Opportunities for Students

DRCLAS Student Programs in Mexico & Nicaragua

Harvard’s DRCLAS Mexico & Central America team hosts a range of student programs (January and May-August sessions) all of which greatly enhance immersion experiences. Our goal is to encourage practical engagement in Mexico & Central America through our short and long-term internship programs within various local institutions and with universities like Colegio de México, Tecnológico de Monterrey and INCAE. The programs complement Harvard’s course offerings on contemporary Mexico and Spanish, while giving students the opportunity to work side-by-side with highly esteemed professionals. Programs are offered throughout various cities in Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. Each program serves as a tool in building the trust, patience, rapport and commitment required to sustain long-term international collaborations at all levels, while offering students a robust understanding of both the language and culture of the region.

*Conduct research, take courses, intern at local institutions
*Learn to speak Spanish and appreciate the vibrant culture abroad
*Participate in programs and study abroad

If you are a Harvard student interested in summer, January, term-time or other student engagement opportunities, please contact:

In Cambridge: Rachel Murray, +1 (617) 496-0202

In Mexico & Central America: Patty Villarreal, +52 (155) 4340-4206

If you are a student from the region interested in applying to Harvard University, please reference the Harvard admissions web site.

Summer Internship Opportunities in Nicaragua at INCAE

The INCAE Business School's Center for Women's Leadership (CWL) in Nicaragua is seeking bilingual interns (undergraduate and graduate students) to work on one of the following four projects related to female empowerment in Latin America. INCAE’s CWL was founded in 2010 to promote gender diversity in leadership in Latin America.

1). Gender differences in values, cheating behavior and risk taking in a Cross Cultural MBA sample

Brief Study Description: MBA students often pursue careers in private and public sector leadership. Are female MBAs less “corrupt” than male MBA’s in Latin America? If so, this would lend evidence to the hypothesis that increasing levels of women in top organizational leadership would reduce corruption.
Job requirements: Ability to administer semi-structured interviews in both English and Spanish, collect questionnaire and laboratory data, work with excel and conduct internet research

2). Gender Differences in Career Ambition, Confidence and Self-Efficacy

Brief Study Description: The purpose of this study is to assess gender differences in ambition and confidence at the level of primary, secondary and tertiary education students. Do gender differences exist and if so, at what age do they emerge and to what degree? Results have strong implications for both a) understanding factors relevant to lack of gender diversity in leadership positions and b) determining when education/intervention programs may be necessary.
Job Requirements: Ability to administer semi-structured interviews in both English and Spanish, collect questionnaire and laboratory data, work with excel and conduct internet research

3). The Effect of Alternative Education Strategies on Levels of Ambition among High School Students
Brief study description: The purpose of this study is to determine whether short term leadership/career training of high school (secondary education) girls leads to increases in reported career ambition. Students will be paired with local public high schools that are willing to partner with INCAE in this project.
Job Requirements: Strong interest in teaching and some demonstrated ability to do so. Ability to administer semi-structured interviews in both English and Spanish, collect questionnaire and laboratory data, work with excel and conduct internet research.

4). Social Cultural, Cognitive and Individual Factors Related to Early Fertility in Nicaragua
Some background in psychology required
For more information please contact Susan Clancy, Research Director, Center for Women’s Leadership INCAE: susan.clancy@incae.edu.

*NEW!: INCAE Professor Niels Ketelhohn, expert on regional competativeness and previous Harvard Univeristy graduate, is looking for interns related to the following:

While health systems in Latin America confront severe constraints to investment in further capacity, regional population grows and grows older. Interns working with me will contribute to the understanding of demographic trends that will affect demand for hospital services in Central and South America. Interns will also help explore different strategies that hospitals and other institutions are implementing to cope with increase need to deliver health services more efficiently.

