CORRECTION APPENDED

After missing the deadlines for study abroad programs in Spain, Joseph Florez ’06-’07, a history concentrator from New Mexico, applied to study abroad in Chile instead. He spent the next two years there studying, conducting research for his thesis, and writing for a local newspaper.

“There must have been something about Chile that I really liked,” he said.

But this semester, no Harvard students have chosen the same path.

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS), which since 2002 has placed dozens of Harvard undergraduates in Chile for its study abroad program, has decided to put the program on hold this semester due to a lack of applicants.

According to the director of the center’s regional office in Chile, Steve Reifenberg, more undergraduates instead chose to apply to the Argentina study abroad program, which began a year ago.

The center’s student and area programs officer, Erin Goodman, said that only two undergraduates had considered applying to study in Chile for the spring. Usually between four and 10 students apply to study there each semester.

“When the number was so low we encouraged them to join our Argentina program,” she said. “In the end, both students have decided to be in Argentina this semester.”

Hajin Kim ’07, an economics concentrator of Korean descent, said that the free trade agreement that exists between Chile and South Korea was one factor in her decision to study abroad there in the fall of her sophomore year. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

But undergraduates might apply to Argentina over Chile because Buenos Aires is a “more European city” than Santiago, said Kim.

“It’s known for its beef and leather and tango,” she said of Buenos Aires. “It’s just much more of a tourist destination than Santiago.”

Despite the fact that no undergraduates will study in Santiago this spring, Goodman said that the center will continue its other programs there.

Some of these programs include internship opportunities for Harvard Medical School students who are proficient in Spanish. According to Goodman, over 20 students have applied to this program.

Additionally, this year the center will add an undergraduate study abroad program in Chile that is focused on public health.

“Harvard’s recognized the job opportunities and need for more work on public health,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to the public health aspect of the new program.”

Reifenberg noted that while undergraduate interest in studying in Chile has waned this past semester, the country continues to be prominent in attracting students for other programs.

“Chile continues to be the country that has the largest numbers of students participating,” he wrote in an e-mail from the Chile office over the weekend. “The last two summers we placed over 30 College students in individual internship placements in Chile.”

DRCLAS will hold an information session about its student programs this Wednesday at 5pm in Tsai Auditorium in the Center for Government and International Studies South Building.

—Staff writer Laura A. Moore can be reached at lamoore@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION
The Feb. 5 news article "No Students In Santiago for Spring Semester" incorrectly stated that Hajin Kim '07 studied abroad in Chile during the fall of her sophomore year. In fact, Kim studied there during the fall of her junior year.