BICU | |
 | |
| Motto | "Education is the best option for the development of the people" |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1991 |
| Rector | Henningston Omier Taylor |
| Students | 6,479 |
| Postgraduates | 7,156 |
| Location | , , 12°00′22″N83°46′12″W / 12.006°N 83.770°W |
| Website | www.bicu.edu.ni |
Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University (BICU), is a university founded in 1991, in Bluefields, South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua. [1]
The creation of the "Bluefields Indian & Caribbean University (BICU)", or Indigenous and Caribbean University of Bluefields, was founded to provide local access higher education. Since the 1960s, a generation of coastal people from both regions shared sought better opportunities to improve their lives, families, and community through a profession at the university level. Over the decade, BICU attracted people from the coast to migrate to the Pacific of the country, particularly to León and Managua, to pursue a professional career.
In the 1980s, the number of students from the northern and southern regions who entered higher education, inside and outside the country, also developed in Bluefields and Bilwi, university extension programs of the UNAN Managua. Those who graduated tended to settle in those regions, rather than returning to their community of origin. In addition, the academic training curricula did not respond to the interests and characteristics of the communities, where cultural diversity constitutes an element of identity. In this context, efforts were made to establish a university on the Coast, but the idea did not prosper.
Under these aspirations and historical context, BICU was founded on June 6, 1991. The university primarily serves groups traditionally excluded or absorbed by the dominant cultural homogenization. With this model of university, different cultures, languages, customs, beliefs and practices converge under the principle of universality.
BICU is now part of the National Council of Universities (CNU) and has achieved legal recognition as a community and intercultural university. The allocation of a 6% constitutional allowed BICU to have its own facilities and to expand its coverage to all municipalities in the autonomous regions.
In 2000, the statutes that legitimize the university were reformed and published to strengthen internal organizational processes under democratic, pluralistic, and participatory principles. The unions that represent the raison d'etre of the university are made up of students, teachers, workers and social agents of cooperation have been consolidated. [2]
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising 130,370 km2 (50,340 sq mi). With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and Honduras. Nicaragua is bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean and shared maritime borders with El Salvador to the west and Colombia to the east. The country's largest city and national capital is Managua, the fourth-largest city in Central America, with a population of 1,055,247 as of 2020. Nicaragua's multiethnic population includes people of mestizo, indigenous, European, and African heritage. The country's most spoken language is Spanish, though indigenous tribes on the Mosquito Coast speak their own languages and English.
Nicaragua is a country in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras. Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America in square kilometers.
Managua is the capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1,055,247 as of 2020, and a population of 1,401,687 in its metropolitan area. The city also serves as the seat of Managua Department.
The Mosquito Coast is an area along the eastern coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras. It was named after the local Miskito Nation and was long dominated by British interests and known as the Mosquito Kingdom. From 1860 suzerainty of the area was transferred to Nicaragua with the name Mosquito Reserve, and in November 1894 the Mosquito Coast was militarily incorporated into Nicaragua. However, in 1960, the northern part was granted to Honduras by the International Court of Justice.
The South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. It was created along with the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region by the Autonomy Statute of 7 September 1987 through a division of the former Zelaya Department. It covers an area of 27,260 km2 (10,530 sq mi) and has a population of 420,935. The capital is Bluefields. Bordering the Caribbean Sea, it contains part of the region known as Mosquitia.
Culture of Nicaragua is a fusion of Mesoamerican, Chibcha, and Spanish influence. The western part was colonized by the Spanish and its culture is similar to western El Salvador in that western Nicaragua was dominated by the Nahua people, specifically the Nicarao, a branch of the Pipil people. Nahua heritage can still be seen in Nicaraguan culture especially in its cuisines, the etymologies of many of its place names, and even DNA analysis. While western Nicaragua is mostly Indigenous of Nahua or Oto-manguean origin, eastern Nicaragua is mostly of Chibcha, Miskito, and African origin.
Nicaraguans are people inhabiting in, originating or having significant heritage from Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguans live in Nicaragua, although there is also a significant Nicaraguan diaspora, particularly in Costa Rica and the United States with smaller communities in other countries around the world. There are also people living in Nicaragua who are not Nicaraguans because they were not born or raised in Nicaragua nor have they gained citizenship.
Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regions. It is located on Bluefields Bay at the mouth of the Bluefields River in the municipality of the same name.
Mískito Coast Creole, or Miskito Patwah, also called Nicaraguan Creole English, is an English-based creole language spoken in coastal Nicaraguan region of Mosquito Coast on the Caribbean Sea; its approximately 40,000 speakers are spread over the RACCN and RACCS regions of Nicaragua. The region, known before 1986 as the Zelaya department, is today administratively separated into two autonomous regions: North Caribbean Coast (RACCN) and South Caribbean Coast (RACCS). Mosquito is the nickname that is given to the region and earlier residents by early Europeans who visited and settled in the area. The term "Miskito" is now more commonly used to refer to both the people and the language.
Rama is a municipality and a city in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua.
Kukra Hill(Loma de los Kukras) is a municipality in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region in the Republic of Nicaragua. It was granted municipal status in 1989; before then, it was administratively part of the municipality of Bluefields, in the former department of Zelaya.
Pearl Lagoon is a municipality that is often time called just Lagoon and was historically known as English Bank. It is located in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. It is the most important town of the largest coastal lagoon also by the name of Pearl Lagoon in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua and which the name of the town is derived from. As of 2022, Pearl Lagoon Municipality had a population of 21,360.
Chinese Nicaraguans are Nicaraguans of Chinese ancestry who immigrated to or born in Nicaragua. They are part of the Chinese diaspora.
The Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, formerly called Central University for Tibetan Studies (CUTS), is a Deemed University founded in Sarnath, Varanasi, India, in 1967, as an autonomous organisation under Union Ministry of Culture. The CIHTS was founded by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru in consultation with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, with the aim of educating Tibetan youths in exile and Himalayan border students as well as with the aim of retranslating lost Indo-Buddhist Sanskrit texts that now existed only in Tibetan, into Sanskrit, to Hindi, and other modern Indian languages.
The University of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast, is a university founded in 1994. It is described as an "intercultural university community for indigenous peoples and ethnic communities".
The western Caribbean zone is a region consisting of the Caribbean coasts of Central America and Colombia, from the Yucatán Peninsula in southern Mexico to the Caribbean region in northern Colombia, and the islands west of Jamaica are also included. The zone emerged in the late sixteenth century as the Spanish failed to completely conquer many sections of the coast, and northern European powers supported opposition to Spain, sometimes through alliances with local powers.
Afro-Nicaraguans are Nicaraguans of Sub-Saharan African descent. Five main distinct ethnic groups exist: The Creoles who descend from Anglo-Caribbean countries and many of whom still speak Nicaragua English Creole, the Miskito Sambus descendants of Spanish slaves and indigenous Central Americans who still speak Miskito and/or Miskito Coast Creole, the Garifunas descendants of Zambos expelled from St. Vincent who speak Garifuna, the Rama Cay zambos a subset of the Miskito who speak Rama Cay Creole, and the descendants of those enslaved by the Spanish.
Myrna Kay Cunningham Kain is a Miskito feminist, indigenous rights activist and medical surgeon from Nicaragua. She has participated in political-social processes linked to the struggle for the rights of women and indigenous peoples in Latin America. She has been coordinator of the Indigenous Chair of the Intercultural Indigenous University.
June Beer (1935–1986) was a Nicaraguan naïve artist, who gained national and international acclaim for her works depicting African and feminist themes. She was also the first woman poet of Nicaragua's Atlantic coast and produced works in Miskito Coast Creole, English and Spanish. The Nicaraguan government protected four of her paintings—Fruit Seller, In Memory of Efie Irene, They Dance and Woman Working—by declaring them as part of the national patrimony. Removing them from the country is illegal.
George Patrick Henriquez Cassayo is a Nicaraguan activist. Hailing from Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast, Henriquez is a former YATAMA party activist and served on its behalf as a member of the executive committee unified National Coalition opposition group in 2020. In 2021 he was a pre-candidate for president in the Nicaraguan general election with the Citizens for Liberty Alliance (ACxL).
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