Dresden Romance studies students visit Mexico City

Romance studies students at the TUD had the opportunity to discover Mexico in a variety of ways within a very short space of time. Fourteen students from the Institute traveled to the megalopolis of Mexico City as part of the excursion "identidad(es) méxicana(s)" from October 4 - 19. The main part of the program consisted of participation in a symposium in which both lecturers and TUD students gave lectures on linguistic, cultural and literary topics. In addition to the academic part of the program, the intercultural exchange between Mexican and German students was particularly important.

Thorough preparation was crucial to the success of the excursion. It took about a year from the initiation of the first steps by the three coordinators Dr. Marco Peña, Susanne Ritschel (both: Chair of Cultural Studies Spain/Latin America) and Vanessa Bravo Feria (Spanish lecturer) to the departure. Initially, the focus was on selecting the fourteen excursion participants, who helped to organize and plan the Mexican adventure at regular meetings.

The starting point for the small Dresden delegation was Berlin's Tegel Airport. The emerging tiredness after the thirteen-hour flight was forgotten at the sight of this pulsating and almost sprawling metropolis. A glance out of the airplane window made the incredible dimensions of this city of 25 million people tangible. In contrast, the idea that this very Ciudad de México was built on a lake was unbelievable. However, the Dresdeners did not have much time to get their bearings, as a tight and impressive program awaited them in the Mexican capital over the next two weeks. The first destination was the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco (UAM-X). There, the students were given a guided tour of the university campus to gain their first impressions of the study conditions and student life on the Mexican campus. This was followed by an invitation to a round table discussion with the Mexican students and lecturers.

Another item on the program was a visit to the Programa Universitario México Nación Multicultural (PUMC). The PUMC, which is part of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and deals with research into Mexico's indigenous population and their culture, offered the Dresden students a deep insight into their work, while the visit to the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH) was a personal highlight of the trip, not least for TUD lecturer Dr. Marco Peña. He completed his anthropology studies here in the 1990s. In addition to a guided tour of the university itself, the commented tour of the affiliated archaeological excavation site Zona Cuicuilco was particularly informative, giving the students a first glimpse of what was to await them a few days later at the gates of Mexico City: an excursion into Mexico's pre-Columbian history in the shadow of the huge moon and sun pyramids of the ancient city of Teotihuacan.

The highlight of the study trip was the symposium Primeras Jornadas sobre diversidad cultural y lingüística: identidad, variación e intercambio at the UNAM, where the lecturers' and students' presentations focused primarily on cultural and linguistic topics. In connection with the symposium, a workshop on the self-perception and perception of others by Germans and Mexicans was also held at the Goethe-Institut, which was very well received by the TUD students.

Without financial support, this study trip to Mexico City would not have been possible. For this reason, special thanks go to the German Academic Exchange Service. The excursion participants would also like to thank the Society of Friends and Supporters of TU Dresden and the Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies for the funds provided.

After two intensive weeks, which, in addition to visiting cultural and university institutions, naturally also took place in colorful markets, salsa bars, chaotic cab rides and in the hustle and bustle of narrow streets, it is now time to take stock. At the end, each of the participants was a little wistful. Not only because everyone brought a piece of Mexico home with them, but also because a diverse group of students who hardly knew each other at the beginning ultimately became a team. The students and coordinators of the study trip hope to have laid the foundation for subsequent excursions to Central and South America and for an intensive exchange between the TUD and the Mexican universities.

By: Jana Mächler (M.A. Romance Studies/German Studies) and Johannes Jander (M.A. Romance Studies/Applied Linguistics)

Final report of the study trip
'identidad(es) mexicana(s)' to Mexico City from October 04 - 19, 2009

Between October 4th and 19th, 14 students and three staff members of the Institute of Romance Studies of the Dresden University of Technology (TUD) traveled to Mexico City for study purposes. The study trip was financed by funds from the DAAD, the Institute of Romance Studies, the Society of Friends and Sponsors of the TUD and a small contribution from the students themselves. The main aim of this study trip was to put the academic skills acquired during the course into practice in the real context of a Latin American metropolis with a multi-ethnic character. The repeated involvement of the students in practical project work on site was also intended to train social and organizational skills. The program items of the two-week excursion were divided into academic and socio-cultural activities, which were actively and independently designed by the student participants from the planning to the implementation phase. All program items could be realized in the form in which they were developed in the planning phase.

Academic institutions that were visited on site and with which lasting contacts are being established are:

• Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco - UAM-X
• Programa Universitario México Nación Multicultural - PUMC
• Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia - ENAH
• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Departamento de Lingüística Aplicada

One of the academic highlights of the study trip was the symposium Primeras Jornadas sobre diversidad cultural y lingüística: identidad, variación e intercambio, which was organized at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in the Departamento de Lingüística Aplicada. The special feature of this symposium was that TUD students presented their own projects to a specialist audience on site. The presentations were given in Spanish.

The socio-cultural activities organized in Mexico City focused primarily on the multi-ethnic past and present of the megalopolis Mexico City. Highlights include

• Visit to the ruined city of Teotihuacan
• Lecture at the first gallery for street art in Mexico City, 'caveman did it first'
• Seminar at the non-governmental organization 'Sin fronteras' on the topic of transmigration

The excursion is considered a success by the participants of the study trip, organizers and students, as well as by the Institute and the Faculty. The following can be named as concrete results:

• 4 master's theses in the field of linguistics
• Publication in the form of the symposium proceedings (in progress)
• Bilateral university agreement (in progress)

Contacts for postgraduate courses/internships with scholarships for TUD students, beyond the participants of the excursion

• Return visit (possible)
• Publications that have been handed over to the library
• Acquisition of certificates for advanced seminars
• Contact between the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas y Acuícolas de Cuemanco, México D.F. and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden

Indirect results and consequences of the trip include

• Attention by local publication media/public presentation TUD
• Assertion of the humanities and social sciences at a technically and scientifically oriented university
• Insight into concrete fields of work for students
• Motivation for their own studies and first-year students (multiplier function through public presentation)

The students' participation in the excursion will end with the publication. The study trip was presented to TUD staff and students on 24.11.2009 under the following title:
¿identidad(es) mexicana(s)? Conception, course and results of the study trip to Mexico City: October 04 - 19, 2009
The cooperation between the students and the accompanying persons could be described as a motivated, creative, demanding and dynamic process in all phases of the preparation, follow-up and course of the study trip.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for your support, without which this study trip to Mexico City would not have been possible.