Healing Ourselves Healing Our Communities
Local-Global Paired Course
Summer Program: “Healing Ourselves and Healing Our Communities, Part II”
Location: Temixco, Morelos, Mexico
Dates: June 21- July 17, 2010
Pitzer Professor/ Program Director: Tessa Hicks Peterson
Mexico Program Coordinator/Lecturer: Estela Roman
Program Assistant: Jenny Sirkus
Exploring and locating native Mexican healing traditions for personal and social transformation within a local/global context
Class times: Mondays, 3pm - 6pm: Estela’s seminars
Wednesdays 3- 6pm: Tessa’s seminars
Fridays, 9-10am: reflection circles, 10:30- 5:30pm: fieldtrips & guest speakers
Preparing and eating traditional meals, 1:00 – 2:30pm Monday-Thursday
Location: Estela’s studio classroom and/or garden classroom
Office hours: Thursdays, 2 – 3pm at Estela’s house or by appointment
Contact: tessa_hicks_peterson@pitzer.edu and telaroman@yahoo.com.mx
Description of Course:
Exploring and locating native Mexican healing traditions for personal and social transformation within a local/global context: theory seminars, guest lectures, group discussions, experiential activities and cultural fieldtrips
Continuing the study of native practices for healing that were begun in the local component of this program, this summer course will provide a brief, though intensive exploration into indigenous Mexican cosmologies and practices for healing. It will focus on the philosophies surrounding illness and wellness, the interconnection of mind-body-heart-spirit and the spiritual knowledge that drive these energetic, botanic, and meditative practices of healing. Through an exploration of both theory and practice, students will gain exposure to Mexican cosmovisions of life, death, spirituality, indigenous knowledge, justice and peacemaking. This course intends to guide students in their search for a deeper understanding of their relationship with nature, land, peoples and local environments. Students will review philosophical concepts that relate individual behavior and attitudes with key elements within the laws of nature. We explore how presuppositions of indigenous and non indigenous philosophy , including epistemology (how/what we know), metaphysics (what is), science (methods), and ethics (practices), affect ecology, biodiversity, health, housing, food, employment, economic sustainability, peace negotiations, climate justice, and human/treaty rights. The understanding of local knowledge and culture will be situated in a global context, recognizing the effects of globalization in perpetuating both a valuing and a degradation of these practices. Diverse scholars and theories (situated in feminist theory, cultural studies, globalization studies, indigenous studies, and border studies) will shed light on the impact of global restructuring on indigenous communities, indigenous knowledge and social/ cultural/ ecological justice. Students will gain skills and knowledge to critically analyze and dialogue about the role, tensions, and praxis of indigenous healing practices within a global context, using appropriate philosophical vocabulary, concepts and resources. Students will grasp the principal concepts of social responsibility (intercultural effectiveness, self-knowledge, community knowledge, and interpersonal competency) and connect their local and global understanding of the topics of this course as a result of their paired course learning.
Students will learn through other voices of the Earth not often heard or read: symbolic images, oral stories and beliefs, and guest lectures by spiritual leaders, as well as experiential activities (such as sweat lodges, energetic healing touch massage, herbal remedies, meditation, and song) and the inclusion of conventional scholarly texts. Local traditional healers (curanderos/shamans) will do guest lectures and activities in the course. Fieldtrips to local sites within the state of Morelos (pyramids, caves, waterfalls, natural springs, ancient ruins, etc) will take place weekly. Lastly, students will also engage in a personal reflection of their own journey of healing as it relates to community engagement and social change.
