{"id":7115,"date":"2017-08-11T19:21:10","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T19:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=7115"},"modified":"2017-08-11T19:21:10","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T19:21:10","slug":"utrgv-study-abroad-communications-students-experience-cultural-immersion-in-metropolis-of-mexico-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=7115","title":{"rendered":"UTRGV Study Abroad: Communications Students Experience Cultural Immersion in Metropolis of Mexico City"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UTRGV<\/a>

UTRGV students attending a summer study abroad communications class in Mexico City pause for a photo in front of the Bas\u00edlica de Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de Guadalupe in the Z\u00f3calo, the city\u2019s main square. The group includes (from left) Esai Torres, Luis Cavazos, Daliarlene Saenz, Vanessa Soto, Ninah Caquias, Lupita Strong, Adriana Gutierrez, Bianca Lopez, Osmara Garcia, Sarah Pe\u00f1a and Yvette Salinas. In the back row is Dr. William Strong, UTRGV communications professor who conducted the class, holding his daughter, Scarlett. Courtesy Photo<\/p><\/div>\n

by J. Edward Moreno<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Bianca Lopez, a graduate communications student at UTRGV, sat in the pews of the\u00a0Bas\u00edlica de Guadalupe<\/a>\u00a0this summer, gazing at the beautiful Spanish Colonial architecture and art, as she expressed her faith in one of the oldest Catholic shrines in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of my time in Mexico had to be seeing the Bas\u00edlica de Guadalupe in person. It was emotionally and aesthetically satisfying,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cIt truly filled my heart to see such a massive community worship together, and the beauty of the building itself was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez was among a group of seven undergraduate and four graduate students from\u00a0The University of Texas Rio Grande Valle<\/a>y who immersed themselves in the vibrant metropolis of Mexico City while studying important concepts of communication and culture during study abroad from May 30 through June 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe objective of the course was to learn about another culture and what has allowed them to live the way they do,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cAs a place that was colonized using Catholicism, you can clearly see that people in this country hold onto their religion as a part of their identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students made their home in a four-star hotel on the outskirts of the\u00a0Zona Rosa<\/a>, a well-known shopping and entertainment district. From here, they explored Mexico City\u2019s numerous museums, historical sites and tourist attractions by chartered bus.<\/p>\n

Dr. William Strong<\/a>, UTRGV professor,\u00a0Department of Communication<\/a>\u00a0who led the trip, said a city as diverse and bustling as Mexico City serves as the perfect classroom for the subject matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe value of studying culture abroad is the same value one gets from studying a foreign language abroad \u2013 immersion,\u201d\u00a0Strong said. \u201cFor instance, in the study of intercultural communication, one of the significant topics of study is culture shock. It is one thing to encounter culture shock in a book, but quite another to experience it directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the course requirements was for all students to maintain a journal of observations about the fascinating elements of the culture they encountered daily.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though many of our students are Hispanic, they still are culturally rural compared to the giant metropolis of Mexico City,\u201d Strong said.<\/p>\n

Vanessa Soto, a communications student, said she was surprised by some of the traditions she was able to observe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that, because it was Mexico, my birth country, I wasn\u2019t going to be amazed, but I was astonished by how much our culture, traditions and food change, even in the same country,\u201d Soto said. \u201cIn the North, we use a lot of spices, a flavor one can distinctly taste in the food, but not in the city \u2013 the dishes were missing that spiciness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strong\u2019s reading assignments for the course were \u201cThe Labyrinth of Solitude\u201d by\u00a0Octavio Paz<\/a>\u00a0and \u201cOutliers\u201d by\u00a0Malcolm Gladwell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe essays in these books served as the foundation for class discussions and for cultural critiques in the students\u2019 journals,\u201d Strong said. \u201cFor instance, Paz wrote extensively about the nature of\u00a0machismo<\/em>\u00a0in the Mexican character. He wrote the essay over 60 years ago. I asked the students to determine whether or not his claims had validity in modern Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yvette Salinas, a communications major, said the class challenged her to think critically about the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Strong\u2019s communications class in Mexico is tough, but you definitely learn a lot as you are forced to think deeply about your surroundings using the readings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Following are the 11 students who participated in COMM 3316 & COMM 6322 study abroad to Mexico City:<\/p>\n