For more information on INCAE, please click here

Summer Internship Program in Sustainable Development (SIPSD)

Dates: May 28, 2013 - July 19, 2013

Since 2007 and in collaboration with the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, DRCLAS offers an 8-week Summer Internship Program on Sustainable Development in Mexico during the summer of 2013. Harvard College students will work alongside Mexican students - and occasionally students from Yale and MIT - on specific Sustainable Development projects in rural communities in southern and central Mexico over eight weeks. Internship opportunities will vary from site to site.

Upon arrival in Mexico, students will be given a one-week cultural orientation in Mexico City, co-organized by the Tec de Monterrey, before they travel to one of the project sites. Each student will be paired with a Mexican student from the Tec, have a faculty supervisor from the Tec's local campuses, and live in student dormitories on campus or with local families. A week-long concluding session will bring all program participants together in Puebla before returning home.

Summer 2013 Site Locations: Chiapas, Hidalgo, Guadalajara, Santa Fe (Mexico City), Puebla and Querétaro.

NEW! View information about Summer 2013 SIPSD projects

View program costs here.

I think experiencing Mexico, so much of Mexico, truly informed and nuanced my understanding of complex issues such as immigration, US-Mexico relations, and "sustainable development." The program was extremely well structured in that we had classes on Mexican culture, history, politics, and economics during the first two weeks of the program, which helped contextualize the rest of the experience... I think the program allows for, and in fact necessitates, immersion into both Mexicos Batalla describes, el profundo and el imaginario. That is to say, we were able to truly experience the hyper-modern Mexico that is el Tecnologico de Monterrey and interact with students and professors and at the same time live first-hand everyday life of the working class in Pachuca and of the rural community of Huixcazdhá. I absolutely enjoyed both of these congruent experiences because of the conversations we were able to have with people of such varied background and diverse ambitions. The program paints a broad and inclusive picture of Mexico and, in my opinion, left me quite optimistic ; it's amazing how much social service el Tec de Monterrey is doing.

- Louis Cid, Harvard College, 2014, SIPSD Participant Summer 2012

Summer Study Abroad Opportunity at Colegio de Mexico

Dates: June 3, 2013 - August 9, 2013

DRCLAS is pleased to offer a summer study-abroad opportunity at El Colegio de México, a prestigious center of scholarship located in Mexico City. Participants have the opportunity to receive academic credit for coursework on contemporary Mexico and to pursue field research under the supervision of distinguished faculty members at the Colegio. Continuing Harvard College and Harvard graduate students in good standing with the requisite Spanish language capabilities are eligible to participate. The 10-week program will run from June 3rd to August 9, 2013.

The program includes a five-week Summer Course on "Contemporary Mexico," offered by the Centro de Estudios Internacionales of El Colegio de México, and five weeks to be dedicated to a research project designed by the participant, under the supervision and with the guidance of Colegio de México faculty members.

Students who wish to apply for transfer credit for their coursework at the Colegio are required to submit an application for credit to the Office of International Education by February 15. That application for credit can be found on the OIE website at www.fas.harvard.edu/oip under “Forms.”

View program costs here. Housing is included. Air fare, meals, local transportation, and other incidental expenses are not included.

Students who wish to apply for additional support for the program should apply for summer grants (deadlines in early February). See the Funding Sources Database (funding.fas.harvard.edu) for more details on summer grants at Harvard.

Deadline: February 15, 2013

Summer Internship Opportunities in Mexico City

Dates: June 3, 2013 - August 9, 2013

DRCLAS has partnered with several organizations in Mexico City to provide summer internship opportunities in Mexico City. The 10-week Summer Internship Program is coordinated by a local DRCLAS staff member in Mexico City. For information about these opportunities or to apply, please contact Rachel Murray, Mexico and Central America Program Coordinator.

Deadline to apply: February 15, 2013

Program cost: $3000 USD. An in-country orientation is included; housing is provided. Financial support is available through the DRCLAS and OCS summer funding opportunities.

