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 Language Courses
These courses meet for 12.5 hours per week during the first two weeks and six hours per week for the remainder of the semester for a total of 90 hours and six semester credits.
Beginning Spanish Language
(Prerequisite: one semester of college-level Spanish, or the equivalent)
This course uses a communicative approach, focusing on what students can do with the language as much as what they know about the language. By the end of this course, students are able to communicate when carrying out everyday tasks, understand phrases and expressions of common use, and describe aspects of their own past as well as issues related to their most immediate needs. The course seeks to provide a basic repertoire of linguistic elements and sufficient vocabulary to meet these communicative goals. Students should be able to use some simple grammatical structures and in general be able to pronounce in a clear, comprehensible way.
Intermediate Spanish Language
(Prerequisite: two or three semesters college-level Spanish, or the equivalent.)
This course uses a communicative approach, focusing on what students can do with the language as much as what they know about the language. By the end of this course, students understand the principle points of clear texts and writings in standard language; produce simple and coherent texts about familiar topics in which there is a personal interest; describe experiences, events, wishes, and aspirations; justify their own opinions; and express plans for the future. The linguistic elements and vocabulary that are taught prepare students to deal with non-frequent topics and unpredictable situations.
CIEE Electives
AHIS 3001 BALC
Catalonia and Spain Through the Arts
This course teaches students about Catalan and Spanish culture within the context of art history. The course analyzes some of the fundamental issues of the history of Spain and Catalonia, such as the Spanish Civil War and the Catalan independence movement, through the eyes of privileged witnesses including Velázquez, Goya, Gaudí, Picasso, Dalí, and Miró. Relevant study tours to different museums, historical districts, and symbolic neighborhoods are arranged almost every week during the second part of the course.
LITT 3002 BALC
Literary Images of Catalonia and Spain
This course analyzes literary sources in order to examine the crucial concepts that make up the Catalan and Spanish contemporary identities including the Spanish Civil War, Catalan nationalism, the recuperation of historical memory in contemporary Spain, and so on. Texts discussed include, but are not limited to, Mercè Rodoreda’s The time of the doves and Javier Cercas’ Soldiers of Salamis. On-site classes will explore and analyze literary Barcelona.
Hispanic and European Studies Program (HESP) Electives
The academic offering may vary from semester to semester. This is a sample of courses that have been taught in previous semesters.
Courses taught in English
An Introduction to the European Union: European Union Law and Economic Integration
This course will focus on European Union (EU) Law and Economic Integration for U.S. students. The approach adopted will be based on the class readings while emphasizing the interaction between the professor and the students during the class sessions.
This course will provide a basic overview of the EU. This overview will include the history of European integration from legal, institutional, and economic perspectives; the basic structure and institutions of the EU today; the policy-making procedures; and the EU's current and future challenges.
The course will not assume a background in law.
Ancient Mediterranean: Colonial Encounters and Imperialism
This course examines the nature and complexity of interactions between the regions of the Mediterranean during the second and first millennia BC. This is a particularly complex phenomenon both archaeologically and historically, as there is a great deal of political, social, and linguistic diversity.
Anglo American Travelers in Spain
This course provides a survey of the representation of Spain in Anglo-American letters throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Students will analyze major writings by such authors as Washington Irving, Henry W. Longfellow, Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Evelyn Waugh, and Gerald Brenan (alongside other texts by lesser known authors) in order to discuss the most prevalent commonplaces on Spain present in the fiction and the travel writings from this period.
Barcelona 1900: Modernisme in the City
Between 1888 and 1929 Modernism takes place in Barcelona like the same cultural movement that is occurred in Europe at the end of the 19th and 20th century. The case is, in particular, remarkable in Barcelona as an emerging metropolis in the Spanish outlook. The course is based on the precedents that made possible the “explosion” of Modernism in Barcelona, as the principal operators that intervened in the development of modernism as well as the aim to obtain a general overview of the artistic movement and the city where it takes place.
Barcelona: The City and its History
Barcelona enjoys the reputation of a cosmopolitan city with a great international projection. Behind a glossy and tourist-friendly façade, the city has a complex history. This course introduces the student to the city of Barcelona by studying its past and analyzing its present. This interdisciplinary course covers subjects in history, geography, art, architecture, and urban planning.