Course Requirements
Full and punctual attendance as well as active participation at all classes, internship, fieldtrips, and meals (15% of final grade)
Daily log – journal entry regarding personal experiences/reflections with home-stays, language acquistion, cultural immersion, theoretical and experiential learning. Will combine free-form journaling and structured prompts. (10%)
Weekly four-page paper incorporating a critical analysis of the week’s readings and theoretical discussions and a person reflection on the experiential components (interactive activities, internship and fieldtrips) of the courses, (see prompts) Due 9am, 6.28, 7.5 & 7.12 (25%)
Final 10 page paper (Critical analysis and personal reflection) due 7/16 (50%)
Readings:
READER
Table of Contents:
Sweitzer and King, The Successful Internship, Pages 5-6, 10-15, 28-37 and 49-58
Prakash, M. S., & Esteva G. Escaping Education: Living as Learning Within Grassroots Cultures. Pgs 38-51
Ivan Illich, Celebration of Awareness, Pgs 7-28
John McKnight, Careless Society, pgs 63-88
Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/La Frontera, chapter 5
Jessica Hughes, “Gender, Equity, and Indigenous Women’s Health in the Americas”
Freddy Delgado and Felipe Gomez, “Knowledge and Belief Systems In Latin America”
Stanley Krippner, “The Epistemology and Technologies of Shamanic States of Consciousness”
Sylvia Marcos, “Sacred Earth: Mesoamerican Perspectives”
Sylvia Marcos, “Beyond MesoAmerica: Indigenous Religions and the Hermeneutics of Orality”
Louise Burkhart, “The Cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico”
Marguerite Walker & Sylvia Marcos, Dialogue and Difference: Feminisms Challenge Globalization, chapter 4
Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Feminism Without Borders Pgs 245-251
Tom Mertes, Ed. A Movement of Movements: “Reclaiming the Commons” by Naomi Klein, pg 219-229
Notes from Nowhere, Eds. We are Everywhere: The rise of global anti-capitalism: “Emergence” Chpt 1 and “Power” Chpt 6
Vandana Shiva Monocultures of the Mind, pgs 9-22, 37-38, 59-62
Prakash, M. S., “From Global Thinking to Local Thinking: Reasons to Go Beyond Globalization Toward Localization”
BOOK
Jerry Mander and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Paradigm wars: Indigenous peoples resistance to globalization, one chapter (of your choosing) from each section, plus chapter 1 and 27 = 6 total
Tessa’s seminar:
Weekly Themes and Readings
Week 1: (120 pages reading and 4-page paper)
Orientation (to Mexico, program components, host families, weekly schedule)
Navigating Community Engagement (Read Sweitzer and King)
Understanding Mexico/ Critical approaches to medicine, education and language (Prakash, M. S., & Esteva G., Ivan Illich, John McKnight and Gloria Anzaldua)
Week 2: (80 pages reading and 4-page paper)
Indigenous Latino knowledge, health, and healing consciousness (Jessica Hughes, Freddy Delgado and Felipe Gomez, and Stanley Krippner, Sylvia Marcos (“Sacred Earth” and “Beyond MesoAmerica”) and Louise Burkhart)
Week 3: (90 pages reading and 4-page paper)
Understanding globalization (Marguerite Walker & Sylvia Marcos, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Naomi Klein, Notes from Nowhere, (Chpt 1 and Chpt 6), Vandana Shiva, and Prakash, M. S.)
Week 4: (60 pages reading and 10-page paper)
Indigenous peoples resistance to globalization, (Jerry Mander and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz)
Estela’s seminars
Weekly Themes
Week 1: Introduction to Cuernavaca
Robert Haskett, “Visions of Paradise. Primordial Titles and Mesoamerican history in Cuernavaca”
Reading materials, to be reviewed and discussed for all seminars
Stanley Krippner, “The Epistemology and Technologies of Shamanic States of Consciousness”( 22 pages)
Freddy Delgado (Agruco, Bolivia) and Felipe Gomez (Oxlajuj Ajpop, Guatemala)
Knowledge and belief systems in latin america (9 pages)
The mysteries of nature, the mysteries of the soul, looking ourselves in the mirror of emotions
Nature and The Sould
The 13 winds in Nature, the 13 wings in ourselves
Emotions, feelings and separation of the soul separation from Nature
Week 2: Sustainable lifestyles, sustaining ourselves in wisdom and truth
Knowldege and Self-analisis
Honesty to See Ourselves as We Are
The Meaning of Ritual
Learning to Live in hope with wisdom and truth
Week 3: Knowledge, life love and indigenous sexuality
What do we know about indigenous sexuality and its reference to Sprititual life and love
Week 4
Knowledge, justice and peacemaking
The Mystery of Suffering
Compassion and Healing
Program Biographies
TESSA HICKS PETERSON, PhD (Program Director/ Professor)
After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology at UC Santa Cruz (including one year at the University of Madrid, Spain), Tessa returned to her home community of Los Angeles, CA to work on various projects of social change. Her interests in these areas and her prior volunteer experience with SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center), LISTO (Latino Job Cooperative), and NCCJ (The National Conference for Community and Justice— a human relations organization) shaped her interests in the intersections of race relations, social justice, and community development. She worked briefly as the Health and Life Skills Director at the Boys and Girls Club of Venice, Venice, CA and then spent two years as the Youth Programs Director at the National Conference for Community and Justice where she created and implemented programs on human relations issues with teachers, students, and community members. She then moved on to the Anti-Defamation League, beginning first as the Assistant Director and then the Director of the A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE Institute (anti-bias education institute) where she trained, managed, and facilitated anti-bias education programs on topics ranging from identity and bias to cyber-space bullying and inter-group conflict resolution with corporate employees, parents, community advocates, and superintendents, principals, teachers and students of educational institutions, pre-K through College. Over the years she has facilitated hundreds of workshops, seminars, and trainings throughout Southern California and the rest of the country. In her last year at the Anti-Defamation League, Tessa served as the Community Service Associate Director, investigating reported bias-motivated incidents and hate crimes as well as directing community-based educational and leadership programs such as the Latino-Jewish Roundtable and the Glass Young Leaders Institute.
