Students interested in designing and conducting an independent research project in Guatemala next summer should consider attending today’s interest group meeting for the 22nd annual NC State Ethnographic Field School. The meeting is at 5:45 p.m. in room 138 of the 1911 Building. 

Tim Wallace, an associate professor and anthropology program director, is one of two directors for the program.

“We want students to learn by doing, with intensive and in-depth hands-on learning,” Wallace wrote in a statement released this week about the Field School Program in the Lake Atitlán area. The program runs for seven-and-a-half weeks during the summer, from May 22 to July 13.

The internationally known NCSU Guatemala EFS is an excellent program because of its independent, student-driven design. 

“It offers students an opportunity to see what research is really like, to do your own project, to manage your own time and work according to the needs of your topic and also to challenge yourself by living in a Maya community with a local family,” Wallace wrote.

Students usually live in small communities by themselves, though other students stay in nearby communities. This allows students to focus primarily on their independent research projects, which range in topics from development, environment, globalization, conservation, Fair Trade, language, poverty and health.

Shannon Dwyer, a senior in physics and anthropology, stayed in San Marcos La Laguna by Lake Atitlán, and said the experience was incredibly challenging, but not without its merits.

“The whole experience gave me the courage to go after the things I want in life and not be afraid of failing them,” Dwyer said. “I just learned that being adventurous is really important to me . . . It’s having the courage to go to another country like that, and it’s something I’ve learned is going to make my life a lot more enriching.”

The $3,650 fee includes all expenses (except airfare—about $550), including room and board, insurance, in-country travel and tuition for six credit hours. 

For prior participants like Dwyer, the experience is worth the hardship. 

“The land there has such an energy to it that no matter how much work you do, no matter how hard it is, all that you’ll remember is how invigorating and how beautiful the place is when you return home,” Dwyer said.