COUNCIL STUDY CENTER
Pontificia Universidad
Católica Madre y Maestra,
Santiago, Dominican Republic
Semester and Academic
Year
The Pontificia, Universidad
Católica, Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) is a private, nonprofit
institution of higher education dedicated to superior teaching.
Founded in 1962, PUCMM has been ranked by the Inter- American
Development Bank as the best academic institution of higher learning
in the Dominican Republic. Located in Santiago, PUCMM's modern
buildings are fully integrated into the spacious landscape to form an
appealing campus environment. PUCMM has three academic divisions:
Social Sciences and Humanities, Engineering Sciences, and Health
Sciences. In January 1990, the university began developing a women's
studies program. A course is now offered every semester examining
issues relevant to Dominican and Latin American women. There are a
number of extension programs conducted by the university in various
locations in the Dominican Republic. With a population of
approximately 10,000 students and a full- and part-time faculty of
over 700 members, PUCMM offers the academic resources, support
services, and physical facilities of a modern educational
institution.
The program was established in
1987.
The Council Study Center at PUCMM has a dual focus which enables students to achieve advanced Spanish language skills and, simultaneously, to study various aspects of the Caribbean Basin and Latin America. The
five-day orientation session, conducted in Puerto Plata and on the PUCMM campus in Santiago at the beginning of the program, introduces students to the Dominican Republic and PUCMM, the culture, and the academic program and provides practical information about living in Santiago. In addition, students take a Spanish language placement test and register for classes during this time.
The 16-week semester program comprises 15 weeks of language and area studies classes and an orientation and evaluation. Each student composes his or her course of study from a variety of course offerings. As a general rule, students enroll in two language courses and two or three Caribbean or Latin American area studies courses.
The academic year program includes two semesters of study. During the first semester, students must follow the course requirements of the semester program. During the second semester, students are strongly encouraged to take Written Composition and Stylistics, in addition to regular university courses. Academic year students have approximately a three-week break between the first and second semester.
The special program courses have been designed by PUCMM in conjunction with Council. Of these special courses students are required to take either Latin American Culture and Society or Dominican Social Themes and Advanced Conversation and Grammar. Students with a weaker command of the language are placed in Intensive Spanish Conversation and Intensive Spanish Grammar with additional contact hours to bring them up to the advanced level. Students take a placement exam at the beginning of the program and may place out of the required Spanish language courses if their fluency is up to that level. Students also choose two or three additional courses from a selection that includes some regular PUCMM courses as well as other special program courses, such as the ESL Teacher Training Methodology course or the Community Service Internship. All instruction is in Spanish.
The program includes overnight field
trips to places of interest on the island. The three major field
trips generally include Santo Domingo, Samaná, and a rural
homestay. In addition, there are one-day field trips to Río
San Juan, Jarabacoa, and Montecristi. There are also visits to
agricultural and industrial projects and to sites of cultural
interest. These may include the zonas francas (free trade zones
employing mostly women for assembly activities), León Jimenez,
a local tobacco factory and the Haitian migrant worker camps
(bateyes) near Santiago. Some of these day trips are at the
participants' expense.
In addition to the field trips, which are an integral part of the program, students may participate in field trips organized by PUCMM. Students are encouraged to pursue independent travel on weekends within the Dominican Republic and to neighboring Caribbean Basin countries at the end of the term.
Housing and all meals are included in
the program fee. Students live in Dominican private homes. Meals are
taken at the place of residence. Families are asked to speak only
Spanish with the students. Living in private homes is considered the
best housing arrangement in Santiago because of its practicality and
its contribution to the program's objectives.
The Resident Director: appointed by
Council in consultation with the consortium, supervises and
administers the program. The Resident Director also assists students
with academic, administrative, and personal matters.
The Resident Director is Dr. Kristine Jones, who received her Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago.
The Coordinator assists the Resident
Director and works with students on administrative matters as well as
excursions and extra-curricular activities. The Coordinator is
usually a past participant of the program or has worked in Council's
New York office.
This course catalog is for
informational purposes only and does not constitute a contract
between Council and any applicant, student, institution, or other
party. The courses, as described, may be subject to change as a
result of ongoing curricular revisions, assignment of lecturers and
teaching staff, and program development.
A preliminary list of courses offered during
the semester is sent to students upon acceptance into the program.
The final list of courses is given to students upon arrival in
Santiago. Syllabi for the courses listed
below are available upon request from
Council. Course numbers are for identification purposes only.
Language Courses
Participants are placed in appropriate language classes based on a proficiency examination given by the Spanish for Foreigners Department of PUCMM at the beginning of the program. Students placing out of the required courses may take additional regular language courses offered by the university.
