About the Smith International Center
The Smith Center exists to advance the international engagement of the UT Institute of Agriculture by empowering faculty, staff and students to think and act globally in pursuit of sustainable solutions to our world's agricultural, food, and natural resource challenges. The Smith Center also works to bring lecturers and researchers from across the globe here to the UT Campus for students and faculty to engage with. Through the Smith Center, students can find endless study abroad opportunities to over 20 different countries and create relationships with global partners all around the world. Along with study abroad, students now have the chance to enroll in the International Agriculture and Natural Resources minor, of which 20% of students are non-agriculture majors. The Smith Center is open to any student who wants to understand the world and be a part of the global challenge to improve it.
The Smith Center's Work in Guatemala
Smith Center in Guatemala
Helpful links
Guatemala
The Republic of Guatemala lies in the Central American isthmus. The climate is tropical, hot and humid, especially on the Caribbean coast and in the El Petén lowlands, but it is cooler in the highlands.uatemala is mostly mountainous (66%), with narrow coastal plains and a rolling limestone plateau in the north. It is heavily forested (62%), woodland types varying from warm and humid, through cool and humid to warm and dry, which, together with the altitude and two coasts, contributes to the variety of flora and fauna. There are volcanoes in the mountains, indicating that the country is an area prone to seismic activity. A volcano is actually the highest point not only in Guatemala, but in all of Central America—Tajumulco, at 4,211 m or 13,821 ft—and is found at the western end of the main mountain chain, in the south-west of the country.The Caribbean coast is also prone to hurricanes and other tropical storms. Guatemala is the largest and most populated country in Central America. Guatemala also has the largest indigenous population in Central America. The capital is Guatemala City. The official language is Spanish.
Citations:
http://www.europaworld.com/entry/gt.FLAG
http://www.europaworld.com/entry?id=gt&go_country=GO
Images from World Book Online
Guatemala is home to many descendants of the Maya, an American Indian people who developed a great civilization in Central America and southern Mexico. The nation's manufacturing industry includes such Indian handicrafts as pottery and textiles. The cloth shown here is for sale at a market in Antigua, Guatemala.
Citation: https://media.worldbookonline.com/image/upload/q_auto/f_jpg,w_140,c_limit/content/pc367536.jpg
Rural village along a river in Guatemala.
Citation:https://media.worldbookonline.com/image/upload/q_auto/f_jpg,w_630,c_limit/content/pc010486.jpg
The National Palace in Guatemala City
Citation:https://media.worldbookonline.com/image/upload/q_auto/f_jpg,w_630,c_limit/content/pc322892.jpg
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church, Antigua, Guatemala
Citation: https://media.worldbookonline.com/image/upload/q_auto/f_jpg,w_630,c_limit/content/pc360684.jpg
Tikal National Park
Citation: https://media.worldbookonline.com/image/upload/q_auto/f_jpg,w_630,c_limit/content/pc324676.jpg
Lake Atitlán, Guatemala.Behind, Volcán Tajumulco—the highest mountain in Central America—rises 13,845 feet (4,220 meters) above sea level.
Citation:https://media.worldbookonline.com/image/upload/q_auto/f_jpg,w_140,c_limit/content/pc360824.jpg
Coffee beans dry in the sun. Bananas, coffee and sugar cane are Guatemala's leading agricultural products
Citation:https://media.worldbookonline.com/image/upload/q_auto/f_jpg,w_140,c_limit/content/pc010487.jpg
¡Learn Spanish!
- Mango Languages
An online language learning resource that covers over 70 languages. Courses are accessible from a web browser or app.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tennessee Electronic LibraryCreate an account with TEL to access Transparent Language Online from their website. Find it in the right side bar entitled "Featured Resources."
Rellenitos de Platano
FROM THE KITCHEN OF CECILIA DEL CID
INGREDIENTS: 12 plantains 1/2 lb. of refried beans (without salt) 1 chocolate tablet cinnamon stick cinnamon powder vegetable oil vanilla sugar (to taste)
PREPARATION: Boil the plantains with the cinnamon stick and sugar. After they are cooked and strained, mash them to make a paste and add the cinnamon powder.
Separately, reheat the beans and stir in sugar, vanilla, and the shredded chocolate.
After, make medium size balls with the plantain paste and fill them up with the beans mixture.
Fry the filled plantain balls in hot oil until they are golden all around. Serve them with powdered sugar on top.
RELLENITOS DE PLÁTANO (PLANTAIN RELLENITOS). (2017, February 12). Berkshire Eagle, The (Pittsfield, MA), p. B03. Available from NewsBank: Access World News, Research Collection: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/162830B701FF46B8.
Resources at Pendergrass Library
Nontraditional Export Crops in Guatemala by Call Number: HD9225.G92 V66 1989
Nutrition and Agricultural Development by Call Number: HD9000.1 .S96 1974
Timber, Tourists, and Temples by
Stretching across southern Mexico, northern Guatemala, and Belize, the Maya Forest, or Selva Maya, constitutes one of the last large blocks of tropical forest remaining in North and Central America. Home to Mayan-speaking people for more than 5,000 years, the region is also uncommonly rich in cultural and archaeological resources.Timber, Tourists, and Temples brings together the leading biologists, social scientists, and conservationists working in the region to present in a single volume information on the intricate social and political issues, and the complex scientifc and management problems to be resolved there. Following an introductory chapter that presents GIS and remote sensing data, the book: considers perspectives on managing forest resources and the forestry and conservation policies of each nation examines efforts by communities to manage their forest resources explains the connections between resource conservation and use by local people highlights research projects that integrate baseline biological research with impact assessments explains the need to involve local people in conservation effortTimber, Tourists, and Temples explores methods of supporting the biological foundation of the Maya Forest and keeping alive that unique and diverse ecosystem. While many areas face similar development pressures, few have been studied as much or for as long as the Maya Forest. The wealth of information included in this pathbreaking work will be valuable not only for researchers involved with the Maya Forest but for anyone concerned with the protection, use, and management of tropical forest ecosystems throughout the world.
Call Number: SD414.M47 T55 1998
Pesticides and Global Health by
This concise, accessible introduction to understanding agricultural chemicals and public health combines a broad synthesis on a global scale with rich ethnographic narratives on a human scale. Drawing on epidemiology, policy analysis, and social science research on the global commodity chain, the authors describe the system of global agrochemical dependence that constitutes a major threat to human health. Then they draw readers into the lush mountainsides of highland Guatemala, telling personal stories of farmers, their experiences with public health programs, their struggles against agrichemical dependence, and their innovations in sustainable agriculture. Finally, they show how this kind of qualitative, multi-level analysis holds practical lessons for public health. This engaging, brief text is an ideal supplement for courses in global health, introducing students to key concepts with broad coverage and engrossing ethnographic detail.
Call Number: RA441 .D69 2014
Read about Guatemalan Music
Music of Guatemala
