Antioch University and the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán in Honduras recently signed a memorandum of understanding committing to working together on future research, educational and cultural exchange projects, and social justice initiatives. This agreement, signed by the leaders of both universities, formalizes the relationship between the two and sets the stage for future collaborations, cross-cultural pathways, and connections—especially in the fields of school counseling and mental health. As Antioch’s Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Chester Haskell, DPA, says, “This is a great opportunity for Antioch University to expand our impact and fulfill our mission in collaboration with our friends at Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán. We are looking forward to many more chances to meet and exchange knowledge and best practices with our Honduran colleagues.”
This collaboration has been led by Antioch’s Latinx Mental Health & Social Justice Institute and its co-founder and director, Syntia Santos Dietz, PhD. Santos Dietz has led counseling students to Honduras, where they met and worked alongside students and faculty from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán (UPNFM). With this agreement in place, Santos Dietz is working on a study-abroad program to Honduras, which will hopefully launch with the first trip next summer.
Mental health, social justice, and school counseling are the first and primary areas where Antioch and the UPNFM are collaborating. The UPNFM is currently the only university in Honduras that trains school counselors, and the impact of UPNFM alumni working as counselors throughout the country is a point of pride for the university. Much like Antioch’s newly launched MA in School Counseling, the UPNFM program in the same area focuses on prevention, interventions in the school, how to connect schools with their broader communities, and how to work with student success and well-being. Additionally, graduates work with nonprofit organizations to support the needs of mental health in the entire country by exploring spaces and ideas where counseling can take place in the future.
By signing this memorandum, Antioch and the UPNFM affirm their partnership and shared desire to create initiatives together and other opportunities to develop international learning experiences around mental health and social justice. Not only will this partnership benefit the counseling programs at the UPNFM and Antioch, but Santos Dietz hopes that this partnership will specifically benefit the Latinx community in the U.S. by creating pathways and connections between newly trained counselors, nonprofits, schools, and mental health clinics.
As both a proud Honduran and a proud Antiochian, Syntia Santos Dietz says that the MOU through the Latinx Institute is particularly resonant for her. “Not only is it an important milestone in my career, as we start to create global connections between AU Latinx Institute and Latin America,” she says, “but it also shows how Antioch is supporting me as a professional and as a person, and supporting my roots in my country and my culture. It’s a way to bring Antioch to my native home and create something meaningful by building lasting growth and fostering relationships between both institutions.”
In an episode of Antioch’s Seed Field Podcast from May, Our World’s Diverse Students Need Anti-Racist School Counselors, Santos Dietz talked about the importance of building relationships and bridges internationally so that you can create and share knowledge globally. As she said, “That’s something that the profession has been talking about for decades now, especially when we think about a global world. What do we do to make sure that we are connecting? The world is very interconnected, no matter what. So, how do we take advantage of that? And how do we share knowledge while being very careful of respecting and valuing local knowledge and expertise?”
With this agreement, Antioch and the UPNFM are trying to find a way to do just that—to build a bridge, a growth-fostering, purposeful, intentional, lasting relationship.
