Note: This course listing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a contract between CIEE and any applicant, student, institution, or other party. The courses, as described, may be subject to change as a result of ongoing curricular revisions, assignment of lecturers and teaching staff, and program development. Courses may be cancelled due to insufficient enrollment.
CIEE Study Center Syllabi
To view the most recent syllabi for courses taught by CIEE at our Study Centers, visit our syllabi site.
Required CIEE Courses
Students are required to enroll in one of the following CIEE language courses during their first semester of participation in the program. Upon arrival in Alcalá, all study abroad students take a placement exam. If the CIEE Resident Director determines that a student is a native speaker of Spanish, the student will be exempt from the language requirement.
SPAN 3002 ALCA
Advanced Spanish Grammar: From Structure to the Text
This course places special emphasis on grammar and vocabulary in addition to notions, functions, and use of the language in real speaking situations and describes for the students a standard language. Students work with authentic texts, both written and audiovisual, from newspapers, magazines, the Internet, publications, contemporary literary texts, news reports, movies, documentaries, and telephone conversations.
SPAN 3003 ALCA
Advanced Spanish Language Seminar
This advanced Spanish language seminar is a series of interrelated language study activities. Particular attention is given to the difficulties and deficiencies in listening comprehension, composition, phonetics, semantics, and lexicology that hinder the students’ progress toward a sophisticated level of language competency.
CIEE Elective Course
Elective Institute Courses
A final list of Institute courses is not available until a few months prior to the start of each semester. Students should refer to the course registration form in their acceptance materials for a final list of courses. The courses and descriptions listed have been offered in the past and are usually offered each semester, but if there are less than five students enrolled, the course may not be offered.
Analysis of the Economic Relations between Spain and the United States
The main objective of the course is for students to acquire a real insight into the economic relations between both countries. The course is divided into two parts. In the first part, students study the main characteristics and structures of both economies from a comparative perspective. In the second part, past, present, and future bilateral economic relations are analyzed. Institutions which organize and control trade and investment are examined along with strategies of commercial distribution and the impact that these relationships have on people in both countries. Students also develop and improve their fluency in the Spanish language and specific vocabulary is acquired.
Cervantes and His Work
This course examines the literary masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha. It explores the novel’s place in Spanish and world literature, its importance as a model for the novel and the use of language, and the realities it portrays. A previous class in Golden Age Literature is recommended.
Contemporary Spain (spring only)
This course serves as a window to the social and cultural history of Spain in the 20th century and a projection of where Spain will go in the 21st century. It explores the First Republic, the Bourbon restoration, caciquismo and pacifism, regionalism and regional culture, the crisis of 1898, the artistic vanguard (Picasso, Dalí, Miró, and Buñuel), dictatorship, the Second Republic, the Spanish Civil War, Spain and World War II, Francoism, U.S.-Spain relations, the economic boom of the 1960s, the socialist years after Franco, the center and the Partido Popular, and Spain and the European Union.
Contemporary Spain through the Media
The aim of this course is for students to develop a communicative competence through grammatical, cultural, and social-linguistic means, as well as through discourse. The class lectures are supplemented through publicity, radio, television, press, and cinema.
Ethics in the Business World (only Fall)
The concept of ethics has always been important, but during the last ten years it has become even more important, considering all the unethical actions and behaviors which we see in the news. Ethics, being one of the main branches of Philosophy from Old Greece, studies what is moral and acceptable. This course introduces students to the world of ethics and its main theories, trends, and evolution, as well as its application in the business world. Different case studies will be presented which students will analyze and resolve.
Intercultural ethics and its influence in the business world will also be addressed. The diversity we find in norms, rules and concepts, about what is good and bad, acceptable and unacceptable, in different parts of the world, requires some analysis. How employees and managers behave and their culture will be considered.
Globalization of Commerce: Spain
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the areas of business, commerce, and new trends in the world economy—the European Union, NAFTA, and the Pacific Rim. Students make field trips to Madrid to visit institutions involved in world trade, as well as to North American businesses and companies with offices in Spain.
Great Spanish Painters
In this course students learn about instruments for identifying, defining, and situating a work of art in a determined historical context, as well as specific terminology that allows for the definition of the works of the great Spanish painters.
History of Art
This course introduces the historic and artistic monuments most representative of Spain to include the artistic, architectural, and pictorial manifestations of the cultures of the Peninsula and emblematic works that represent those cultures.
International Business: Communication and Culture (spring only)
In recent decades many changes have taken place in the world. The changes relate to communications, the Internet, developments in technology that allow for virtual work environments, globalization, and affordable transportation that require individuals to develop intercultural communication skills. In this course students learn about the attitudes, communication styles, traditions, and cultural differences in other countries. Regions such as Europe, Latin America, North America, and Asia are studied.
Introduction to Latin American Literature
This course offers a panoramic view of Latin American literature and its development from early to present times. Periods of study are from the genesis of literature in Latin America through the literature of Ultramodernismo.
Reading Analysis
The objective of this course is to improve the students’ oral (conversation and comprehension) and written (reading and composition) competencies through reading and analyzing various types of texts. Students are introduced to a variety of examples of texts including narratives, newspaper articles, publicity, job announcements, and forms. They develop linguistic skills through compositions, presentations, discussions, and activities in class specifically designed by the professor for each text.
Service Learning in a Bilingual Context.
This course is directed to students interested in education and bilingualism. In 2004, the Region of Madrid started to implement a bilingual program in 26 public schools. In this program, schools had to teach one third of their classes in English. As of 2011, the program had grown to include 286 schools. It offers an ideal environment for a service learning experience for our American students. Students will be exposed to a working situation and will learn about the challenges and opportunities that bilingual education poses for administrators, teachers, and pupils.
