Latin American Studies Seminar, GCOS 110 (3 required credits, fall only)
The Latin American Studies Seminar is a one semester 3-credit course required in the Fall Semester of the Foundation Year Program. The goal of this seminar is to introduce students to the richness of the region as we explore it though the lenses of history, politics, economics, art and culture. We will examine major themes that are commonly associated with Latin America, such as Machismo, Dictatorships and Revolutions, Poverty and Inequality, Megacities and Migration, Indígenas and Campesinos, Magical Realism and Salsa, Rainforests and Bananas. Our analyses will include the concepts of race, class, ethnicity, and gender, as well as colonialism, imperialism, dependency, ideology and hegemony. We will contrast what is unique to Latin America with how these themes intersect with issues that are global in scope. Short field trips in Costa Rica and a two-week trip to another Central American country will allow students to gain a more specific, thorough and intimate perspective by means of greater first hand experience with some of these issues.

Global Education and Cross-Cultural Studies Seminar, GCOS 130 (3 required credits, fall only)
The Yearly Seminar in the Foundation Year introduces students to some of the theoretical foundations of the program, as well as provides them with concrete tools and skills to begin their studies in this international, experiential program. In the fall semester, students explore issues and expectations associated with being a Global College student, initially including an examination of experiential education theory as well as health and safety issues and prevention. This seminar's main goal is to create an educational context, both in and outside of the classroom, to discover and discuss new relevant insights on the theoretical bases of cultural theory, cross-cultural adaptation and the experience of inter-cultural understanding based on exploring Costa Rican reality. Students develop and carry out a week long group service learning project to have first hand experiences related to the content and issues examined in the seminar.

Beginner Spanish –Fall: GCOS 120; Spring: GCOS 121 (4 required credits- fall; 3 elective credits- spring)
Spanish classes for beginners have the goals of forming basic oral and written communication skills, as well as introducing the students to Latin culture. To achieve these goals, the students meet four times a week for a total of six hours. They also do daily assignments, participate in field activities, live with a Costa Rican family, and interact daily with Spanish-speaking people.

Intermediate Spanish – Fall: GCOS 220; Spring: GCOS 221 (4 required credits- fall; 3 elective credits- spring)
Spanish classes for intermediate students have the goals of improving communication skills and writing skills already acquired, learn new grammatical structures and vocabulary, as well as learning about Latin culture. To achieve these goals, students meet four times a week for a total of six hours, participate in field activities, do daily assignments, live with a Costa Rican family, and interact with Spanish-speaking people every day.

Advanced Spanish Language – Fall: GCOS 320; Spring: GCOS 321 (4 required credits- fall; 3 elective credits- spring)
Spanish classes for advanced students have the goals of improving specific communication and writing skills based on individual needs at the appropriate level. The students attend class twice a week for a total of three hours, do weekly assignments, live with a Costa Rican family, interact with Spanish-speaking people every day, and write about weekly readings related to topics of interest or Latin American literature.

Spanish Language Independent Study -Fall: GCOS 105, 205 or 305; Spring: GCOS 106, 206 or 306 (1-4 elective credits-fall or 1-3 elective credits-spring)
Spanish independent study courses are especially geared towards advanced Spanish students. Students may focus independent study courses in reading and writing, Latin American Literature, advanced grammar studies, Latin American music, among other subjects.
45 hours per credit.

Writing, Research and Documentation Seminar – GCOS 172 (2 required credits, fall only)
This course helps students develop their academic writing skills, including conducting library and electronic research, exploring and organizing ideas, using and integrating different sources, improving writing mechanics, correctly citing bibliographic references, providing support for arguments, and assessing and editing their own and their peers' work. Through frequent short writing exercises in and out of class students learn to use writing as a practical and familiar personal tool for discovering and clarifying ideas. Research projects involving group activities as well as personal intellectual inquiry lead to polished pieces for the semester portfolio.

