The program, scheduled for July 28-August 13, 2009, is intended primarily for Spanish teachers. Application is open, however, to graduate (and, occasionally, advanced undergraduate) students from Spanish and other disciplines who have a demonstrated ability in the use of the Spanish language and a need for this type of course. (Intensive Miskito instruction may be of special interest to students of Latin American studies.) Both native and non-native speakers of Spanish are invited to apply. 

The Summer Seminars Abroad for Spanish Teachers (SSAST) have been offered annually since 1991, moving to a different site every two years as a way of presenting as many faces as possible of the Spanish-speaking world to educators and students of Spanish. The move to Nicaragua in 2009 further enhances the already diverse ethnolinguistic and dialectological profile of program venues.  Previous locations have included Cuernavaca, Mexico (1991 and 1992); Quito, Ecuador (1993 and 1994); San José, Costa Rica (1995 and 1996); Valencia, Spain (1997 and 1998); Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic (1999 and 2000); Santiago, Chile (2001 and 2002); Asunción, Paraguay (2003 and 2004); Antigua, Guatemala (2005 and 2006); and Cochabamba, Bolivia (2007 and 2008).

Indigenous language instruction was added as an option in 2003. A total of four students studied Guarani with us in Paraguay, and ten opted for Kaqchikel in Guatemala in 2005-2006. Eight students began their study of Quechua in Bolivia in 2007-2008.

The location of this year's program is Granada, Nicaragua.

For further information about Nicaragua, visit the resource page maintained by the Library of Congress at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/nitoc.html or the LANIC page at http://www1.lanic.utexas.edu/la/ca/nicaragua/.

This year's program offers one linguistics seminar, team-taught by Professors Lunn and Morgan, as well as (TENTATIVELY) an intensive introduction to Miskito language and culture. Students may choose only one course. The courses are available for five (graduate) quarter credits only.

In Granada, each class will be conducted four or five hours a day, for a total of ten days; time will be spent on organization and analysis of data in order to add a new perspective to the out-of-class language experience. In order to take better advantage of the linguistic and cultural resources once in Nicaragua, students will be asked to begin reading course materials before July 28.

Graded credit for successful completion of the program will be issued on an official Ohio State transcript. Ungraded (S/U or Pass/Fail) credit is not available for these courses. The content and rigor of this program are consistent with the academic standards of The Ohio State University. Specific course content is summarized below. 

Seminar in Spanish Linguistics:
Linguistic Thinking and the Role of Prototypes in Human Language
(Professors Lunn and Morgan; 5 quarter credits)
In order to understand language, linguists collect data and categorize it. The value of the resulting insights depends, of course, on how they collect their data and how they categorize it. One particularly promising form of categorization is prototype theory, which was developed to explain human perception. Since language and perception develop simultaneously in humans, prototype theory has been applied successfully to linguistic analysis. In this course, we will study a number of applications of prototype theory to the description of Spanish phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon. This theoretical framework will allow us to look at Spanish grammar in a new way—which will be valuable for all participants. Our approach will cast new light on such staples of Spanish instruction as pronouns, the "personal a," consonant deletion, idioms, loan words, and many other areas of the curriculum.

Introduction to Miskito Language and Culture  
( Tentative course title; 5 quarter credits)
The Miskito people are descendants of indigenous Misumalpans and escaped African slaves who live along the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. Inhabitants of what is known as the Mosquito Coast, they speak Miskito, Spanish, and/or Miskito Creole English. The indigenous Miskito language (also known as Mískitu) has about 200,000 speakers. We hope be able to provide intensive instruction in Miskito for beginners, together with exploration of the fascinating hybrid culture of the Mosquito Coast.

Specific details about travel to Nicaragua will be provided well in advance of the trip. While fares have tended to fluctuate dramatically, it has been suggested that applicants budget about $800 for round-trip travel. Please click here for additional details.

As of September 1, 2008, a visa is not required for U.S. citizens to enter Nicaragua.

Updates and additional information about international travel can be found on the U. S. State Department's website at http://travel.state.gov/ as well as on the Nicaraguan government's websites whose addresses are listed at http://www.onu.org.ni/gobierno.php.

The cost of five graduate OSU credits is currently $1687 (due June 1). To this amount, a supplemental program fee of $199 is added (due May 3). There is also an application fee of $250 (due March 31), refundable only if the applicant is not accepted into the program (and not transferrable to a future program).

This total of $2136 includes five hours of OSU (graduate or undergraduate) tuition; room and board (3 meals daily) with a Nicaraguan family in Granada; a weekend excursion, including hotels and some meals; course packets; supplemental travel health insurance; and airport pickup and drop-off at the international airport in Managua. The costs of round-trip air fare, standard medical insurance, visas (if required), textbooks, and personal expenditures will be additional.

Non-residents of Ohio are not required to pay any additional costs to cover out-of-state tuition for this program.

Non-OSU students will be required to enroll at Ohio State in order to attend--either through Continuing Education (undergraduate credit) or the Graduate School (graduate credit, non-degree unless accepted into a regular program). The program administrators will inform prospective participants of the necessary procedures and facilitate their enrollment. (The vast majority of the students who participate each year are not regular OSU students.)

Students will be registered for 5 quarter credits of SPANISH 697 through regular Summer Quarter (full-term) registration. Pass/fail and audit options are not available for these courses. 

For fullest consideration, completed applications and all supporting documents must be received no later than March 31, 2009, but early application is advised. After March 31, applications will be considered if space is available. (PLEASE NOTE that for the last three years no space has been available after the March deadline.)

Click here for an application form and instructions.

Veterans of OSU's Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Spain, Dominican Republic, Chile, Paraguay, Guatemala, or Bolivia seminar programs need not send transcripts or letter of recommendation.