Dates
December 26, 2026 – January 6, 2027Subjects
Honors, SpanishDeadlines
Aug. 1: Apply Early & Save $100Sept. 15: Regular Deadline
Program Overview
This winter study abroad program is based in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, with Mérida serving as the primary academic and cultural hub. The program begins in the colonial city of Valladolid, providing access to the major Maya site of Chichén Itzá, and then transitions to Mérida, where students spend the majority of the program. Students explore significant archaeological, ecological, and cultural sites across the region, including Uxmal, the Celestún Biosphere Reserve and salt lagoons, and other pueblos and environments within the Yucatán Peninsula. The program concludes in Playa del Carmen, including a day excursion to Xcaret. Throughout, we employ a “Place as Text” learning model, which inserts students into social environments and fosters close observation of local culture.
Note: Studying abroad likely is more physically strenuous than you are used to at home. KIIS study abroad programs typically involve approx. 5-10 miles of walking (approx. 10,000-20,000 steps) or the like in a day, including the possibility of walking, hiking, and climbing stairs in heat and humidity, over elevations at higher altitudes, and over rocky terrain. See Health & Wellness for more information.
Program Director
I am the Director of Study Abroad at Ball State University and previously taught Communication Studies for 15 years. Mexico was where I studied abroad in college and remains my first love in global education. My family-in-law is from the Yucatán, and I’m happy to serve as students’ unofficial food guru in Maya Mexico.Prof. Ashley Coker
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Courses
HON course is taught in English, SPAN in Spanish. You may enroll in one of the 3-credit-hour courses below.
This course examines tourism and travel as rhetorical practices. Tourism invites us with carefully crafted promises: must-see wonders, authentic cultures, hidden gems, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. These phrases—common across destinations—do more than encourage travel; they shape expectations, frame histories, and influence perceptions of places and people. Through readings, discussion, analysis, and field experiences, we investigate how tourism influences us.<
This course explores linguistic identity through the interplay of Spanish, Yucatec Maya, and English. Visits to markets, archaeological sites, art spaces, and multilingual community settings encourage students to examine how languages shape social life and define individual and collective identities. Students will strengthen their own communicative abilities as Spanish speakers in multilingual contexts. All work related to this course will be completed in Spanish.
All KIIS course credit is awarded by Western Kentucky University. Prior to your KIIS program, please speak with your home campus academic advisor and/or study abroad office to determine course equivalencies. Grades will be transferred to your home institution in late January after the completion of the program. Course offerings are subject to change according to enrollment. For more information, visit Transcripts & Grades.
Program Excursions
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Historic Mérida
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Chichen Itzá & Cenote Ik Kil
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Uxmal & Hacienda Yaxcopoil
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Valladolid
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Xcaret
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Playa del Carmen
Group Flight
ESTIMATED COST $1,000 – $1,100
The KIIS Maya Mexico Winter program offers a group flight option where you can travel to/from Cancun, Mexico with other students and faculty. If you choose this option, KIIS will purchase flight tickets on your behalf. The flight cost will be added to your final program fee on November 1. The group flight will depart from Cincinnati, Lexington, or Louisville.
If not selecting the group flight, you are responsible to purchase your own roundtrip international flight.
Flights to/from Mexico arrive on the same day. Visit Flights and Passports & Visas for more information.