Conference Schedule

Arrival

2:00 PM

Depart from Seminole Hotel, Managua, for Granada

Introduction to Nicaragua: Sixth International Poetry Festival in Granada, Nicaragua, in Honor of Azarías Pallais
"Poetry is the Angel of Imagination."

3:00
- 6:00 PM

Poetic Carnival: An Homage to Nicaragua's Cultural Identity
Symbolic Burial of the Betrayal of Dreams and a Celebration of Poetry as the Angel of Imagination
Parade featuring the many manifestations of Nicaraguan folklore
Poetry reading on each street corner of the parade's route
Point of departure: Atrium of La Merced Church

Dinner (on your own)

8:00 PM

Return to Managua (Hotel Alhambra, Granada—meeting point)
Return bus transporation included in conference fee.

8:00
- 8:30 AM

Registration
UCA

8:30
- 8:45 AM

Introductions and Welcome
UCA, Fairfield University, AAPLAC

8:45
- 10:00 AM

Coyuntura: Nicaragua Today in Context
Speaker: Mark Lester. Mark is the Central American Co-Director for the Center for Global Education and the Representative of the Winds for Peace Foundation in Nicaragua. He has lived in Nicaragua since 1985 and has been with the Center for Global Education since 1987.

10:00
- 10:15 AM

Coffee Break
Sponsored by Central College

10:15 AM
- 12:00 PM

Session 1—Creative Partnerships in Study Abroad
Moderator: Diana Rodríguez Lozano

Title: "Environmental Sustainability in Study Abroad"
Presenter: Sylvia M. Seger, Academic Director, SIT Study Abroad, Quito, Ecuador

Title: "Best Practices: The Relationship of Institutional Mission, Partnerships, and Program Development"
Presenters: Vera Amanda Solís, General Secretary, UCA; Joy Gordon, Professor of Philosophy, Fairfield University; Jim Bowler, Facilitator of Mission & Identity; Edna Wilson, Associate Vice President, Global Relations, Fairfield University

12:00
- 1:15 PM

Lunch (on your own)

1:15
- 3:00 PM

Session II—Designing Study Abroad for Specific Majors/Careers
Moderator—Steve Gardner

Title: "Preparing Nursing Students for a Study Abroad Clinical Experience in Nicaragua"
Presenters: Mikki Meadows-Oliver, Ph.D., MPH, RN, Assistant Professor, and Patricia Ryan-Krause, Interim Director, Center for International Nursing Scholarship and Education, Yale University School of Nursing, New Haven, CT

Title: "Building a Sustainable Collaboration: The Fairfield University Experience"
Presenters: Philip A. Greiner, DNSc , RN and Lydia H. Greiner, MSN, APRN, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT

Title: "STEM Students Abroad? A Panel Discussion on how to Increase your Number of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Majors Abroad"
Presenters: Thy Yang, Director of International Programs, Greta Gustafson, Study Abroad Coordinator, and Cassy Tefft, Study Abroad Intern, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI

3:00
- 3:15 PM

Coffee Break

3:15
- 5:00 PM

Session III"Institutionalizing Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean
Moderator: Elizabeth Mahan

Title: "The Role of Interdisciplinary Academic Programs and the Institutionalization of Solidarity"
Presenters: Renata Rodrigues, Academic Vice President, UCA; Brian Walker, Assistant Professor of Biology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT

Title: "International Service Learning: Meeting the Needs of Partner Institutions in Nicaragua"
Presenters: Winston Tellis, Schramm Professor of Information Systems and Operational Management, Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT; Arturo Grigsby, Director of Nitlapán, Universidad Centroamericana, Managua, Nicaragua; and Jonas Stankovich, Fairfield University Senior in Finance and Information Systems

5:00
- 7:00 PM

Welcome Reception
Sponsored by SIT Study Abroad
Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamérica (IHNCA), UCA
UCA-Nitlapán supported local artisans will have some crafts on sale

