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June 12, 2006
ANDOVER, Mass.— Ten students have been chosen for the first annual Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology/Spanish Department B.’A.L.A.M. interdisciplinary expeditionary program to Mexico and Belize, planned for July 1 to 15, 2006. The two primary goals of the B.’A.L.A.M. program are to educate students on the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica and to improve their Spanish language skills through cultural and linguistic immersion.
The students selected for the expedition are Lindsay Agostinelli ’07, Kristi Gilleon ’07, Elizabeth Ryznar ’06, Tia Contreras ’07, Naomi Jiang ’07, Roxanne Pierson ’07, Evan DelGaudio ’08, Matthew Cranney ’08, Lillian Stein ’07, and Shayna Sanderson ’08.
The B.’A.L.A.M. acronym stands for “Bilingual Archaeological Learning Adventure in Mesoamerica.” B’alam, pronounced bah-lahm, is the Mayan word for jaguar—arguably the most sacred animal to the Maya and to many other ancient Mesoamerican cultures. Program co-directors Donald Slater of the Robert S. Peabody Museum and Mark Cutler of the Spanish department will guide the students on the expedition. Stateside coordination will be provided by program co-founder John Maier, also of the Spanish department.
“Immersing oneself in a culture where the language is spoken is by far the best way to achieve linguistic proficiency,” says Cutler.
This year’s itinerary includes visits to eight Maya ruins, three ancient ceremonial caves and cenotes (sinkholes), and the opportunity to participate in an archaeological excavation at an ancient Maya site in Belize. Students will explore some heavily frequented ruins such as Tulum, but will also travel to rarely seen ancient cities, such as Calakmul, which lie deep within the jungle. These sites range from 600 to 2,500 years in age. Spelunking and swimming through ancient Maya ceremonial caves will be one of the highlights of the expedition.
“Learning about an ancient civilization such as the Maya through lectures and textbooks can be fun, but learning as one climbs a 1,500-year-old pyramid or explores an ancient ritual cave elicits a feeling of excitement and astonishment that cannot be replicated in the classroom,” says Slater. “We hope this trip will be an adventure the students will fondly remember for quite some time.”
The Academy was able to offer three full scholarships and one 80 percent scholarship to the B.’A.L.A.M. program, thanks to the generosity of the Abbot Academy Association. For over 30 years, the Abbot Academy Association has celebrated its mission to “preserve the spirit, dignity, and high standard of the Abbot Academy tradition and to provide an additional means of carrying on the educational aims of Abbot Academy at Phillips Academy through support of students, faculty, staff, and properties at Phillips Academy.”
Agostinelli, Gilleon, and Ryznar are alumnae of Pecos Pathways, an expeditionary learning program that invites high school-aged students from Jemez Pueblo, Phillips Academy, and the town of Pecos, New Mexico, to participate in three weeks of summer learning, cultural exchange, and travel through the Southwest and New England. Pecos Pathways will be conducting its ninth expedition this June. |