DR 1000
Intensive Advanced Spanish Conversation
(Required course based on
placement exam)
The course is required for students
whose oral command of the language needs additional work to bring
them up to the advanced level. Through intensive review and practice,
students should end the semester at the same level as students
enrolled in DR 1400 Advanced Spanish Conversation. Special emphasis
is placed on pronunciation through reading and discussion of a broad
range of cultural materials, oral presentations, and taped
exercises.
Contact hours: 90. Recommended credit: 6 semester/9 quarter hours. Instructor: Spanish for Foreigners Department faculty.
DR 1200
Intensive Advanced Spanish Grammar
(Required course based on
placement exam)
As a requirement for students whose
mastery of Spanish grammatical structures needs additional work to
bring them up to the advanced level, this course emphasizes intensive
study of fundamental concepts in
Spanish grammar combining intermediate
and advanced level course material.
Contact hours: 90. Recommended credit: 6 semester/9 quarter hours. Instructor: Spanish for Foreigners Department faculty.
DR 1400
Advanced Spanish Conversation
(Required course based on
placement exam)
This course is designed to improve
active command of the language by means of readings, discussions,
oral reports, short compositions; and taped exercises. Conversational
skills and pronunciation are stressed, including vocabulary building
and mastery of different styles of conversational Spanish.
Contact hours: 60. Recommended credit: 4 semester/6 quarter hours. Instructor: Spanish for Foreigners Department faculty.
DR 1600
Advanced Spanish Grammar
(Required course based on
placement exam)
Intended to increase the student's
mastery of Spanish grammar in communicative contexts, emphasis is
placed on the use of the subjunctive, ser/estar, comparison of
preterit/imperfect tenses, prepositions, and Spanish syntax to
improve communicative skills.
Contact hours: 60. Recommended credit: 4 semester/6 quarter hours. Instructor: Clara Portela.
DR 1800
Written Composition and Stylistics
(Recommended for semester
students who place out of the advanced language courses and
recommended for
academic year students during the
second semester)
This composition course is intended
for advanced students of Spanish who wish to perfect their written
command of the language. Emphasis is given to syntax, grammatical
correctness, and style. Techniques of creative writing are also
stressed.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended
credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructor. Spanish for
Foreigners Department faculty.
Required Core Courses
Students select one of the following two core courses:
DR 2000
Latin American Culture and Society
An overview of contemporary issues
in Latin American and Caribbean society is given in this course.
Topics include dependency and problems of underdevelopment,
migration, industrialization and urbanization,
Latin American
economies, dictatorship and democracy, geopolitics of the Caribbean,
and the role of women in Latin societies. Specific focus is placed on
culture and society in the Greater Antilles.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4-5 quarter hours. Instructor: Adriana Mirquez.
DR 2010
Dominican Social Themes
In this course, social, economic,
and political aspects of contemporary Dominican society are examined.
Topics include: income distribution, occupational and demographic
structure, education, health, government
organization and political parties,
tourism, and internal and transnational migration.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended
credit: 3 semester/4-5 quarter hours. Instructor: jog Horacio
López.
Special Program Courses
DR 3000
Independent Study: Directed Readings and Research
This course is for advanced students
interested in pursuing specialized research on a topic not offered by
the program, under the direction of a PUCMM faculty member or the
Resident Director. A major term paper is
required, and a research outline signed
by the student's faculty advisor must accompany the course
registration materials. This course is intended f6r students with
advanced language skills or academic year students
in the second
semester.
Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Supervisor: PUCMM faculty member in the appropriate field or Resident Director.
DR 4000
Community Service Internship
Designed for students interested in
development or social work, the course includes site visits to low-
income neighborhoods, reforestation projects, hospitals, children's
shelters, Haitian migrant worker camps, and
free trade zones
employing mostly women. These activities are combined with volunteer
work at selected social service agencies in Santiago. Upon arrival,
students choose the social service agency in which they seek to
volunteer.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructors.- Carmen Luisa Gonzalez and Nancy Pefia Bisonó.
DR 4500
English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher Training
Methodology Course and Directed
Teaching
Offered in cooperation with the USIS
Binational Center, this course trains students for teaching English
as a Second Language, giving an overview of recent theories of second
language acquisition and teaching methodologies, practical
application, or theoretical principles through class presentations
and student teaching. There are 12 hours of observation and 12 hours
of supervised teaching for each level (beginning, intermediate, and
advanced).
Students may petition their home institutions for additional credit hours if directed teaching is undertaken in conjunction with the methodology course. Credit cannot be awarded for teaching alone.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructor: Agustfn Francisco.
PUCMM Area Studies Courses
DRAS 2100
Afro-Caribbean Cultures
This course is a study of the African experience in the
Caribbean and the Afro-Caribbean heritage in culture,
society, and the arts. The rise of Black nationalism in the
1920s, negritude as a literary movement,
Afro-Caribbean religions, and the Black Power movements of the
1960s and 1970s are among the topics covered.
