Introduction
Take off into study abroad with Take Flight’s Colombia summer program!  This academic summer program for Take Flight’s first-generation college students will be going to the beautiful city of Bogota, Colombia.  Bogota is the capital and the largest city in Colombia and located high up in the Andes Mountain range.  The city is a place of convergence between Colombia’s indigenous and colonial pasts and its modern present.  It is also a crossroads for the cultures and cuisines of Colombia’s different regions, which will offer a diverse and rich experience to those who travel there.


Academics and Curriculum
This course will explore the history of Latin America from its precolonial past to the end of the 20th Century, with a special focus on Colombia and the Andes. We begin with an overview of indigenous Latin America, examining the rich and varied history of the people that populated the western hemisphere, including the Muisca, Caribs, and Amazonian peoples of Colombia.

We then proceed to the dramatic and tragic events that unfolded after the arrival of Columbus in 1492, from Spanish colonization of the Caribbean to the military conquest of the Aztecs, the Inkas, and other indigenous societies. We will then examine the establishment of a colonial and Catholic society across Latin America, paying attention to the ways that indigenous lives and folkways survived despite the violence of conquest.

In the second half of the class, we will discuss Latin American independence in the early 19th century, and look at how Simón Bolívar and other nationalists helped shape the future of Colombia and South America. We will then examine the complicated twentieth century, during which an increasingly powerful United States became ever more influential in the region.  This course will count for 3 credits.



Accommodations and Meals
Students will be staying at Universidad de La Sabana in Chia, Colombia, just outside of Bogota.  Students will be housed in student housing close to the campus and will also be provided with a partial meal plan during their stay.

University 360 Virtual Tour

Housing Brochure: UMA SUITES CHÍA.pdf


Scholarships
There is the possibility of a scholarship up to $1000 being awarded to program participants.  More information on this follow.