the Americas, making it a perfect place to study social justice and development.
Through intensive coursework and language study, rural immersion, and volunteer opportunities you’ll enhance your understanding of contemporary Nicaraguan society and the work of cooperatives, non-governmental organizations, and social movements striving to achieve social justice in the country.
Study abroad in Nicaragua you will:
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Live with a local family and enroll directly in classes at Nicaragua’s best-known university
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Enjoy guest lecturers and facilitated discussions with those involved in grassroots organizations, as well as visits to community centers and organizations in Managua
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Explore the city and country through cultural and social activities, including a week-long stay with a Nicaraguan peasant family
The CIEE Difference
Coursework
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Analyze the efforts to achieve revolutionary change and reform in Nicaragua, looking particularly at the socio-economic and political circumstances that led to the Sandinista revolution and its aftermath
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Assess the impact of revolutionary and neoliberal policies in the advancement of human development goals in Nicaragua
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Enroll directly at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua and a full selection of courses from history and political science to anthropology and economics
Immersion
The study abroad program includes visits to sites of historic and cultural importance in and around Managua, which have included visits to:
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The Caribbean Coast (Pearl Lagoon and Little Corn Island)
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Farmers’ cooperatives in the northern highlands of Las Segovias
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National parks, such as Volcán Masaya, nature preserves like Apoyo Lagoon, and the colonial cities of Granada and León
Two weeks after arrival, all students participate in a rural immersion experience. For five days, you will stay with a local peasant family, living like they live, sharing ideas, worldviews, experiences, and the typical life of the Nicaraguan countryside.
Homestays
The homestay is essential to students’ learning process and integration into life in Nicaragua. The opportunity to live with a local family not only allows students to deconstruct stereotypes and to observe real life in action, but it also creates opportunities for students to talk about issues presented in their courses and to practice their Spanish language skills. Homestays also provide a unique source for learning about Nicaraguan culture and for personal growth.
Credit
Total recommended credit for the semester is 15–18 semester/22.5–27 quarter hours and for the year is 30–36 semester/45–54 quarter hours.
Contact hours for CIEE courses are 45 contact hours with recommended credit of 3 semester/ 4.5 quarter hours, and contact hours for UNAN-Managua courses vary from 45–90 contact hours with recommended credits of 3–6 semester/4.5–9 quarter hours, unless otherwise indicated.
Program Requirements
The required ten-day intensive language course precedes the regular semester. During the regular semester, study abroad students must enroll in the CIEE core course and three direct enrollment courses. At least one direct enrollment course related to Nicaragua, social justice, and/or development studies is strongly recommended.
About Managua
Managua offers vivid testimonies of Nicaragua’s history, the character of its people, and culture around every corner. Within a few steps of the city’s Lake Xolotlan lie the ruins of the Old Cathedral, one of the few structures in the city that survived the 1972 earthquake. The 1,500,000 inhabitants of this capital city reside in its neighborhoods, which stand in the periphery of this old center and are home to working families, solidarity workers from abroad, and groups of students, who in the evenings organize cultural, political, and social gatherings.
Where You’ll Study
The CIEE Study Center in Managua offers Spanish instruction through the Centro Superior de Idiomas at Universidad Centroamericana (UCA). With over 8,000 students, UCA is the oldest private institution of higher learning in Central America. UCA’s Centro Superior de Idiomas is the first multilingual center in Nicaragua, with highly-qualified faculty and state of the art language labs.
Following a language placement exam, all study abroad students in the Managua program enjoy ten days of intensive training (45 contact hours) in which they refine their language skills, learn about the particularities of Nicaraguan Spanish, and get an introduction to the culture of their new host country.
Housing & Meals
Housing and two meals per day are included in the study abroad program fee. Students live in modest Nicaraguan homes. Although all students on the program have a private room, they should be prepared for more sparse furnishings, tepid water in the showers, and smaller homes than they may be accustomed to in the U.S. Academic year students are responsible for housing and meals during the two-month break between fall and spring semesters.
The home stay is essential to the students’ learning process and integration into life in Managua. The opportunity to live with a Nicaraguan family not only allows students to deconstruct stereotypes and to observe real life in action, but it also creates opportunities for students to talk about issues presented in their courses and to practice their Spanish language skills. Home stays also provide a unique source for learning about Nicaraguan culture and for personal growth.
Academic Program
The Social Justice and Development study abroad program provides a supportive environment for students who have at least five semesters of college-level Spanish, and wish to continue language study while enrolling directly in a Nicaraguan university. The program allows students to pursue a wide range of academic interests, through a diversity of academic disciplines in the social science and humanities fields.
Academic Culture
At Nicaraguan universities, students take courses related to their major from the very beginning of their academic studies. They continue to enroll in more focused concentration courses as they progress through their academic career.
Study abroad students should be prepared for a style of teaching that relies primarily on lectures and student presentations, which often encourage academic debate among students. Class size ranges from 20 to 55 students, with most classes averaging 20 to 30 students.
The first semester of the academic year in Managua begins in early February and ends in mid-July, and the second semester begins in mid-July and ends in early December. An academic year program of study in Managua can begin either during the North American fall or spring semester. Academic year students who begin their study during the North American fall semester have a two-month break between semesters. There is a break of about two weeks between the spring and fall semesters.