After working full time while getting her Masters in Cultural Studies, Tessa left her work with the Anti-Defamation League to pursue her PhD and a career as an academic. Tessa currently is an Assistant Professor in Urban Studies and is faculty director of the Center for California Cultural and Social Issues at Pitzer College. In this role she directs the College’s center for community engagement, assisting students, faculty and staff in creating and sustaining service-learning and community-based participatory research partnerships with local community organizations addressing various social justice issues. She also teaches three courses annually, including: Critical Community Studies, Social Change Practicum, Applied Methods in Qualitative Research, Advanced Research Practicum, and Healing Ourselves and Healing Our Communities. Her research interests include the study of social movements, inter-cultural relations, indigenous studies, border studies, poverty, and community-based pedagogy involving participatory-action research and civic engagement. Her latest publications include: “Partnering with youth organizers to prevent violence: An analysis of relationships, power and change” in Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action Journal (forthcoming, July 2010); “Engaged scholarship: reflections and research on the pedagogy of social change” in Teaching in Higher Education Journal: Special Edition (10/09); “Afterword” in Howard L. Bingham’s Black Panthers, 1968 (06/09); and “Humanizing the Other in ‘Us and Them’” in Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, (12/06).
Tessa has practiced Afro-Brazilian dance and martial arts for a decade and has led women’s retreats on movement and healing, nationally and internationally. Tessa is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and travels extensively. She resides with her husband in Sierra Madre, CA where she hikes, dances, and rejuvenates her spirit.
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ESTELA ROMAN (Program Coordinator/Guest Lecturer)
Estela has a Master degree in International Peace Studies from the International Institute for Peace Studies at the University of Norte Dame. She was granted a full time scholarship as a peace scholar due to her work in the community and outstanding academic achievement. As an undergraduate, she majored in Sociology at the Nacional University of Mexico (UNAM). She has recently completed law school and is studying for the bar exam in Mexico. She has received training to teach Spanish as a second Language and English as a foreign Language, has been trained in expanded use of massage techniques; acupuncture, traditional and healing Massage; Chinese medical philosophy, Basic First Aid; Herbalism, Commuity Health Work, Organic Agriculture: Organization and Skills Building; Project and proposal writing.
Estela has been known for her work as a community worker and organizer integrating indigenous knowledge and practices for empowerment and healing. She has been invited to teach and speak about Ancestral medicine, Mexican herbalism, indigenous knowledge and cultural rights at numerous conferences, colleges and universities, and with several groups in Mexico, the U.S., Canada, Bolivia among others. She has traveled throughout Mexico and Latin America and recently India and Thailand where she has expanded her knowledge and commitment to work with the disadvantaged. She has also taught with different groups, institutions and universities in the area of sociology, methodology, English and Spanish, Estela is currently the Director of CICEL (the International Center for Cultural and Language Studies) in Cuernavaca Mexico. She also teaches Ecology and Indigenous philosophy for the University of Duluth, Minnesota.
Ms. Roman comes from a simple farm family, rich in customs and traditions. She has played a key role in promoting the different world practices of traditional healing and has had an active participation in her community teaching women and children on the different aspects of health, the environment, as well as traditional customs and practices. Her grandmother and other relatives were well known for practicing traditional methods of healing using techniques of massage, herbal medicine, spiritual purification or “limpias.” She continues to look for best practices and techniques to improve her work and apply her knowledge in her community and the places where she has been invited. Ms. Roman practices and promotes traditional healing as a way of life and discipline; she believes in formal education only if it’s combined with practical experience and offered to the service of others. Ms. Roman loves art and aspires to be able to transmit her knowledge and inspire others to live in a healthy world where tolerance, love, mutual respect and justice are the basis and fundamental principals of human life.
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JENNY SIRKUS (Teaching Assistant)
Jenny is a junior at Pitzer College where she has completed a number of community engagement projects, ranging from an empowering arts-activism program she created and implemented at Camp AP to organizing on and off campus to create a college pipeline program. She has participated in a local-global paired course in Nepal, has participated in the Pitzer in Ontario program and was the recipient of the Bonner fellowship for her community work in Ontario.
After 5 months spent living and studying with Estela in Mexico, Jenny is in a special position to act as a mentor, cultural interlocker, tour guide, friend, and support to the students in this program. Also, given her own experience as a first year student in a local-global paired course program, she can help guide students in this unique program process. As part of her job, she will make house visits (to students’ respective host family homes) and internship visits regularly, and help with translator as need be. She will keep up with readings and sit in on classes and work with students in and out of class to further talk about and develop course concepts, practices, and theories. As much as possible, she will record and transcribe classes and talks so they can be documented (and perhaps included for evaluation needs) as well as document the program in the form of a blog with pictures, etc. She will generally assist the program director (Tessa) and coordinator (Estela) with coordination of activities, classes, trips, internships, etc and simply be around to help negotiate student concerns, questions, etc.