7:00 PM

Dinner (on your own)
Transportation to hotels provided following the reception

AAPLAC Board Meeting

8:15
- 10:00 AM

Session IV"Confronting Obstacles to Study Abroad
Moderator: Jean Silk

Title: "Beyond Study Abroad: How US Partners can Improve Quality in Latin American Universities"
Presenters: Steven Wille, Executive Vice President, Universidad Espiritu Santo, Guayaquil, Ecuador and Kathleen McInerney, Associate Professor of Education, Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL; Professor, Centers for Interamerican Studies, Cuenca, Ecuador

Title: "Faculty Abroad: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
Presenters: George Ann Huck, Ph.D., AAPLAC Executive Director and Former Director, Central College en Yucatán, and Valerie Grimsley, Program Director, Central College en Yucatán

Title: "International Strategies for Diversifying Programs Abroad in Latin America"
Presenters: Daniel J. Paracka, Ph.D., Director, and Emily Lupita Plum-Guclu, Study Abroad Advisor, Institute for Global Initiatives, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA

Title: "Shopping for Courses in a Mexican University"
Presenters: Francisco Fernandez-Repetto, Ph. D., Universidad Autonoma de Yucatán, and Diana Arizaga, Director of Mexico Programs, IFSA-Butler in Mexico

10:00
- 10:15 AM

Coffee Break

10:15
- 11:45 AM

Session V—Understanding the "Other" in Study Abroad
Moderator: George Ann Huck

Title: "Notes from the Caracol: Community Engagement in Zapatista Territory"
Presenter: Peggy James, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin, Parkside, WI

Title: "Personal Narrative Writing as a Tool for Cross-Cultural Service Learning in Nicaragua and Beyond"
Presenter: Douglas Haynes, Ph.D, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, WI

Title: "Sacred Visions and Values from Indigenous Education"
Presenter: Skye Stephensen, Ph.D., Director, Global Education Office, Keene State College, Keene, NH

12:00
- 1:30 PM

Lunch and Business Meeting—Auditorium Roberto Terán
(included in conference registration)

1:45
- 4:15 PM

Experiential Learning with SIT Study Abroad and Center for Global Education

Participants will select from four experiential learning sites with which SIT and CGE work in Managua. Each site has a different focus:

• Youth—accompanied by Aynn Setright, Academic Director, SIT Study Abroad—Nicaragua
• Women—accompanied by Kathy McBride, Central America and Caribbean Regional Co-Director, Center for Global Education
• Citizen Education—accompanied by Guillermo PŽrez Leiva, Academic Director, SIT Study Abroad Ð Nicaragua
• Sustainable Development—accompanied by Mark Lester, Central America and Caribbean Regional Co-Director, Center for Global Education

Limit of 15 participants per site. Transportation provided.

4:30
- 5:30 PM

Keynote Address

Speaker: Fernando Cardenal, S.J., Theologian, former Minister of Education and National Coordinator of the Cruzada Nacional de Alfabetización (1980).

Bus transportation to hotels provided following Keynote Address.

7:00 PM

Departure from Seminole Hotel to "Intermezzo del Bosque"

7:30
- 10:00 PM

Banquet and Entertainment

8:30 AM

Departure from the Seminole Hotel

10:00 AM
- 2:30 PM

Beyond the Classroom and Charity: Learning Opportunities with Grassroots Organizations in León, Nicaragua

Based on the model developed by several Connecticut colleges and universities in cooperation with the New Haven/León Sister City Project, participants will become students for a day in community development projects in the city of León and several rural communities outside of the city. Participants will join a small group for the day's program, selecting from these four themes, based on León's priority areas for development:

• Education—accompanied by Jimy Correa, Director, Public School Instituto Mariano Fiallos Gill
• Use, Consumption and Distribution of Water—accompanied by Juan Enrique Canales, Director of the Board of ACOPADES (Association of Pastoral Development Committee) in the Chacaraseca community
• Agriculture and Development—accompanied by members of the agricultural cooperative in the indigenous Subtiavan community of Troilo
• Prevention of Domestic Violence—accompanied by María Luisa Avendaño, Project Coordinator, Unlearning Domestic Violence, a program of the Zaragoza Sister City Project in the Community of Monte Round

Limit of 10 participants per site. Transportation and lunch provided.

2:30 PM

Depart from León

4:00 PM

Arrive in Managua

Dinner on your own

Departure