PBS Tonight!

PBS will be airing the documentary,"Quest for the Lost Maya," featuring our very own, George Bey and students. If you are going with me to the Yucatan and haven't seen it, check it out. Also, if your parents/guardians are curious about where we're headed, have them check it out too.

Even if you are not going, I encourage you to check it out.

http://www.millsaps.edu/news_events/2012_february_national_airing_of_quest_for_the_lost_maya_is_march_28.php

Less than two months!

In a little less than two months, we'll embark on our trip to the Yucatan. It's shaping up to be a great trip. We have an excellent itinerary and a great group of students.

Today's featured destination: Ek Balam (George Bey worked at this site for 15 years!)

Check it out: http://yucatantoday.com/en/topics/ek-balam

"Quest for the Lost Maya"

Last night, many people from our campus community watched the premiere of "Quest for the Lost Maya," a National Geographic documentary featuring Kaxil Kiuic, a Yucatan bioreserve that is supported, in part, by Millsaps College. The documentary highlighted the work of our very own Dr. George Bey, Millsaps Scholar in Residence Tomas Gallareta Negron, and a number of Millsaps students.

The documentary will be aired again on PBS, March 28, 2012.

If you saw the documentary and were captivated by the Maya and Yucatan, I encourage you to join us for our class this May.

If you didn't see the film, check it out (and join us for a firsthand experience of the Yucatan).

A new stop on the itinerary!

I've just confirmed with our guide, Miguel, that we will be able to stop at Tizimin on our way to Rio Lagartos.

Tizimin is a main site of the El Dia de Los Reyes (the festival of the Three Kings), a popular pilgrimage in the Yucatan that takes place each January.

Rio Lagartos, in case you were wondering, is home to beautiful ecological biosphere and is, thus, a popular place for eco-tourism. We will take a boat excursion through this reserve.

This is shaping up to be an exciting leg of the trip!

Happy 2012!

Welcome to a new year!

There's only a few months left to get signed up for COMM 3750 -- the two-week course in the Yucatan this summer, May 14-29.

Join me as we explore varieties of tourism in Mexico. Join me as we explore the region that helped start the buzz (simply by creating a calendar) of the latest "end of the world" craze.

We'll experience beaches. We'll experience Mayan ruins. We'll experience the rich and complex culture of the Yucatan.

For more information, drop me an email: coatsc@millsaps.edu

Summer Course, May 14-29, 2012

Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Living in the Yucatan 2012 blog!

I'm guessing you've come across this blog because of the cryptic fliers floating around campus or because of emails crowding your inbox. Or perhaps you just stumbled across the blog by accident.

Whatever the case, this is the official blog for a summer course in the Yucatan, May 14-29, 2012, offered by Dr. Coats in the Communication Studies major at Millsaps College.

This two-week course will take us all over the Yucatan where we will encounter a variety of tourist places and practices -- from the beaches of Cancun to the World Heritage site of Chichen Itza. The objective of the course will be to experience different tourist places and tourist narratives and how they relate to media. Also, we will explore the ethical, economic and ecological implications of travel.

We'll have our own guide on this trip, Miguel Mendez, and we'll have a special guest, Tomas Gallareta Negron, Millsaps scholar of Maya Studies, on part of our journey as well.

So, if you're interested in tourism and how that intersects with culture and communication, this is the trip for you!

Please join us Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. and/or Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 4 p.m. at Reuben's (on Millsaps Campus) for an informational meeting.