Brazil, Salvador da Bahia
http://ciee.org
Apply early. Students are accepted on a first come first serve basis.
This program is targeted to students who have at least at least four semesters of college-level Spanish and/or two semesters of Portuguese and want to improve their Portuguese language skills and knowledge of contemporary Brazil, especially the Northeast region with its distinctive cultural patterns.
Salvador da Bahia, located on the Atlantic coast in northeastern Brazil, has 2.1 million inhabitants. Due to the strong slave presence during the Colonial period, Salvador has a strong African influence, including religious and spiritual practices, cuisine, and ethnic dynamics. Today Salvador is a booming city and its historic and ethnic diversity can be noted in the city’s architecture and layout: old parts of the city are next to modern complexes. The CIEE Study Center is located on a bustling square, 2 de Julho, located near Pelourinho, the historic center of the city.
During the four-week Intensive Language and Culture Program (ILCP), students take an intensive Portuguese language class and the interdisciplinary core course entitled Contemporary Brazil. For the remainder of the semester, students enroll in a Portuguese language course, one of the two CIEE courses, and 2–3 elective courses chosen from CIEE electives and UCSal and UFBA courses. Students may enroll in only one course per semester at UFBA.
Housing and two meals per day are included in the program fee. During orientation, students are housed together, usually in a hotel. For the remainder of the program, students are placed in Bahian homestays.
The homestay is essential to the student’s learning process and integration into life in Salvador. The opportunity to live with a Brazilian family not only allows students to deconstruct stereotypes and observe real life in action, but also creates opportunities for dialogue about issues discussed in class, and for Portuguese language practice. Students can expect a more traditional environment which may call for some adjustments on their part. The opportunity to live with a family offers students a unique source of cultural learning and personal growth.
Full-time Northeastern student, 2.75 GPA, and middler (third) year or above.
Applications are available at OISP, 10 BV
$21,400 per Semester for the 2009/2010 academic year. Includes: tuition, housing, meals, orientation, and round-trip airfare via Boston.
