SDSU Oaxaca
SDSU Opens Mesoamerican Studies Center in Oaxaca
In May 2022, SDSU administration and faculty celebrated the grand opening of the SDSU Oaxaca Center for Mesoamerican Studies, Mexico.
The SDSU Oaxaca Center for Mesoamerican Studies houses classrooms, office space, outdoor spaces and administrative personnel. Following the ribbon cutting, a two-day conference, “The Bonds of Oaxacalifornia: Creating Binational Collaborations” discussing binational collaboration in research was held to facilitate research opportunities for the SDSU community and partners in Oaxaca.
Oaxaca holds the highest percentage of native and indigenous language speakers in Mexico. San Diego County is home to the largest number of native and Indigenous tribes in the United States, and California has the country’s largest concentration of Indigenous Mesoamerican communities. Conferences such as “The Bonds of Oaxacalifornia”, along with the establishment of the SDSU Center for Mesoamerican Studies, encourage transborder diplomacy, cross-disciplinary relationships and binational cooperation.
Programs Opportunities for Students
SDSU is one of the only institutions in the country to offer the indigenous Mexican languages, Mixtec and Zapotec. These and other SDSU faculty-led programs in Oaxaca provide opportunities for students to supplement their studies at SDSU with international fieldwork, research, clinical internships and community service.
International Affairs is moving forward in establishing an MOU with Universidad de La Salle in Oaxaca in the hopes of increasing international opportunities for students.
Research Opportunities
Faculty are encouraged to explore the research opportunities in Oaxaca.
- SDSU has more than two dozen faculty who regularly conduct research in Oaxaca across fields such as anthropology, public health, indigenous languages and culture, identity and empowerment, psychology, migrant youth, and community development, just to name a few.
“We will celebrate our shared stories, knowledge, research, and experiences, and chart a course for deliberate action”