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Spain and the European Union
This course focuses on the political and legal aspects of Spain as an integral part of a larger, international organization with distinct regional characteristics; specifically, the political and legal organization of the Spanish state as a member of the European Union.
Spain in Images: The Spanish Society in Film
This course enables students to understand the evolution of film in Spain through the study of the major works of Spanish cinema. Students learn to understand film as art, and film as the imprint of a people’s reality and fantasy.
Spain: Relations with Latin America
This course discusses the different aspects of the culture and civilization in Latin America from prehistory to present-day. Students learn about the different eras and identify important figures and the politics and culture from pre-Columbian times to the present.
Spanish for Business
The objective of this course is to obtain command of the structures and vocabulary most essential to the fields of business administration and economics. Students work on the language of business practices and communications in business, including banks, marketing and publicity, tourism, labor relations, insurance, industry, and the EU.
Spanish for Health Care Professionals
This course is designed for future health professionals (doctors, nurses, medical assists, paramedics’ EMT, administrators, ect.) who need to use Spanish at their workplace. The course has an especially practical approach that includes learning medical terminology, understanding the most commonly used grammatical structures, and learning culture aspects that every health care professional should know. The objectives of this course are to:
- Improve the ability for students to communicate in a medical context
- Understand the differences between medical terminology in Latin American and in Spain
- Understand the principle cultural differences between the United States and Spain
- Finally, guide the student through the health field in Spain
Spanish Civilization
Students gain an ample understanding of Spain’s past and present by understanding contemporary Spain in its geographic and political context. Participants analyze the nation’s intellectual, artistic, social, and human development as manifested in contemporary literature, art, music, folklore, and national and regional celebrations.
Spanish Phonetics
This course presents the basic principles of Spanish phonology and phonetics designed to help the native speaker of English improve their Spanish pronunciation. Class discussion focuses on the articulation of the sounds of Spanish compared to English, the intonation patterns and stress system of Spanish, the learning of correct articulation, and dialects.
Survey of Literary Analysis
Based on analysis and commentary of major texts of Spanish and Latin American literature, this course emphasizes the practical issues of textual commentary as opposed to the study of critical theory alone. Students literary texts and all conclusions must be based on solid references to the text.
Survey of Spanish Literature
This course offers a panoramic view of Spanish literature from the Middle Ages to the present and serves as a foundation to the future study of Spanish literature. It explores the importance of particular works and authors as creators of their time and as sources of influence on future generations of literary artists. This course carefully views literature in the context of the 15th, 17th, 19th, and 20th century genres.
The Global Dimension of the European Soccer
Soccer is not only one of the most important sports, but also a social, cultural, business, and media phenomenon. This course introduces students to the fascinating world of soccer and its international influence. Soccer clubs go beyond national borders and have acquired a global dimension due to the international type of players they hire and the millions of global followers and fans they have. The course will analyze the importance of soccer from different perspectives, using different European clubs as case studies. The following subjects will be studied:
- Origin and evolution of soccer
- Soccer and business: how much money does soccer move?
- Business model: can other companies learn from soccer clubs?
- Transnational phenomenon: the world dimension of soccer
- The media and soccer: love-hate relationship?
- Technical and strategic aspects of soccer: learning and practicing soccer in the field
Theory and Practices of the Theater
Students in this course study the basic concepts of the theater and its practical applications through the analysis of works by several Spanish playwrights. Students also explore the basic concepts of acting and technical theater techniques that actors use to present a correct interpretation of the texts.
Traditions of Spain
The analysis of different aspects of Spanish civilization and culture serves to stimulate the students to develop linguistic abilities through compositions, presentations, and debates. Students attempt to write different types of texts (descriptive, expository, argumentative, essays) and to speak in different registers, but also to learn to manage grammatical concepts at an intermediate level, such as the past, the historical present, the future, and the present subjunctive.
Translation
Students learn both direct and inverse translation of diverse styles. There is an emphasis on grammatical, syntactic, and lexical problems. Interpretation of oral texts from Spanish to English and English to Spanish are performed.
Writing Techniques
This course, which is geared toward the higher-level student, emphasizes the construction of both written and spoken Spanish. Intense practice is achieved through analyzing and discussing readings, presenting individually and in pairs, and writing essays.
Universidad de Alcalá Courses
Students with advanced language skills can take one, two, or three University courses from the Schools of Philosophy and Letters, Business and Economics, and Law. Students who choose to partake in regular University classes should note that fall courses end in late January and spring courses end in May. Please visit www.uah.es/filosofiayletras/index.asp , www.uah.es/derecho/ , and www.uah.es/economicas/ to review course listings as GRADO COURSES at the Universidad de Alcalá.
Below are examples of the types of courses that will be available for students to take with final exams in December. CIEE cannot guarantee course availability. Final schedules will be available on site.
School of Arts
Archaeology
Cervantes
Creative Writing (Hispanic Studies)
History of Contemporary Thinking
Spanish Literature II
Teaching the Spanish Language (Hispanic Studies)
Workshop in Cinematography Writing I
School of Economics and Business
International Economic History of the 19th and 20th Centuries
International Economic Organization II
Socio-Political History
Theory of International Business
School of Law
Business Statistics II
Conflict Resolution and Mediation Techniques
Constitutional Law
Fundamental Law and Constitutional Justice
Introduction to Law
Political Science and Administration
Socio-laboral Politics: Characteristics and Development
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