When you join Cultures of the Americas, you can expect:

• field trips,
• travel,
• opportunities for service, and most importantly,
• discussion about the various cultural groups that constitute the two continents—from the Canadian North to Argentina. We hope that you leave the program with the understanding that culture not only shapes you as an individual but that you shape culture by your participation in it.

FALL 2007 FRESHMEN

In Fall term, the Freshman Cultures of the Americas Scholars took a close look at their positions within the United States. We used food culture as the lens through which to view the following critical issues:

Cultural definitions: what makes us American?

• Immigration policies
• Cultural continuity
• Cultural mixing
• Class and upward mobility

We heard speakers who elaborated on these topics. Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson of the UMD American Cultures department helped us see how food reflects our cultural assumptions by masking its origins and revealing our social habits. Todd Jarvis, General Manager of PF Chang's in Tyson's Corner illustrated the ways in which market forces, a desire for authenticity, and a need for adaptation shape the menus of PF Chang's a quintessentially American Restaurant that reflects the interwoven culture that characterizes our experiences in daily life.

We conducted field explorations of these topics by seeing a play presented by the players of the Wooly Mammoth Theater in Washington D.C. The performance examined how we define being an American by presenting American archetypes that became the source of discussion the following class session. We also visited a farmer's market to interrogate how our food habits shape local cultures.

FALL 2007 SOPHOMORES

This Fall, Sophomore American Culture Scholars studied Puerto Rico, Belize, and Brazil. We focused on the issues of cultural identity and racial diversity. We examined current events in relation to the United States, immigration, ecological conservation, and cultural admixture. We heard speakers who elaborated on regional development in Central America and racial diversity in South America. We also attended the AFI's Latin American Film Festival, an annual showcase of films from the countries we studied. The semester culminated in a class trip to Puerto Rico in January 2008. To see more about Cultures of the Americas travel, including this trip, click here.

Interspersed with our formal study about Central and South America and the Caribbean, students chose service projects that fulfilled half of the program requirements. Students worked at a variety of service projects throughout the term, including: conversation practice for non-native speakers of English at the Maryland English Institute, food preparation at Martha's Table, tutoring elementary students at Greenbelt Cares , and constructing new houses in Baltimore for Habitat for Humanity. Other students arranged service projects that suited their own interests and talents.

SPRING 2008 FRESHMEN

This spring (2008), Cultures of the Americas Scholars are taking a new three-credit course requirement that will introduce them to the various theories that shape American Cultures as a discipline. They will read works written by cutting-edge thinkers in the field. In addition, they will view films and read novels that will test the terminology and theoretical apparatuses that they will learn.

SPRING 2008 SOPHOMORES