Racial patterns of the Spanish, French, Dutch, and English-speaking
Caribbean are contrasted with those in the
United States.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructor: Bernardo Matfas Hernandez.
DRAS 2200
Issues of Development in the Caribbean and Latin America
This seminar-style course focuses on four major themes: 1.
Introduction to the economics of development. 2.
Theories and models of development, both traditional and
recent, that have had major influence in the region.
3. Analysis of economic development thought
and planning in the Caribbean, including the
integrationist movement represented by
Caricom. 4. Economic development in the Dominican Republic (history
from the Trujillo dictatorship era to the
present); the role of agribusiness, tourism, and industrial free
trade zones; the Reagan administration's
Caribbean Basin Initiative and the impact of NAFTA; Dominican-Haitian
relations.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4-5 quarter hours. Instructor: Pedro Juan del Rosario.
DRAS 2300
History of the Caribbean
Caribbean history from the colonial period to the present
is surveyed in this course. Emphasis is on the
Spanish Caribbean. Topics include conquest and
colonization, the rise of sugar, the Haitian revolution and the
abolition of slavery, independence movements
and financial imperialism in the twentieth century, and the
Cuban revolution.
Contact hours: 45. Recommend credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructor: Nelly Sinchez de Hernandez.
DRAS24M
Contemporary Latin American Literature
Examining principal works, authors, and movements, this
course provides a survey of modern Latin American
literature from Modernism through the Latin American boom. For
Council students only.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4-5 quarter hours. Instructor: Carlos Fernindez Rocha.
DRAS 2500
Contemporary Dominican Literature
Dominican literature in the twentieth century is surveyed
with emphasis on developments since the advent of
Modernism. Topics include the influence of race, geography,
and politics on literary trends.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructor: Bruno Rosario Candelier.
DRAS 2600
Spanish Caribbean Literature
Literature of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean is examined
from its origins to the present. Literary movements
such as indigenism and negritude are studied through the works
of representative authors.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4-5 quarter hours. Instructor: Bruno Rosario Candelier.
DRAS 2700
Introduction to Dominican Folklore
This class provides the student a coherent panorama of
Folklore with a scientific base. It serves as a means
of understanding and integrating the cultural
context which surrounds the student. Examples of the
Dominican cultural context are used to discuss
the characteristics of folklore studies, including verbal folklore
(spoken, proverbs, poetry, legends, stories
and songs), partially spoken (superstitions, magic, children's
games) non-verbal (gestures, costume, food),
and field work methodology.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructor: Carlos Fernindez
DRAS 2800
Latin American and Caribbean Film
Students are exposed to Latin American and Caribbean films
not necessarily seen in the United States and
critically examine the social issues they address. Weekly
screenings or reading assignments on the themes of
the films and/or their historical backgrounds are included in
the course work. Special attention is given to
Dominican and Caribbean film. For Council students only.
Contact hours: 30. Recommended credit: 2 semester hours/3
quarter hours. Instructor: José D'Laura.
DRAS 2900
Dominican-Haitian Relations (Spring Semester only)
This course examines the realities of contemporary Haiti
and Dominican Republic, with a review of the
historical and structural underpinnings of both societies that
have influenced relations between the countries.
The course will address historical events beginning in the
colonial period that define Dominican-Haitian
relations, including attention to the island, the Trujillo
policies that led to the Dominican massacre of
thousands of Haitian migrant cane workers in 1937, and the
so-called threat of Haitian occupation that
continues to figure prominently in Dominican politics and
Dominican-Haitian relations today. Attention is paid
to social and cultural phenomena including Dominican-Haitian
religious syncretism (voodoo), folk art, and other
beliefs that have led to both diversity and cultural
parallelism.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5
quarter hours. Instructor: Bernardo Matfas Hernandez.
PUCMM Courses
The following lists other courses available at PUCMM to students in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Further information, such as course syllabi, is available upon request from Council's International Study Programs Department. Not all courses are available every semester.
Spanish for Bilingual Speakers
1/11
Designed for native speakers of Spanish, the course helps
students perfect writing skills in the language.
Formal and informal communicative styles are emphasized. This
course was developed for returning Dominican
students whose primary language of instruction has been
English. This is a full- year course beginning in the
fall term. Oral fluency is essential, and consent of the
instructor is required for enrollment in the second term.
Contact hours: 60. Recommended credit: 4 semester/6 quarjer hours. Instructor: Rosario Altagracia.
Introduction to Philosophy
Students are introduced to the principles of philosophy
and logic and their relationship to religion,
mythology, and the natural sciences.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4-5 quarter hours. Instructors: Philosophy Department faculty.