Semillas

Semillas is the only women's fund in Mexico. Based in Mexico City and with more than 21 years of experience, Semillas supports women's organizations working all over the country on issues of women's labor rights, sexual education in rural communities, lesbian rights, maternal health for indgenous women, protection for women's rights defenders at risk, gender violence and abortion rights.

Semillas is a feminist organization with more than 21 years of experience. Founded by some of Mexico’s most renowned feminists, Semillas is an important reference in the women’s movement in Mexico. It has received funds from the European Union, the Dutch Goverment, the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, among other important institutional donors which continue supporting its work.

At Semillas, you will be offered the opportunity to meet with indigenous women activists defending land rights. You will learn from women’s rights organizations supporting labor rights in factories established in the US-‐Mexico border. You will participate in meetings with representatives of the abortion rights movement in Mexico. You will be asked to use your skills and knowledge to review our programs on Women and Migration, Security for Human Rights Defenders, Leadership Opportunities for Young Indigenous Women, among others.

The diversity or our programs will allow you to gain a powerful panoramic view of the problems and struggles faced by women in Mexico today.

This program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, and is primarily for concentrators in studies of women, gender and sexuality.

">www.semillas.org.mx

Ambulante

Ambulante is a non-profit organization focused on supporting and promoting documentary films as a tool for social and cultural transformation. Founded in Mexico in 2005 by GaelGarcia Bernal, Diego Luna and Pablo Cruz, AMBULANTE brings documentary films and training programs to places where they are rarely available, in order to create a participative, informed and critical public, to procure new forms of expression, and to encourage debate in Mexico and abroad.

Each year, AMBULANTE Org, in collaboration with CANANA, Cinépolis and the Morelia International Film Festival, carries out a traveling film festival across 12 regions in Mexico during three months. The festival is non-competitive and hosts guests from all over the world that participate in conferences, seminars, encounters with the audience, and screenings in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues across the country. Since 2011, it also showcases a series of documentaries at VIVE LATINO, one of the largest music festivals in Latin America.

Language Requirements: Spanish preferred but they can also have someone with limited knowledge of Spanish.

Ambulante’s main work is in Mexico, but they also work with Central America and the US Border and the festival considers documentaries from all over the world.

Open to undergraduate and graduate students; primarily for VES concentrators

http://ambulante.com.mx/

Venture Partners

Venture Institute Partners is the first institutional seed capital fund of its kind in Mexico, formed to invest in entrepreneurial projects with scalable models and strong innovation components. It has three main areas, Venture Partners, Venture Institute and Venture Foundation. When it complements with Venture Institute, a platform of business detonation, it creates an innovative business model in the country that combines seed capital with consulting programs to create value in high impact enterprises.

There are four available internships for summer for graduate students:

1. Venture Institute’s Mexican Health Care Challenge
Venture Institute invites Harvard School of Public Health grad students to a 10-week internship program that explores opportunities in Mexico’s rapidly changing health care industry.

2. Venture Institute’s Mexican Innovation Economics Challenge
Venture Institute and Venture Partners invites Harvard University Department of Economics grad students to a 10-week internship program that focuses on understanding the rapidly growing innovative startup industry sectors in Mexico.

3. Venture Institute’s Mexican Innovation Education Challenge

Venture Institute invites Harvard Graduate School of Education students to a 10-week internship program that focuses on understanding the education challenges and opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship in Mexico.

4. Venture Institute’s Mexican Social Entrepreneurship Challenge

Venture Institute and Venture Foundation invites Harvard University graduate students to a 10-week internship program that focuses on understanding the growing social entrepreneurship ecosystem and in identifying high-potential social ventures in Mexico.

Language requirements: Spanish language preferred but not required for all of these internships.

