ECDR4896: Internship in Ecuador

This course provides a cross-cultural experience of working on various development issues with a regional nonprofit organization. The course focuses on guiding students to understand their own identity as they integrate theory with reality by participation in local development sites. Students are prepared for entering into their community work through discussions on stakeholder and agency analysis, ethical considerations, culture specific gender and diversity context, and power and privilege. The mentoring continues while students are at their internship placement as they come in contact with social actors, community organizations, and local and national authorities, in various regions of Quito at the marginal urban and rural levels. The students are urged to play an active role in their internships by providing suggestions and solutions, discussing alternatives, and investigating all areas of their internship placement to garner a holistic experience on the realities of development work. Through practical internship experiences as well as readings, discussions, and written assignments, students will deepen their understanding of the host-country cultural context and development work from an international perspective, as well as critically examine their own worldview in order to develop, defend, and challenge their own values and beliefs.

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