Foundations of Western
Civilization
Students are introduced to the foundations of Western
civilization from the Greeks and the emergence of
Christianity through the Renaissance and the rise of
industrial capitalism. Emphasis is placed on third
world perspectives and relations to the West,
including processes of decolonization, revolution, and
cultural nationalism.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4-5 quarter hours. Instructors: History Department faculty.
Rural and Urban Sociology
Students examine agrarian and urban systems and social
organization in the Dominican Republic from a
historical perspective. The main topics include rural family
organization and habitat, the agrarian economy and
social relations, migration, urbanization, and
industrialization.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructors: PUCMM faculty.
Social Anthropology
Methods and techniques of social anthropology. Evolution
of socio-cultural systems: primitive and complex
societies. Analysis of organizations in complex societies. A
case study of urban and rural situations in the
Dominican Republic provides practical application.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4-5 quarter hours. Instructors: Department faculty.
Topics in Women's Studies
The course explores contemporary women's issues with a
specific focus on Dominican and Latin American
women and women in development. Topics vary.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours. Instructors: Social Science faculty.
Introduction to Economic
Development
This course offers a critical examination of theories of
economic development in both advanced countries and
developing regions, problems of development and development
policies.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5
quarter hours. Instructors.- PUCMM faculty.
PUCUM Business Administration and Economics Courses
The following courses are offered within the Departmeat. of Business Administration at the PUCMM. These courses are also open to students who meet the prerequisites.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4-5
quarter hours.
Fall Semester Courses
Introduction to Administration, Financial
Mathematics I, Foundations of Financial Mathematics, Principles
of Administration I, Administrative Theory,
Foundations of Economics, Microeconomic Theory, Introduction
to International Commerce, Marketing I,
Quantitative Methods I, Accounting I.
Spring Semester Courses
Financial Mathematics II, Principles of
Administration II, Introduction to the Dominican Economy,
Salary Administration, Marketing II,
Quantitative Methods II, Accounting II.
One-Credit Courses
Dominican Dance and
Folklore
In this course, Dominican Folklore is introduced through
regional dances, musical instruments, popular theater
ballads, and arts. Students learn to dance traditional
merengues, mangulinas, sarandungas, sarambos, carabines, and
criollas.
Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit. I semester/I .5 quarter hours. Instructor: Mary Luz Gómez.
In addition to Dominican Dance and Folklore, the following are other one-credit courses (one semester hour) that may be taken by program participants. As these one-credit courses are primarily with regular PUCMM students, program participants are strongly encouraged to enroll.
Sports
Soccer, judo, Karate, Swimming, Track,
Volleyball, Basketball, Chess, Baseball, Table Tennis,
Gymnastics, Tennis.
Arts
Music Appreciation, Photography, Drama,
Silkscreening, Drawing.
All courses are taught by faculty from the Pontificia
Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra.
Adriana Márquez: M.A. in Social Psychology, UASD, 1992. Workshops in small group actualization and applied psychology. Taught at PUCMM since 1986.
Blanca Almánzar: B.A., Education, PUCMM; Professor of Spanish for Foreigners, PUCMM.
Bernardo Matías Hernández: Degree in Anthropology, UASD, 1986. Post-graduate workshops in popular education (CEDEE) and field work with focus on Afro-Caribbean communities. Professional experience with variety of NGOs, including most recently as executive subdirector with CARE, Dominican Republic.
Bruno Rosario Candelier: Graduate studies, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain; Director of the literary supplement of the national newspaper El Siglo; Faculty member, PUCMM; Author of nine books on Dominican literature.
Carlos Femdndez Rocha: B.A., Philosophy and Letters, PUCMM; M.A., Literature and Folklore, University of California, Los Angeles; Professor, Literature, PUCMM.
Carmen Luisa González: Degree in Social Work, PUCMM; Chair, Department of Social Work and Sociology, PUCMM; Director, Center for Women's Studies; National Children's Council in Santiago.
Carmen Mercede Pérez: Degree in Education, PUCMM 1974, M.A. in Education, UTESA, 1986. Teaching experience since 1972, at university level since 1975. Post-graduate workshops annually since 1981. Published on higher education and the preparation if materials for the teaching of Spanish.
Clara Portela: B.A., Education; M.A., Linguistics, PUCMM; Professor of Spanish for Foreigners, PUCMM.
Horacio Lopez Tavaras: Degree in Agronomy, PUCMM, 1984. Ten years' experience as project coordinator in popular education and rural development with CEUR. Research assistant with CEUR.
Kristine Jones: B.A., Anthropology, Prescott College; M.A.,
Social Science, University of Chicago; Ph.D.,
History, University of Chicago; Assistant
Professor, Latin American and Native American History, Bowdoin
College; Co-Director, Cross-Cultural and
International Studies Program, University of New England.