UT's Casa Herrera project hosted a number of study abroad programs and helped facilitate countless immersive cultural experiences over the years.
From road trips through Petén and Belize to explore the diversity of Maya cultural heritage, to teaching ESL lessons at local education centers in Antigua, to creating elaborate alfombras during Semana Santa celebrations, to lively discussions with guest speakers about social challenges affecting Maya communities today, students at UT's Casa Herrera project have had opportunities to investigate life and culture in Guatemala in dynamic ways that have enhanced their learning and understanding of the world beyond a classroom setting. Through its work assisting and crafting unique education experiences in Guatemala, UT's Casa Herrera project has contributed its granito de arena to the academic success, global enrichment, and cultural consciousness of those study abroad students who arrived to its facility. We're delighted to share and celebrate the following achievements:
- Welcomed and served over 500 undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of disciplines including the Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences, Business, and Law.
- Successfully coordinated over 40 UT and non-UT study abroad programs.
- Collaborated with several US academic institutions to bring a diverse range of study abroad programs to UT's Casa Herrera project that aligned with the center's mission and program objectives.
- Established invaluable relationships with many local community collaborators, NGOs, and service providers in Guatemala and Belize. To these individuals and groups, we are especially grateful for their support in helping us provide meaningful experiences to UT's Casa Herrera study abroad students.
Student Blogs and Research Projects
Several study abroad students at UT's Casa Herrera project documented their time in Guatemala through blogging. Peruse the student blogs below to see photos and read reflections about their experiences.
Ancient and Colonial Heritage in Latin America: Cultural Treasures of the Maya
Led by Dr. Astrid Runggaldier, Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Art and Art History and former Assistant Director of The Mesoamerica Center, students embarked on a 4-week intensive study and travel experience exploring the art and archaeology of the Maya in Guatemala and Belize.
2018 Holy Week Art Education Alfombra Program
UT Art Education graduate students participating in the 2018 Holy Week Art Education Alfombra Program explored the various cultural traditions, history, and art-making practices related to Antigua Guatemala's famous Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations. The program was led by UT Art Education faculty Dr. Christina Bain and Dr. Rina Little (now faculty at Texas Tech University).
2017 Holy Week Art Education Alfombra Program
UT Art Education graduate students participating in the 2017 Holy Week Art Education Alfombra Program explored the various cultural traditions, history, and art-making practices related to Antigua Guatemala's famous Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations. The program was led by UT Art Education faculty Dr. Christina Bain and Dr. Heidi C. Powell (now faculty at the University of Florida).
2015 Horns Meet World: World meet Natalie
In this blog entry, UT student Natalie reflects on her time as a study abroad student in the 2015 12-week Language, Diversity and Education / Acquisition of Languages and Literacies Program led by UT faculty Dr. Luis Urrieta of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and former UT faculty Dr. Deborah Palmer. This entry was a submission to the Horns Meet World blog organized by UT's Texas Global.
2013 Casa Herrera Spring Study Abroad Semester
From 2011 - 2015, UT's Casa Herrera project hosted a fall and eventually spring semester-long study abroad program, where undergraduate students lived and studied in Antigua Guatemala for 12 weeks. UT faculty leading the program offered courses in archaeology, Maya epigraphy, art history, studio art, modern history, and religious studies.
Más Allá - Beyond Casa Herrera
For some UT faculty leaders and student participants of study abroad programs at UT's Casa Herrera project, that experience in Guatemala served to expand and fuel research interests, jumpstart further academic initiatives in-country, and even inspire opportunities for learning and engagement with the UT community and general public back in Austin. Below are a few examples of what UT faculty and students have done following their time at UT's Casa Herrera project:
Internship Opportunities in Antigua Guatemala for UT Public Health students
Following the success of the 2019 Global Health in Action Maymester program hosted at UT's Casa Herrera project, UT faculty Dr. Marilyn Felkner (and co-faculty leader of the mentioned Maymester program) pursued alternative research and professional development opportunities in Guatemala for UT students. In 2022, Dr. Felker was awarded a Global Career Launch grant from UT's Texas Global, which allowed a small group of UT students an opportunity to spend 6 weeks in Antigua Guatemala interning and supporting the mission and public health needs of Asociación Nuestros Ahijados (ANA), a non-governmental organization that provides services and programs that promote quality health, education, economic and social empowerment, and sustainable development in Guatemala. In 2025, 10 UT public health students traveled to Antigua Guatemala and interned with ANA (more than twice the number of students that first interned at ANA 2022)!
Impacts of Study Abroad on Cultural Competency and Language Empathy in the Classroom
In 2019, UT faculty and former Ph.D. students from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, along with their faculty collaborator from UC Davis, published the article, "Maybe What We've Done Here in Antigua Is Just the Thing to Combat Global Inequity: Developing Teachers for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms Through Study Abroad." The article is an analysis of how immersive cultural experiences support preservice teacher development. In particular, the researchers (who were also study abroad program leaders of various iterations of the Culture, Diversity, and Education study abroad programs at Casa Herrera) were interested in examining the development of cultural consciousness within their study abroad students while living and learning in Guatemala, and how these experiences could potentially influence their teaching practice as future educators.
Exhibition: Sacred Ground / Tierra Sagrada: Art Education and Cultural Exchange in Antigua Guatemala
In Fall 2017, UT Art Education students who participated in the 2017 Holy Week Art Education Alfombra Program organized an exhibition at the Visual Art Center (VAC), a gallery space operated by UT's Department of Art and Art History. The exhibition allowed student participants of the program to share their experiences engaging with the cultural traditions and artistic practices of Semana Santa (or Holy Week) in Antigua Guatemala, as well as their creative journey learning and creating an alfombra for UT's Casa Herrera project. Through photography and the creation of a mini alfombra within the VAC, program participants were able to share their newly acquired cultural knowledge with the larger UT community and general public.
Toward "Conciliation" in Guatemala: Two Guatemalan Perspectives
Following their Spring 2013 trip to Guatemala and stay at UT's Casa Herrera project as part of their academic activities for the history course, “Exploring the Archive: Guatemala History through the National Police Archives” led by UT faculty Dr. Virginia Garrard (now retired), two former UT LLILAS graduate students reflect on their research projects with the Guatemalan National Police Historical Archive (AHPN), as well as historical memory endeavors in Guatemala and the powerful impacts that their course activities and in-country site visits had on them personally and academically.