MSID—International Development in Ecuador —

Fall or Spring Semester Curriculum

The semester courses and syllabi are outlined below; all courses are taught by local faculty. Students will select one course option from each of the four headings below for a total of 16 credits. Your selections will be indicated on your Academic Information form found on your confirmation checklist. 

Through the coursework and the internship or research project, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of the complex and diverse nature of international development in Ecuador.

Historical & Political Context

All students will be enrolled in this interdisciplinary course, designed to provide context to your time in Ecuador.

Historical & Political Context of Ecuador

ECDR 4101

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

This course will begin with a historical review from the European conquest, moving to independence and the construction of a nation state, and finally the republican era until today. Main events and characteristics from each timeframe will be highlighted. Students will discuss the “discovery of America” from the Ecuadorian and South American context, and the process and impact of conquering this continent. History and politics will come together when discussing the 20th century. Topics such as liberal revolution, plutocracy, the uprising known as the Juliana Revolution, the populist velasquista phenomenon, dictatorships, and the return to democracy will all be examined. The current state will be analyzed based on identifying the main elements that shape the country's cultural diversity, its nationalities and peoples.

Spanish Department equivalent: SPAN 3510

Syllabus for Historical & Political Context of Ecuador (PDF)

International Development

This course begins with 20 hours of common discussion on international development. From there, the course will be divided into the below themes. This theme will focus your studies and prepare you for your internship or research project.

International Development: Social Entrepreneurship & Microfinance

ECDR 4002

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

This course will critically analyze theories of development, and the impact of development models throughout the world, but specifically Latin America and Ecuador. Students will address development theories, assumptions of development, and alternatives to development through the lens of social services. This course starts by investigating the concept of globalization within international development and its prevalence in Latin America, and in particular Ecuador. Students will then identify the impacts of development on the Ecuadorian economy, specifically focusing on the concept of social entrepreneurship which is recognized in the Ecuadorian constitution. They will study the history of this specific form of entrepreneurship, its relationship with local development, and as an alternate form of distribution and production of goods and services.

Spanish Department equivalent: Elective without a Critical Analysis prerequisite

Syllabus for Social Entrepreneurship & Microfinance (PDF)

International Development: Public Health & Traditional Andean Medicine

ECDR 4003

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

This course will critically analyze theories of development, and the impact of development models throughout the world, but specifically Latin America and Ecuador. Students will address development theories, assumptions of development, and alternatives to development through the lens of social services. This course starts by investigating the concept of globalization within international development and its prevalence in Latin America, and in particular Ecuador. Students will then begin to address social, economic, cultural and environmental determinants of health as a mechanism for understanding the main health problems in Ecuador. There is an emphasis throughout the course on contrasting Western thinking and medicine with Andean world views and Ancestral Medicine, in an effort to build intercultural health processes, in order to improve the health conditions of diverse cultural groups.

Spanish Department equivalent: Elective without a Critical Analysis prerequisite

Syllabus for Public Health & Traditional Andean Medicine (PDF)

International Development: Human Rights, Policy & Practice

ECDR 4001

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

This course will critically analyze theories of development, and the impact of development models throughout the world, but specifically Latin America and Ecuador. Students will address development theories, assumptions of development, and alternatives to development through the lens of social services. This course starts by investigating the concept of globalization within international development and its prevalence in Latin America, and in particular Ecuador. Students will then focus on the critical analysis of social problems, rights and empowerment. The concept of social exclusion (discrimination, inequality, inequity, poverty) will be discussed, how development has led to social inclusion or exclusion, and how human rights and policies have contributed. The course will focus on the priority care groups—children and adolescents, women, older adults, and people with disabilities—and the policies, programs, and services for them in Ecuador today.

Spanish Department equivalent: Elective without a Critical Analysis prerequisite

Syllabus for Human Rights, Policy & Practice (PDF)

International Development: Environmental Challenges from the Andes to the Amazon

ECDR 4004

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

This course will critically analyze theories of development, and the impact of development models throughout the world, but specifically Latin America and Ecuador. Students will address development theories, assumptions of development, and alternatives to development through the lens of social services. This course starts by investigating the concept of globalization within international development and its prevalence in Latin America, and in particular Ecuador. Students will then identify the impacts of development on environmental challenges in Ecuador, and the relationship between environment, use and management of natural resources, and local communities. Examination of cases that involve people's rights over the environment, food sovereignty, water management, climate change, sustainable development and local alternatives for natural resource management and conservation will be studied.