Global Environmental Issues and Latin America Seminar – GCOS 150 (3 elective credits, or 2 indep study credits, fall only)
This elective seminar addresses the Latin American environmental situation in the global context. Participants learn how Latin America is contributing to, and is being affected by, the most pressing environmental global issues. The main regional policies and grassroots actions to respond to the regional environmental issues will be studied, including indigenous people's strategies. Possible topics include: global and regional indicators of climate change, pollution, loss of habitat and cultural diversity, extinction of species, water scarcity, alternative agriculture, solid waste management, ecological restoration and sustainability. These subjects are covered with the participation of local experts and environmental leaders in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. A week fieldtrip and several short visits in Costa Rica are complemented with a two-week educational trip in Nicaragua.

Peace and Conflict Resolution Seminar – GCOS 141 (3 elective credits, or 2 indep study credits, fall only)
The objective of this class is to confront some of the forms of violence that dominate society and to understand the causes as well as the social structures and patterns of thought behind them; looking for alternatives that lead to transformation on a personal as well as social level is the main goal. This is a class that seeks to initiate a process of awareness about global/social as well as individual struggles. Some Latin American examples will be studied. Subjects such as ethnic discrimination; violence against women; natural resources scarcity; economic, military and political conflict will be analyzed. Simple techniques will be learned to develop skills for conflict resolution. A two - week field trip to Panamá will be used to better understand aspects of the reality of that country: ethnic diversity as well as political and economical struggles will be studied.

Living Latin American Culture Independent Study– Fall: GCOS 102; Spring: GCOS 103 (1-3 elective credits, fall and spring)
In this optional independent study, students will have the opportunity to explore different aspects of Costa Rican and Latin American culture through direct experiences to increase their awareness, understanding and appreciation of the culture as well as to reflect upon their own cultural perceptions. To explore these cultural aspects, students can participate in group activities organized by the Living Latin American Culture Coordinator and/or explore other cultural aspects independently. The organized group activities will be explored through a variety of means, including field trips, movies, recreational activities, artistic presentations, guest speakers, and workshops. Essential aspects of the participation in the group activities will be the promotion of the sense of community, intercultural understanding, and appreciation of cultural diversity. Students taking this course read relevant readings and document their learning as part of the semester portfolio.
45 hours per credit.

Independent Study – GCOS 180-199 (1-3 elective credits, fall and spring)
Each semester at the Costa Rica Center, students have individual flexibility in conducting a directed Independent Study with guidance from their Faculty Advisor. There may also be opportunities for independent study projects, service learning projects, and/or internships. Students may not repeat the same course numbers for credit either in the same or in a different semester. 45 hours per credit.

Introduction to Global Issues in Latin America – GCOS 111 (3 required credits, spring only)
The Introduction to Global Issues in Latin America Seminar is a one semester 3-credit course required in the spring semester of the Foundation Year Program. The course introduces students to major global issues and the multidimensional phenomenon of globalization, with an emphasis on Latin America for concrete examples. The major global issues covered in the Seminar revolve around the themes of 1) cultural diversity and the psychic unity of humanity, 2) development, poverty and wellbeing, 3) environmental degradation and conservation, 4) governance, power and participation, and 5) knowledge, ideology and hegemony. We will study Globalization as a common thread that encompasses the expansion and intensification of major global issues. Students will experience many of these issues first hand by means of a short field trip in Costa Rica, a two-week trip to another Latin American country, as well as a two-week period dedicated to independent field work. In this course students will become aware of the challenges and opportunities that global issues and globalization present, and will better be able to understand and appreciate local responses and alternative perspectives to these issues.

Field Work Methods for Independent Study – GCOS 142 (2 required credits, spring only)
The Yearly Seminar in the Foundation Year introduces students to both the theoretical foundations of global studies, as well as provides them with concrete tools and skills in field work, research, and experiential education. In the spring semester, students explore the methods of investigation that can be used to frame and understand their learning in the field. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods of research, including participatory action research methods are introduced. Students then apply their understanding of methods by undertaking a two-week independent study project. Students implement an independent project they have designed in the seminar sessions and with their faculty advisors. When students return from the field, they analyze, document and present their findings.

