Name(s): Sofia Paredes and Marisela F. Nyoka

Institution: Lewis and Clark College

Language area: Spanish

PROJECT TYPE: Curriculum Enhancement: Cultural material development

PROJECT TITLES: Completion of summer project (1998-1999)

1. Introduction to Indigenous cultures in Mexico and Ecuador.

2. Interviews and speeches of Indigenous leaders and community members

3. Indigenous literature: From oral tradition to modern manifestations.

DURATION : Two summers: First summer (1998) for material preparation and initial project development. Second summer (1999) for completion of project.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE:

The main objective is to acquaint the students with the diverse cultures in Latin America and the challenges these culture have presented in recent years to the idea of a homogenous Hispanic culture. Although in many Latin American countries, Spanish is the official language, these countries are neither culturally nor linguistically homogenous. Recently, several indigenous nations have come to the forefront throughout all Latin America and have let their voices be heard for the first time. This project will focus on two countries - Mexico and Ecuador, where several indigenous groups are presently fighting for empowerment. We believe they are representative of this re-indigenization movement in Latin America.

The first phase of this multi-layered project began in the summer of 1998, during which we developed a comprehensive set of multimedia exercises for beginning and advanced levels. This project includes video, audio, and graphic material.

We propose to complete the project this summer (1999). When finished, instructors will be able to use it independently or it can enhance a variety of texts currently in use such as Fuentes, Puntos de Partida, Puentes, and others.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECTS:

1. Introduction to Indigenous cultures in Mexico and Ecuador. The overall objective is to get the students acquainted with the different indigenous groups and their struggle through the presentation of videos, as well as audio and graphic material. This summer we will develop an introduction to our project to aid students' understanding of the topic. It will consist of

a) A general description of the various indigenous groups in Mexico

and specifically in Oaxaca.

b) A video presentation of a historical indigenous march, which

took place in Ecuador in 1990.

2. Interviews and speeches of Indigenous leaders and community members. We have created a set of exercises from two different videos using an authoring program called Digital Chisel. These exercises comprise of multiple choice, picture pick, true and false, and complete sentence The first video is an interview with Luis Macas, one of the leaders of an indigenous organization in Ecuador which represents many indigenous groups in this country. The second one is an interview with Dr. Ignacio Bernal, who has worked in the Mixe Region in Oaxaca. These videos have been digitized and subtitled. Students and instructors will have the option of blocking out the subtitles depending on the level and kind of exercise being presented We are currently testing the material already developed. Copyright for material from Ecuador has been obtained and the one from Mexico is in process.

3. Indigenous literature.

Indigenous texts will be introduced to students. We will develop a comparative guided reading to contrast literature written by Indigenous authors and texts dealing with Indigenous people written by non-Indigenous writers. Some of this material comes in the original Indigenous language and Spanish. There will be some multimedia development in this packet. Some audio digitizing and scanning of text will be needed.

BRIEF TIME LINE:

Summer of 1998

1. Research and gathering of material.

2. Multimedia selection of audio and video material.

3. Development of computerized questionnaires for audio.

4. Development of computerized written and graphic material.

5. Copyright permission for part of the material.

Academic year 1998-1999

Field-testing:

Completed material is being tested by instructors of Spanish 201, 202, and 321.

Summer of 1999

1. Completion of project: Introduction to the topic for both countries and development of the section dealing with indigenous literature.

2. Copyright permission for the rest of the material.

AMOUNT REQUESTED: $6,000.00

$3,000 - Sofia Paredes; $3,000 - Marisela Nyoka

Summer 1999 under a Summer Fellowship.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT:

Access to Multimedia lab; support of technical staff and equipment such as

computer with digitizing software for sound and video and scanner. A

possible purchase of a newer version of the authoring program Digital Chisel