Open to graduate students only, from GSE, HSPH, GSD, HKS, GSAS

http://www.vpartners.vc/

yo quiero, yo puedo

Mexican Institute of Family and Population Research (IMIFAP)

yo quiero, yo puedo, or "i want to, i can" is a non-governmental organization located in Mexico City which has been alleviating poverty in a sustainable manner for more than 26 years. Our funder network includes: the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Fund for Population Activities, and the embassies of various countries throughout the world. Our development programs consistently yield significant positive behavior and atitude changes, strengthening the capacities of marginalized populations in health, education and productivity. Program participants are empowered to go beyond actively improving their health, education and financial situations, in order to seize opportunities to make a positive impact in their families and communities as well.

Summer interns may have a background in sociology, psychology, public health, development studies, reproductive health, community development, economics, or other disciplines related to the programs.Graduate students, as well as undergraduates who are pre-med, may apply. Advanced proficiency in Spanish is required, as is proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Interns may work in a variety of fields including fundraising and public relations, program development, implementation and evaluation, as well as general administrative support.

Possible tasks may include some of the following:
- Internet research
- Quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis
- Report writing (in Spanish and English)
- Research support and writing of academic articles
- Development of program materials
- Grant writing and research
- Translation
- Updating the institutional website
- Assisting in internal and external communications and marketing activities, including development of an institutional newsletter

">www.imifap.org.mx

Winternship Opportunities in Mexico City

Dates: Monday, January 7th to Friday, January 25th, 2013

DRCLAS has partnered with two organizations in Mexico City to provide winternship opportunities in Mexico City.

Organizations:

Ambulante

Language Requirements: Spanish preferred but they can also have someone with limited knowledge of Spanish.

Ambulante’s main work is in Mexico, but they also work with Central America and the US Border and the festival considers documentaries from all over the world.

The areas in which the interns could work in would be:

1.      Printing
2.      Broadcasting-Dissemination
3.      Press and Communications
4.      Guest management (itineraries, PR, etc.)
5.      Production
6.      Programming (evaluation of documentaries for the festival)

Open to undergraduate and graduate students; primarily for VES concentrators

http://ambulante.com.mx/

Venture Partners

Venture Institute Partners has three main areas, Venture Partners, Venture Institute and Venture Foundation.
They are offering 4 internships for J-term for graduate students:

1. Venture Institute’s Mexican Health Care Challenge
Venture Institute invites Harvard School of Public Health grad students to a 3-week internship program that explores opportunities in Mexico’s rapidly changing health care industry.

2. Venture Institute’s Mexican Innovation Economics Challenge
Venture Institute and Venture Partners invites Harvard University Department of Economics grad students to a 3-week internship program that focuses on understanding the rapidly growing innovative startup industry sectors in Mexico.

3. Venture Institute’s Mexican Innovation Education Challenge

Venture Institute invites Harvard Graduate School of Education students to a 3-week internship program that focuses on understanding the education challenges and opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship in Mexico.

4. Venture Institute’s Mexican Social Entrepreneurship Challenge

Venture Institute and Venture Foundation invites Harvard University graduate students to a 3-week internship program that focuses on understanding the growing social entrepreneurship ecosystem and in identifying high-potential social ventures in Mexico.

Language requirements: Spanish language preferred but not required for all of these internships.

Open to graduate students only, from GSE, HSPH, GSD, HKS, GSAS

Approximate Costs*

Airfare: $500 - $600.
Meals: $300 - $400
Housing: $650 - $850 for three weeks stay in fully furnished housing. Several accommodations are available and recommended in the areas of Condesa, Roma and San Miguel Chapultepec, which DRCLAS will aid in booking.

*Students will be responsible for covering all expenses involved with this opportunity.

Limited funding is available. Click here for information on a potential funding source.

Applications are no longer being accepted for the 2013 winter program.

*Please note that the application requres an approximate 500 word statement of purpose, as well as the name and contact information of a reference.

Timeline: Students will be interviewed during the first and second weeks of November and notified via email of their acceptance before Thanksgiving.

For additional information, e-mail the DRCLAS Program Coordinator for Mexico and Central America, Rachel Murray.