Spanish Department equivalent: Elective without a Critical Analysis prerequisite

Syllabus for Environmental Challenges from the Andes to the Amazon (PDF)

Language

Choose one course from the two options below, based on prerequisites and your language level.

Spanish Grammar & Writing Workshop

ECDR 3011W

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

Focus on practical skills while emphasizing conversation and vocabulary building.

Prerequisite: Four or more semesters of college Spanish (or equivalent)

Liberal education requirement fulfilled: Writing Intensive
UofM Spanish department equivalent: SPAN 3011W 

Syllabus for Spanish Grammar & Writing Workshop (PDF)

Introduction to Latin American Cultures

ECDR 3030W

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

Introduction to Latin American Cultures, is an intensive writing course designed to develop and strengthen the understanding and management of language skills acquired in previous courses and to develop knowledge about various cultures in Latin America and Ecuador.

Prerequisites: Five or more semesters of college Spanish, including an advanced composition and communication course (or equivalent, native-speaker status)

Liberal education requirements fulfilled: Writing Intensive, Literature core
UofM Spanish department equivalent: SPAN 3510 or SPAN 3920. See Spanish Studies adviser for additional information.

Syllabus for Introduction to Latin American Cultures (PDF)

Internship or Research

After completing the three courses above, you will spend six weeks with a local organization completing an internship or research project. Your placement will correspond with the theme you chose in the International Development course.

Internship in Ecuador

ECDR 4896

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

This course provides a cross-cultural experience of working on various development issues with a regional nonprofit organization. The course focuses on guiding students to understand their own identity as they integrate theory with reality by participation in local development sites. Students are prepared for entering into their community work through discussions on stakeholder and agency analysis, culture specific gender and diversity context, and power and privilege. The students are urged to play an active role in their internships by providing suggestions, solutions, discussing alternatives and investigating all areas of their internship placement to garner a holistic experience on the realities of development work. Through practical internship experiences as well as readings, discussions, and written assignments, students will deepen their understanding of the host-country cultural context, development work from an international perspective, and critically examine their own worldview.

Syllabus for Internship in Ecuador (PDF)

Research in Ecuador

ECDR 4201

Fall, Spring

4 Credits

This course will introduce the MSID student to: various research concepts and practices; experience decisions involved in research regarding selection of topic and title for their study, developing statements of problems and choice of research questions, appropriate research design; issues related to research ethics and; develop their skills in choosing data collection instruments and analysis of the data they collect for their research. It does this by introducing various topics in the research cycle and providing a forum in which students can share with one another their research experience at each stage of the process.

Spanish Department equivalent: Elective with a Critical Analysis prerequisite

Syllabus for Research in Ecuador (PDF)

As an MSID student, you can complete a research project or participate in an internship for six weeks. In either option, you will be placed with a local organization related to the theme you chose for the International Development course (Entrepreneurship, Health, Human Services, Sustainability). 

Internships involve participation in and observation of the daily activities of a local agency. You will put into practice the theories you learned in the classroom.

Below are examples of the types of internships students have done in the past:

Entrepreneurship

• Assist in providing technical and financial support to a network of credit unions by doing field visits, attending workshops with administrators and meeting with organization employees and members.
• Helping an organization to empower, help, and develop women by offering economic workshops, classes, and services
• Assisting with microcredit lending at an organization that offers fair credit practices to indigenous people and other rural polulations
• Working with an organization that works to promote local rural businesses such as eco-tourism, small jam and dairy factories, and the sale of artisan products
• Working with a community-based small business that works towards the development of tourism in the indigenous communities of Cotacachi

Health

• Assisting in a rural hospital that provides medical services to indigenous communities. Schedule and shadow appointments, take vital signs, accompanying staff on wellness and immunization visits.
• Conducting nutrition outreach within a rural, indigenous community. Taking height/weight measurements of schoolchildren, evaluating school food programs and attending public nutrition education events.
• Working with technology development in a genetics lab at a university in Quito.
• Learning about ancestral and alternative medicine by shadowing practicioners as therapies and treatments are being delivered. 
• Working in a non-profit clinic run by the indigenous federation of Imbabura, home to practitioners of traditional Andean medicine
• Working in a non-profit hospital that provides culturally sensitive medicine to the people most in need of treatment.
• Collecting information regarding medical plant remedies that were compiled into a book used for training midwives.
• Shadowing health promotion activities such as vaccination and vision tests, as well as wellness checks for infant and elderly populations in a local clinic.
• Working in a hospital dedicated to adolescent mothers with a social worker to help the girls learn life skills.
• Helping a small public hospital in Quito develop ways to improve services to women.

