Program terms: Fall, Spring
Restrictions: Vanderbilt applicants only
Type of Program: Study Center
Costs: Budget Sheets
Academic Calendar: Similar to VU
Key Dates:

Term	Application Deadline	Program Dates
Fall 2025	03/03/2025	To be determined

On this program, you will learn what undocumented migrants go through on their journey to the U.S. and the strategies used to enforce border control, as well as the affects it has on borderland, and transnational communities. The program begins in Tucson, Arizona, near an entry point in the United States, and there you will learn what undocumented migrants encounter once on U.S soil. Then, you will travel to Mexico City for a few days before transitioning to the program base in Oaxaca, Mexico and focus on learning how international economics, labor shortages, war, and immigration policy affect migration patterns. 

Courses are taught in English and Spanish, with readings, lectures, and discussions happening in either or both languages depending on the context. Therefore, participants are required have completed at least three recent semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent, and the ability to follow coursework in Spanish. Students will stay in two types of homestays: an urban homestay in Oaxaca, Mexico and a rural homestay in Mixteca Alta, Mexico. Housing in other locations will vary. After your coursework is completed you are required to do either an individual research project or an internship within the community, research or government organizations and/or NGOs.

For more information, visit program homepage.

Fact Sheet

Housing: Homestay, Hostel/Hotel
Minimum GPA: 2.7
Language of Instruction: English, Spanish
Language prerequisite: Yes
Additional prerequisites: Yes, see program homepage
Costs: Budget Sheets
Student contacts: Peer alumni

Photo: Oaxaca, courtesy of Urik Amador