Field Work Project – GCOS 104 (2 required credits, spring only)
During the spring semester, students carry out a two-week independent or group fieldwork project in Costa Rica (or approved alternative) which could be an internship, service learning project or research, artistic, or action project. Students will work with their advisor to identify and set-up an appropriate and exciting experience related to individual learning goals and academic interests, in coordination with the Yearly Seminar course where they will be designing, preparing and documenting the project. The goal of this two-week experience is to put in practice field work methods, to examine theory in practice, to explore those skills and academic interests that you already have as well as identify new ones, and develop those skills examined as part of the Field Work Methods for Independent Study Seminar. As stated by a Global College faculty member, “One of the most attractive aspects of [this school] is the possibility students have to pursue areas of interest that they determine, by designing and carrying out field projects and connecting academic learning with their own personal experiences in cross-cultural settings.” All independent or group work must be approved by a faculty advisor to ensure that the proposal meets required academic and safety criteria.

Electronic Portfolio Construction – GCOS 171 (2 required credits, spring only)
This course introduces students to use an electronic platform and to work with text, PDF, photo, audio, and video files. The course will help students increase their digital literacy skills in these areas as well as discover the benefits and challenges in creating and using multimedia files for documentation of learning. The classes will be completely practical; the students prepare the necessary projects as part of the documentation for the diverse courses that they are taking during the semester. By the end of this course, the student will be able to: Use the platform to submit work electronically; have a basic understanding of how to create an electronic learning portfolio; edit and enhance digital photographs; create an audio digital file; and plan and produce a multimedia video that incorporates photography and audio.

Holistic Health and Culture Seminar – GCOS 143 (3 elective credits, or 2 indep study credits, spring only)
The goal of this seminar is to facilitate a holistic vision of health and healing through an understanding of society’s influences. This is a weekly seminar that provides the opportunity for students to study some of the healing traditions used in Latin America [Costa Rica and Ecuador used as examples], while also reflecting about their own cultural traits on the subject. The seminar provides a basic understanding of different holistic healing approaches used in the region with an emphasis on the study of medicinal plants as well as indigenous ways of healing. Basic theory about holistic health is reviewed. Holistic healing and allopathic medicine, traditionally opponents, are studied under the light of the current integrative experiences in Latin America. During a two-week field trip to Ecuador, students visit indigenous communities and health integrated projects. Small field trips in Costa Rica also contribute to the understanding of folk medicine in urban areas.

Contemporary Indigenous Peoples in Latin America – GCOS 151 (3 elective credits, or 2 indep study credits, spring only)
This three-credit Seminar addresses the most urgent issues in the agenda of the Latin American Indigenous Peoples Movement and its relationship with globalization. The Seminar explores the thoughts and experiences of various indigenous peoples of Costa Rica (specific groups to be determined) and Panama (Embera, Ngöbe-Buglé), in the context of the present political situations in those countries. A set of readings covers aspects related to globalization, indigenous struggles, self-determination, spirituality, intercultural education, international legislation, environmental protection, market economy and power relations. A Seminar reader, internet research, interviews, direct observations, collective discussions and documentation are the main resources for learning.

Writing the College Essay Workshop – GCOS 173 (2 credits, elective for continuing students, required for new students)
This is a writing workshop with two main purposes: to hone the skills needed to produce college level academic essays based on evidence and logic and to make writing a familiar and comfortable tool for students’ investigation and self-expression. The writing course will work in tandem with the Global Issues in Latin America course with assignments developing themes from that class. Students will participate in weekly workshop sessions, guided by the instructor, in which they will receive constructive, collaborative critique from their classmates. This peer feedback will help students write informed revisions of their work and support their active commitment to improve. The class is based on the idea of writing as a process and supports the development of critical reading, thinking, as well as writing, skills.

Globalization in Contemporary World Fiction – GCOS 174 (2 elective credits)
The goal of this course is to gain a deeper understanding of the processes of globalization by reading what important writers from around the world have said about the subject. We will read work by some of the major scholars who have contributed to the debates about globalization. These writings will provide the framework for our consideration of recent novels and stories from India, China, Japan and Latin America. We will explore how the globalization phenomenon is lived on a human level in diverse cultures. For students taking the course for two hours the requirements are: weekly writing responding to the reading assignments, two analytic essays, oral presentations and active class participation. Students can earn on additional independent study credit by writing a research paper and reading an extra novel, in addition to completing the above.