SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection SIT Study Abroad Spring 2016 The iV brant Traditions of Masaya: El Mestizaje as a Culture, a Process, and a State of Being Isabelle Lee SIT Graduate Institute - Study Abroad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection Part of the Latina/o Studies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Reading and Language Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Lee, Isabelle, "The iV brant Traditions of Masaya: El Mestizaje as a Culture, a Process, and a State of Being" (2016). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 2335. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2335 This Unpublished Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the SIT Study Abroad at SIT Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection by an authorized administrator of SIT Digital Collections. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Vibrant Traditions of Masaya: El Mestizaje as a Culture, a Process, and a State of Being Isabelle Lee Academic Director: Aynn Setright Advisor: Maria Jose Ocarina Silva Valle Emory University Interdisciplinary Studies Masaya, Nicaragua Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Nicaragua: Youth Culture, Literacy and Media, SIT Study Abroad Spring 2016 Abstract “The only constant in life is change.” What this old adage leaves out is that the processes that catalyze these changes can occur in vastly different ways which impact the product. In the case of the history of Masaya, Nicaragua, today’s dominant culture of mestizaje is the result of the arrival of the Spaniards to the Americas and the process of racial and cultural blend that followed between Spanish, indigenous and African peoples.