Stop Impunity! Program Description

Summer Intensive Program in
Modern Salvadoran History and Human Rights

June 20 – July 15, 2011

The Stop Impunity Project, in partnership with the University of El Salvador, will offer a four-week summer intensive program in modern Salvadoran History and Human Rights.
The program has been designed for students of law, sociology, history, human rights, anthropology, social work and other related disciplines and is also appropriate for those working with immigration organizations and legal and social service providers that support the Salvadoran community.

The program will explore the history of El Salvador since the genocide of 1932 and will deepen participants’ understanding of conditions that led to the Salvadoran Civil War, the Civil War itself, the consequent diaspora, and the state of human rights throughout.
Core classes will be taught by experienced faculty from the University of El Salvador’s MA program in Human Rights and/or the staff of the Salvadoran Human Rights Ombudsman’s office. The program will include a series of lectures by founders of and participants in modern Salvadoran social and popular movements. Past speakers have included Nydia Diaz, former guerilla commander and current member of the Central American Parliament, Zaira Navas, Inspector General of the National Police, Roberto Cañas, former guerilla commander and signatory to the 1992 Peace Accords, Manlio Argueta, prize-winning author and Director of the National Library, Santiago Gonsalvi, Director of the Museo de la Imagen y la Palabra, and others.

Participants will visit El Mozote, where more than 900 villagers were massacred by the army, the Universidad Centroamericana (la UCA) where six Jesuit priests and their housekeepers were murdered by the Salvadoran army, the chapel where Archbishop Romero was assassinated, and his tomb in the national cathedral. Participants will visit NGOs and Human Rights organization such as Pro Búsqueda, el Comité de Madres de Desaparecidos, Las Dignas, FESPAD, Tutela Legal, the Madeleine Lagadec Center for Human Rights, Protection Ambiental, and the Museo de la Imagen y la Palabra. Leaders of these organizations will present the history and work of their organizations and answer questions.

In order to synthesize participants’ understanding of the issues raised during core classes and visits, there will be a program of facilitated evening discussions.
Participants will be guided in a short research project that meets their interest in the field.

Typical Daily Schedule
9:00 - 12:00 Guest speakers or visits to NGOs
12:00 - 2:00 Lunch
2:30 - 3:30 Guided research
3:30- 4:00 Break
4:00 - 6:00 Core classes
6:00 - 7:00 Discussion seminars & advising

The language of instruction will be Spanish, and participants should be capable of participating in classroom discussions in Spanish, however, instruction will be designed with non-native speakers of Spanish in mind.

Program participants meeting all the course requirements will be awarded with a Diploma in Salvadoran History and Human Rights from the University of El Salvador.

The course fee includes tuition, a round-trip economy class ticket (VN: I BOUGHT IT ON MY OWN) from a major US hub, and shared bed and breakfast accommodation (VN: I WILL BE STAYING WITH MY FAMILY). Transportation to and from the airport (VN:FAMILY WILL PICK ME UP), and for the two-day field trip to El Mozote is included, as is an overnight stay at a nearby hotel. Lunch, dinner and daily incidentals are not included, nor the nominal cost of urban transportation to sites within the city of San Salvador. The program includes Medex health insurance for travelers (VN: IN CASE OF MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE), but this does not cover baggage loss or theft of personal belongings and such insurance is the responsibility of participants.