One graduate and seven undergraduate students from Missouri State University traveled to Ecuador June 17-July 10 as part of the university’s Education Abroad program.

Undergraduates Kai Schiller, Dean Clabough, Joseph Barta, Amanda Gott and Erika Bears are all students in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG). Kenyon Broten studies in the Department of History and Micah Rudd is a double major in anthropology and chemistry. Graduate student Paige Bossaller studies environmental plant science in the William H. Darr College of Agriculture.

The group was led by Jason Shepard, senior instructor in anthropology. The 2025 trip marked the second time he has headed the popular program.

Emphasis on experiential learning

In his “Andes to the Amazon” course, Shepard emphasizes experiential learning to teach students about Ecuadorian cultures and societies. According to the course syllabus, students learn basic qualitative ethnographic methodologies, practice maintaining a field journal, engage in participant observation and practice informal interviewing techniques.

Students will use their field notes, along with lectures, interviews and additional research, to construct presentations and posters, Shepard said. The students will then present their findings at an approved conference or public forum.

In addition to anthropology, the course suits students interested in Latin American studies, Spanish, tourism studies, sustainability, development, geography, ethnobotany, horticulture, agriculture, rainforest ecosystems, indigenous peoples and civil and human rights movements.

Wide-ranging topics include languages, medicine and agriculture

The course embraces an ambitious curriculum covering a wide range of topics. These include languages, immersion in Ecuadorian cultures, insights into traditional medicine and hands-on training in agricultural methods.

During their trip this summer, students lived with Kichwa families, exercising their skills in Spanish and learning more about the Kichwa language. Trilingual translators were on hand to facilitate communication. The students also learned about tourism development, studied with a local midwife and visited artisan families whose products are sold in local markets.

While on their visit to an Andean cloud forest, the students toured farms, practiced pollinating vanilla bean orchids and learned more about the chocolate production process.

Finally, the group visited the community-developed ecolodge Mandari-Panga, located in the Amazon rainforest. Here they learned about the lodge’s history and visited the school funded by proceeds from the lodge.

Affordable program continues successful run

The Ecuador program continues to be one of the more affordable of Missouri State’s Education Abroad options, Shepard said. Its continued success has also allowed him to offer it again in 2026 from June 23-July 16.

Application deadline for the 2026 program is March 1, 2026.

Shepard said the 2026 program will follow a similar agenda, partly because one goal is to deepen the relationships Shepard has established with the local communities. It also presents multiple research opportunities for both Shepard and the students.

“I received approval for an oral history project last summer, and we will continue interviews and discussions with community members about creating an archive that they control,” Shepard said.

In addition, several of the 2025 students are currently refining research projects to present at the Society for Applied Anthropology conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in March 2026.

Explore the anthropology program

Photos provided by Jason Shepard.