FIELD RESEARCH OF MAYAN ARCHITECTURE IS FOCUS OF J-TERM
January terms offered at many colleges tend to lack academic substance and could hardly be called rigorous. The field excursion that Susan Niles will lead to the jungles of Guatemala is a notable exception to this trend.
The magnificent temples, courtyards and buildings of the ancient Mayan civilization comprise the research focus of Niles, a professor of anthropology and sociology at Lafayette College, and Robert Batson, a practicing architect and architectural historian. From January 24 to May 8, 1999, the pair will lead 10 Lafayette College students to the city of Antigua, Guatemala.
As part of the college's ongoing "Faculty-Led Semesters Abroad" program, Niles' three-and-a-half-month trip to Latin America is a first for Lafayette, located in Easton, Pa. "What began as a rough notion in February of '97," says Niles "led to my working with the provost and campus committees to work through the details. They were extremely receptive to the idea. It's highly unusual for any college to run a semester-long, field-based program overseas, let alone a school the size of Lafayette (2,000 students). You just don't see other small colleges giving faculty and students this freedom."
Niles was impressed by the number of students who sought to participate in the trip. For the 10 students in the program, this will not be a vacation. Many have taken Niles' Andean culture class and know the high expectations she has for them.
Staying with families in Antigua, known for its unsurpassed preservation of 16th- and 17th-century architecture, the students face an rigorous academic program. In the morning, they will take courses on pre-Colombian culture, methods of studying architecture and field study analysis of architecture. In the afternoon, they will have intensive study in Spanish.
Weekend field trips will be equally intense. The students will visit ancient Mayan sites and as a group study a whole archaeological complex to get an overall perspective of the site. Then, working in teams, they will be assigned one specific temple or building on the site to study in painstaking detail. Afterwards, the teams will report back to the others.
"The goal," says Niles, "is to build team spirit as well as develop in them the ability to pursue independent study. We're counting on a healthy mix of personalities, passion and curiosity to fuel that team spirit.
"I have a lot of confidence in the students who are going," she says. "They will find Antigua a gem of a city, perhaps of 30,000 people, but it will be different than life here in the States. They'll also learn to develop scholarly reserve and patience in the field. Working all day in the hot sun and going over a building inch by inch will test them."
And, without access to computers in rural Guatemala, students will have to hand write their mandatory journals, says Niles, who believes it is "essential they document their field reactions, their personal reactions to their stay abroad. Field notes become essential when the unusual becomes commonplace. I don't want that sense of wonder to be lost and field notes and journals help preserve the awe of discovering what is still a living and vital culture. Ancient ruins have resonance for the Mayan people, as well as tourists.
"It may sound flaky, but I can't remember a time when I was not interested in Latin America, even though I was this WASPy child from Wisconsin. I was always struck by its exotic quality. The summer after high school the Spanish Club took a trip to Mexico and visited a pre-Colombian site near Mexico City. I climbed a pyramid at noon with the sun beating down on me. Looking down at the Avenue of the Dead, the past came alive for me. It was practically spiritual."
Contact: Susan Niles, professor of anthropology and sociology, at 610-330-5190, or at [email protected]. Or get in touch with Roger Clow in the Lafayette news office at 610-330-5052, or at [email protected].
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