Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) or Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education is regarded as one of Mexico’s most prestigious universities, consistently ranked among the top ten in the country. ITESO is located in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city. Guadalajara is known as the jewel to the pacific and in the last decade garnering the nickname “Mexico’s Silicon Valley" due in large part to its thriving software and information technology sector. ITESO is also part of a small group of colleges and universities that make up the Jesuit University System with the flagship being Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. The Jesuit education of Latin America has a long tradition of centering service and social justice. Historically Jesuit universities in Mexico have also served as important spaces where critiques of government policies and the effects on marginalized populations are championed due in part to their influence as catholic institutions. ITESO stands out in its deliberate centering of social justice for the dignity of all human beings.
ITESO’s describes their university mission as the following:
ITESO’s describes their university mission as the following:
- Form competent, free and committed professionals who are willing to put their entire being and actions at the service of society.
- Expand the boundaries of knowledge and culture in the ongoing search for truth.
- Propose and develop, in dialogue with different social organizations, viable and relevant solutions to transform systems and institutions.
Center for Interdisciplinary Social Engagement and Formation
(CIFOVIS)
We will be working with ITESO’s Centro Interdiciplinario para la formación y vinculación social (Cifovis). Cifovis is ITESO’s interdisciplinary center for community engaged learning; their signature program the Professional Application Project’s (PAP’s). PAP’s are broken into four large categories/themes: Economic Solidarity and Dignified Work; Identities and Social Inclusion; Democracy & Justice and Technology & Sustainability.
PAP’s courses are made up of students from across the university, making the PAP’s an interdisciplinary experience. PAP’s projects are designed for students to bring in their own university gained knowledge and expertise in order to address the issue/problem students will be working on over the course of the semester. An interdisciplinary lens is a must for all PAP’s courses. The PAP’s instructor serves as the link between the community organization and the work students do for the course. Students are guided through exercises, activities and writing assignments that help them understand their positionality within the work they do. Journal reflections are a central component of the PAP’s course experience as well. The following are the core outcomes of the PAP’s course:
PAP’s courses are made up of students from across the university, making the PAP’s an interdisciplinary experience. PAP’s projects are designed for students to bring in their own university gained knowledge and expertise in order to address the issue/problem students will be working on over the course of the semester. An interdisciplinary lens is a must for all PAP’s courses. The PAP’s instructor serves as the link between the community organization and the work students do for the course. Students are guided through exercises, activities and writing assignments that help them understand their positionality within the work they do. Journal reflections are a central component of the PAP’s course experience as well. The following are the core outcomes of the PAP’s course:
- meaningful;
- situated;
- reflexive;
- collaborative; and
- transferable.