Senior Michelle Argueta's honors project has led her straight back to the country where she was born.
Argueta, who was born in Guatemala to a Guatemalan father and a Mexican mother, has been researching the Guatemalan Civil War as part of her project titled, "Tortillas and Tear Gas: The Role of Women in Guatemalan Urban Resistance."
Argueta said the conflict, which lasted from 1960 until 1996, has had a "tremendous impact on everybody" in Guatemala, but has not been studied sufficiently.
"Guatemala has been one of the greatest victims of violent repression in Latin America," begins the second paragraph of Argueta's honors project prospectus. Argueta said she hopes to use her honors project to shed light on underrepresented factions of society that played an important role in the overall revolutionary movement in Guatemala during the civil war.
Her project focuses on the time period starting with "the CIA-backed coup in 1954 that led to the overthrow of democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz [that] launched Guatemala into a 36-year-long civil war. This war cost over 200,000 lives and resulted in volumes of human rights violations, especially during the 1980s with the reinvigorated effort to quell all opposition and establish 'stability,'" according to Argueta's proposal.
After deciding last spring to pursue the honors project, Argueta chose to work with Professor of History Allen Wells as an adviser and applied for the Latin American studies department's annual research grant. As one of the two recipients of the grant, Argueta was able to spend the month of June living with relatives in Guatemala City and doing research focused on the urban guerrilla movement.
Argueta said that her family has been deeply affected by the war.
"When the war comes up, my family definitely gets depressed, because it's just not a happy memory," said Argueta. "It definitely affected my dad's family a lot and marked his childhood, because his family had to go into exile in Guatemala City once the repression started."
Argueta said her family in Guatemala was very supportive and served as a valuable resource for her research.
"One of my uncles who's a journalist was especially helpful in connecting me with some of the rebels involved in the guerrilla movement during the war, because he went to school with a lot of people who were involved with the leftist cause," said Argueta.
Argueta said she interviewed a total of nine individuals, some of whom were ex-guerillas, while others were women active in the movement.
"The most important leader I interviewed was Cesar Montes," said Argueta. "He was one of the original guerrilla leaders during the first uprising in 1960, and he has gone on to publish a book."
The research Argueta did in Guatemala was substantial, but it was only her first step. After returning to Bowdoin in the fall, Argueta said she did as much reading on the topic as possible before writing a prospectus for her project. This proposal was then presented to a committee that Argueta chose whose members include Associate Professor of Romance Languages Enrique Yepes, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Krista Van Vleet, and Wells. This committee approved her prospectus at the beginning of the semester.
"The committee will serve as a kind of support group along with Allen Wells to help me edit my writing and make sure I'm not leaving out information or misinterpreting anything," said Argueta. "It's helpful in providing well-rounded feedback on my writing."
Argueta plans to complete a total of three chapters for her project. The first chapter, which focuses on chronology, background information, and the cooperation of rural and urban insurgents during the war, is due at the end of this semester. The second chapter will be devoted to urban student movements, while the third will examine the role of women during the war.
Argueta says Wells has been very helpful as an adviser.
"I think the fact that Allen Wells is my adviser will help to guarantee that the project becomes an honors project, because he's so dedicated," said Argueta. "If I give 100 percent, he will too, and he definitely puts a lot of effort into all that he does."
Argueta said that it is often "hard to wake up in the mornings and have to head straight to the library," but added that she is motivated to complete the project because she sees how the war has directly impacted not only her family, but also an entire generation of Guatemalans.
"When you're driving in a car with someone in [Guatemala City], they'll point out places or things that relate to the war or the rebellions," said Argueta. "The war has made everyone a lot more paranoid now, and some theories claim an increase in drug trafficking and gangs is a result of the war."
Argueta, who does not have concrete plans for when she leaves Bowdoin, said that completing the honors project will undoubtedly give her skills for the future.
"Whether I end up going to graduate school to continue researching or working with a human rights organization, completing this project is training me to be an overall more independent worker," said Argueta. "I think I will be better off now no matter what I end up doing."