Since 1999, this program has been run by Santa Clara University in partnership with the Jesuit university Universidad Centroamericana Simeón Cañas (UCA) and their Casa de la Solidaridad (CASA) program. The mission of the Casa is the promotion of justice and solidarity through the creation of a meaningful academic experience.  Students can integrate rigorous academic study with direct immersion with the poor of El Salvador.  Casa is a unique community based learning program.

Application Requirements:

Applicants must have at least a 2.75 CQPA; no serious disciplinary record, and courses must fit your requirements.  Applications are due December 1st for the fall and spring semester.  All applications require an advisor's signature.

Academics

This program is not limited to Spanish majors or minors, but it is recommended that students complete Intermediate Spanish II (SN 104) prior to their semester abroad.  The program is well suited to students who want to improve their Spanish beyond the core requirement and study in Latin America without having to minor or major in Spanish.  Some general core courses are offered in English, as well as some electives

Spanish minors and majors may also study in El Salvador.  These students will be expected to do all of their work in Spanish. The program is focused on service learning, so all applicants should be interested in working in marginal and lower-income Salvadoran communities.

This program offers an opportunity for our students to immerse themselves in "la realidad" (the reality) of El Salvador on many levels.  Their field placement will be one of the most important parts of their immersion experience.

Dates  

Fall: mid-August – mid-December // Spring: early January- early May

Courses offered

• Praxis Seminar (in English) with field placement (in Spanish)
• Advanced Spanish 1 or Advanced Spanish Conversation
• Salvadoran Literature (in Spanish)
• Latin American Theology (in English)
• Sociology of Public Communication in El Salvador (in Spanish)
• El Salvador’s Civil War (History) (in English)
• The Philosophy of Suffering (Philosophy) (in English)
• Political Structures and Processes in El Salvador and Central America (in Spanish)
• Writing from Life (in English)

Housing

Students live together in a learning community near the University of Central America. Students live in one of three houses, Casa Romero, Casa Silvia, or Casa Ita, which are located just a minute walk from one another. Two UCA scholarship students (“becarios”) live at each Casa house as well.

Program Benefits 

Many excursions, field trips, and cultural activities organized by the program’s directors (Kevin and Trena Yonkers-Talz); a resident coordinator/advisor, who lives in the house and is generally a Casa alumn; all meals during the week; extended orientation and re-entry programs conducted by the program’s; 2 on-site directors; health insurance; housing in a shared room at the Casa; roundtrip airfare to El Salvador