Summer study abroad - Labor in Nicaragua (undergrad and grad)

(please forward to undergraduate/graduate students and others who may 
be interested)

SOCIOLOGY STUDY-ABROAD COURSE:
LABOR AND LABOR MOVEMENTS IN NICARAGUA

Witness for Peace and Virginia Tech are sponsoring a study-abroad 
course and delegation to Nicaragua August 7-17.  We will hear a wide 
range of viewpoints on that country's working conditions and union 
movements.  Our planned itinerary includes meeting and talking with 
garment workers from the Nicaraguan free trade zone, other workers, 
labor union leaders, Nicaraguan and U.S. government officials, 
businesspeople, and Nicaraguan scholars or journalists.  We will live 
in Nicaraguan workers' homes for a few days of the trip.

Anyone can apply! Individuals not enrolled in Virginia Tech may apply 
as special students, transferring the credit to their home 
universities afterwards.

Students who are in the anti-sweatshop movement will be able to put 
this experience to immediate practical use as they lobby/work with 
their university administrations to establish and implement codes of 
conduct.

Credit: 3 semester hours in Sociology at either the undergraduate or 
graduate level (Sociology 4984 or 5984).

Location of study: Students will NOT need to travel to Virginia Tech 
to participate in this course.  The distance-learning portion of the 
program, which will have a very flexible schedule (accomodating work, 
other academic study, etc.), begins July 3 by email.

Nicaragua: The Central American nation of Nicaragua - the 
second-poorest country in the western hemisphere and increasingly a 
source of clothes sold in the U.S. - has a revolutionary history and 
one of the most successful free-trade-zone union movements in the 
Americas.

The Instructor: Dr. Dale Wimberley is Associate Professor of 
Sociology at Virginia Tech.  He has travelled to Nicaragua three 
times since 1995 and currently is doing research on the cross-border 
labor solidarity movement between U.S. activists and garment workers 
in Nicaraguan free trade zone factories.  Dr. Wimberley also is 
involved personally in the anti-sweatshop movement and is faculty 
advisor to Virginia Tech's Students Against Sweatshops.

Witness for Peace:  WFP was formed in 1983 as part of a movement to 
end U.S. military intervention in Nicaragua. Since then it has taken 
more than 8,000 individuals to Latin America and the Caribbean in 
study-abroad and citizen delegations. Witness for Peace is a 
politically-independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to 
support peace, justice, and sustainable economies in the Americas by 
changing U.S. policies and corporate practices which contribute to 
poverty and oppression. WFP consists of people committed to 
nonviolence and led by faith or conscience.
        Witness for Peace makes every effort to ensure participants' 
personal safety and security. With 16 continuous years of operation 
in Nicaragua, WFP is a leader in responsible educational travel.

Costs:  Program costs are $820 (including meals, lodging, local 
transportation,  translation, and other program costs).  Airfare 
(estimated at $500-$650) and tuition are not included.  Tuition is at 
the following reduced rates:
        Undergraduate credit, Virginia residents        $246
        Undergraduate credit, out-of-state residents    966
        Graduate credit, Virginia residents             483
        Graduate credit, out-of-state residents         810


The APPLICATION DEADLINE is JUNE 1.  Space is limited.  A deposit of 
$150 is required by that date.  For an application packet or 
information, contact:

Dale Wimberley
Department of Sociology
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia  24061
(540) 231-8960 * Fax:  (540) 231-3860
dale.wimberley@vt.edu
Course website:  http://fbox.vt.edu:10021/artsci/soc/wimberley/nicastudy

Witness for Peace:  http://www.witnessforpeace.org
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Many little people in many little places making many little steps 
will change the world. - Brigitte Hauschild, Nicaragua

Dale W. Wimberley
dale.wimberley@vt.edu
Department of Sociology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia  24061-0137  USA