Human Rights

• Working with children at an organization that offers legal, social, and psychological support to victims of domestic and sexual abuse and their families.
• Working with an organization that manages community cultural and natural resources.
• Developing basic services such as potable water, electricity, and daycare centers in the community in an area where gender roles are changing due to migration.
• Working in a boys' shelter with poverty and problems of the Quechua majority.
• Working with communal businesses and cooperatives to institute a development model used in other parts of the world.
• Creating, promoting, and sustaining a basketball team by establishing a club, teaching rules, and training regularly.
• Support immigrants and refugees through communication with other advocacy organizations, financial services and community outreach.

Sustainability

• Being involved in an environmental conservation project in the Amazon region.
• Design and implement a rainwater collection system for domestic and agricultural use.
• Help to foster sustainable development among an indigenous community in the Amazon by developing a local association for vanilla production.
• Assisting with reforestation and educational efforts at an ecological reserve. Plant and harvest crops, create organic compost and work with local school children.
• Working at a sustainable agriculture reserve. Assist with planting and harvesting coffee and chocolate, clearing trails and raising animals.
• Working with indigenous traditions to progress toward sustainable development of water supply in a community.
• Working on an agro-ecological farm performing basic farm operations, selling product at the local market, and attending community meetings.
• Assisting in the production and sale of cacao, including field work, product development, and administrative tasks.

As an MSID student, you can complete a research project or participate in an internship for six weeks. In either option, you will be placed with a local organization related to the theme you chose for the International Development course (Entrepreneurship, Health, Human Services, Sustainability). 

A research project involves a systematic investigation of a specific topic, question, hypothesis, or theory. You will conduct research under the guidance of a project supervisor from the MSID program and a local organization. 

Below are examples of past students' research projects, or possibilities for future research:

Entrepreneurship

• Analyze the economic and social activities of surrounding communities to increase sustainable development that aligns with Ecuador's social economy

Health

• Monitor the daily feeding of children at a local after-school program and identify the factors that contribute to malnutrition
• Learn how an organization of Kichwa women use medicinal plants in the practice of ancestral medicine

Human Rights

• Determine the principal barriers that prevent women from attaining higher levels of participation and influence in the public sphere

Sustainability

• Investigate the initiatives and strategies that can help achieve higher levels of food sovereignty
• Study the cultural impact of oil exploitation on indigenous communities of the Amazon

Human Subjects Research

The governments of the United States and MSID countries have laws protecting human subjects of research. Due to the timeline for gaining the necessary permissions for doing research with human subjects, such research cannot be conducted while abroad on LAC program. However, there are still a wide variety of projects, that include interaction with people, that are available. See more information on options for Undergraduate Research Abroad.

Research Funding (for UofM students)

The Learning Abroad Center offers a number of programs (including all MSID programs) that include research opportunities and are eligible for the Learning Abroad Center’s International UROP scholarship of $2,500 (available to UofM students only). Learn more about IUROP funding.

International Development Themes

Select one of the four themes for your International Development course.  This theme will focus your studies and prepare you for your internship or research project.

Entrepreneurship 

Entrepreneurship looks different in each cultural context. Examine the history, development, challenges, opportunities, and role of business and microfinance in the economic and social development of the local community. The theme includes an analysis of informal sector enterprises, the role of social entrepreneurship, and an overview of key aspects of microfinance.

Health

Examine health care systems, the management and prevention of disease, and the philosophical approaches to health care, including the role of traditional medicine, through this theme. Specific topics for discussion may include holistic health, women’s and children’s health, public health, animal health, and rural vs. urban health care facilities.

Human Rights

Understand how human rights are legislated and regulated at the policy level, as well as how they are implemented at the grass roots level. In particular, this theme will consider the impact on the most vulnerable members of society, including women, children, indigenous groups, people with disabilities, and homeless, migrant, and elderly populations.

Sustainability

Investigate the relationship between environmental and natural resources challenges and the local community. This theme may cover critical issues, biodiversity, sustainable food and water sources, responsible agricultural practices, design practices, natural resource utilization and management, climate change, wildlife management, and sustainable development.