Bluffton University

Academic Information

Dates
Fall semester (end of August to mid-December)

Classes
Bluffton University students will take classes together as a group.

• Spanish (8-9 hours)
• CHS 133 Introduction to Central America (3 hours)
  This is a panoramic introduction to primary themes of history, culture and current events of Central American society. This course facilitates a cultural adaption to and entrance into the Central American realities and context.
  
• CHS 233 Religious Studies: The church in Guatemala and Central America (3 hours)
  This covers the principal religious expressions found in Central America. The course focuses on the various relevant religious movements including liberation theology, the Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal phenomenon and the theology of “a third way” that Anabaptism offers. Mayan spirituality will also be considered.
• CHS 234 Anthropological Perspectives in a Guatemalan Context (2-3 hours)
  An introduction to Mayan Culture. The course utilizes various anthropological perspectives and practices to understand history and Mayan culture and its role in the current Guatemalan society.
• CHS235 The Practice of Communitarian Learning (3 hours)
  The course offers the opportunity to participate in the development of contextual social and communitarian projects. It includes a minimum of 100 hours of volunteer work, a daily work journal and a final essay in which the student analyses and reflects on the experience and the implications for life and vocation. 
• CHS 333 Violence, Justice and Peace in Central America (Peace Studies) (3 hours)
  The course seeks to introduce the student to a variety of tools to help identify and analyze the roots and causes of violence in Central America. The situation of peace and justice in Central America, especially in Guatemala, will be analyzed along with the contributions an Anabaptist perspective makes to Christian faith.

The CASAS website can be accessed directly at: https://semillagt.org/casas_programs/