Between Tolerance and Conflict: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula
This course examines the history of Medieval Iberia from the perspective of a society characterized by an unprecedented interaction between the Mediterranean's three civilizations (Muslim, Christian, and Jewish). Specifically, the course debates the historical paradigms (for example, co-existence and tolerance vs. intolerance) frequently used to depict the cultural diversity of Iberian Peninsula's medieval experience.
Business Organizations in Europe
The course is aimed at the study of the most frequent legal forms of business organization within the European Union (corporations), taking into account the efforts undertaken in Europe to unify the legislation of the different Member States. The course examines the relevant models of organization in a comparative perspective, looking at national and European legislation, and considering the experience in the U.S.
Comparing Media
The aim of this course is to provide students with a general overview of the Spanish and European Media. They study the relationship between media and politics, journalism and literature, and the impact of media ethics in Europe. In order to achieve this goal, the students will analyze European newspapers, online media, and television.
Contemporary Spanish Art
This course offers a survey approach to the history of artistic developments in Spain, from Goya to present day. In addition to the main artistic events, relevant political, historical, and cultural issues are covered. Although the course is primarily based on lectures, visits to museums and exhibitions are part of the course requirements.
Global Media and International Journalism in the 21st Century
This course looks at world news management from the beginning of the 21st century to the present day. The consolidation of global media such as Al-Jazeera in the Arab world, Tele Sur in Latin America, and Zee TV in India is reviewed. By analyzing case studies such as the media coverage of Islam, the Africa story, the European Union, and the image of Spain in the foreign press, we analyze the role of the foreign correspondent as an intercultural mediator, the media construction of the “Other,” the new actors in the global news narrative, and ask the question: how does the future of the world news system shape up?
Law and Dictatorship: The Spanish Case
This course examines the evolution of law under dictatorships in a comparative point of view. Although the Spanish dictatorship (Franquismo) is its focus, other totalitarian experiences in Europe and Latin America are presented. While this is a course of comparative legal and political history, present and future developments are also discussed. Although the time of dictatorship is (almost) finished, authoritarianism is still alive—even if it does not show itself as the old-fashion dictatorships but dressed as “Showroom Democracies.” Finally, the relationship between law and non-democratic forms of power in the present times are analyzed.
Nationalism in Europe Today: The Catalan Case
This course explains how Nationalism became one of the major political ideologies of the West beginning in the 18th century and how it remains a very powerful and motivational idea for many humans. By studying the Catalan case, students gain an understanding of the global phenomenon and the main goals it seeks.
Political Ideas in Historial Context: From the French Revolution to Post-Communism
By representing a systematic introduction to the major political ideas that emerged and developed in Europe, from the French Revolution to post-communism, the premise of this course investigates the concept that political ideas are always emerging and should be understood in specific historical contexts. Each class starts with an examination of the historical and cultural context, and connections are built between specific political ideas, works of art, and their historical context in an attempt to better understand the modern and contemporary history of European Civilization. The course gives special weight to Spain.
Society and Politics in Contemporary Spain
This course examines the sociological and political aspects of post-Franco Spain, emphasizing elements of change and continuity—the constitution, political parties, monarchy, populace, and immigration.
Spain in Cinema: Local and Global Perspectives
The course analyzes different aspects of Spanish culture, history, and society through films. Both local and international productions are used to present historic events (Columbus’s travels, the Civil War), myths (Don Quixote, Don Juan) and artists (Goya, Picasso) that originate from Spain. Documentaries of international renown describe transitional and contemporary Spain.
Transatlantic Perspectives in Literature: Modern Narratives in Spain and the Americas
This course offers a comparative analysis of well-established narrative texts of the Spanish, Latin American, English, and North American traditions in the light of four main theoretical approaches in today’s literary criticism. Students read all texts in English and have the opportunity to contrast their own American and English literary tradition with that of the Hispanic world. At the same time, they are provided an overview of narrative theory in order to help them acquire the technical skills necessary to not only analyze individual works, but also to overcome the limitations of national literatures.
The Time of the City: Barcelona and XX Century Latin American Literature
Throughout the reading and analysis of excerpts from novels from three of its most representative authors (Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Gabriel García Márquez) the course will establish, recognize, and understand the motives than allowed the cultural and publishing doors of Spain and thus Europe to open to Latin American literary production.
Courses taught in Spanish
Lengua y Cultura Catalana
Barcelona: La Ciudad y su Historia
Arte y Artistas
Español: Técnicas de Expresión Oral
Literatura Española Contemporánea
Comunicación y Sociedad en España
Comunicación Intercultural
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