NCHC HONORS SEMESTERS
SPAIN
‘CONQUISTADOR’:
CULTURES THAT CLASH AND CLEAVE
September 6 - December 17
The history of Spain is replete with
defining moments and powerful changes brought on by peoples, cultures and ideas that
have shaped today’s Spain. From Greeks, Romans and Carthaginians, from Huns,
Visigoths and Moors, to Jews, Jesuits and
Gypsies - cultures and ideas have clashed repeatedly. Spain’s duality, as both
conquered and conqueror, provides the rich
tapestry of its current cultures.
This program is an inquiry into the
symmetry and dissonance that are still reflected in Spain. The forces of change during
this past century are manifest in history, art, cinema, and politics as Spain enters the
new millennium within an evolving
European Union.
THE CITY: Alcalá de
Henares (pop. 160,000 and approximately 13 miles from Madrid) is a warm and walkable
historic city,
dating back to the Roman city of Complutum. It was later named Alcalá,
"fortress," by the Arabs whose wall still stands.
Beautiful Renaissance urban design is still visible today. The birthplace of Cervantes, a
major figure in Spanish and World
literature, the city has hosted other masters of Spanish literature like Lope de Vega,
Antonio de Nebrija, Juan de la Cruz,
and Francisco de Quevedo, all of whom studied and taught here. Most of the Royal Envoys to
the American continent also
received their training here.
THE UNIVERSITY: The
Universidad de Alcalá (student pop. 17,000) was founded in 1293 and is one of the oldest
universities
in Europe. It was reopened in 1979 in its present form. In 1998, UNESCO designated the
university as a World Historical Site.
The University is in the heart of the historic city with each school in a renovated 16th
or 17th century convent or monastery.
The Center for North American Studies, host to the program, is located in a Renaissance
building with comfortable classrooms
and modern technology. The King of Spain visits the university each year to confer the
‘Premio de Cervantes’ award to an
outstanding Spanish writer.
THE SITES: The semester
will be based at Alcalá de Henares and at the Universidad de Alcalá. Frequent site
visits to
Madrid in addition to excursions to Toledo, Avila, Salamanca, Segovia and El Escorial will
be an integral part of the program.
Students will also participate in a four-day excursion to Andalusia, in the south of Spain
where they will visit the historical
cities of Granada, Seville and Cordoba.
SEMESTER FACULTY
Program and Academic Director
Sheri Spaine Long
teaches Spanish language , literature, culture, and foreign language methods at the
University of
Alabama at Birmingham. A Del Amo fellow, she has written and lectured extensively on the
literature of Madrid. She has
lived in Madrid on numerous occasions as both a professor-in-residence and researcher. She
received her M.A. from the
University of Iowa and her Ph.D. from UCLA.
University of Alcalá Faculty:
Antonio Juárez Chicote is a Professor
of Design at the School of Architecture in Madrid where he is a practicing architect.
His academic preparation includes a doctorate from the Escuela Superior de Arquitectura,
Universidad Politécnica, Madrid and
he has been a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University and The University of Pennsylvania.
Arturo Jarque Íńiguez is a Professor
of Contemporary Spanish Civilization and Coordinator of Spanish Studies at the
Center for North American Studies, Universidad de Alcalá. He has been a Fulbright Scholar
at Louisiana State University
and Georgetown University. He received his M.A. from Louisiana State University and his
Ph.D. in History from the
Universidad de Alicante in Spain.
Celia Valiente Fernández is a
Professor in the Department of Political Science and Sociology at Universidad Carlos III
in
Madrid. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid. She
was an exchange student at Tufts
University and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
José Ignacio Torreblanca received his
Ph.D. in Political Science and Sociology from the Universidad Complutense in
Madrid. A Fulbright Scholar, he has taught at George Washington University and at the
American University in
Washington D.C. He is currently a Professor at the School of Political Science and
Sociology at the Universidad Nacional
de Educación a Distancia in Madrid.
Paul Patrick Quinn is currently
Professor of Audiovisual Narrative Techniques at the College of Arts and Sciences,
Universidad de Alcalá. He received his Ph.D. in Literature from the Universidad
Complutense in Madrid and his M.A. in
Philology from the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Saturnino Aguado Sebastián is
currently Professor of International Economics and Director of the Center for North
American Studies at the Universidad de Alcalá. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from
the Universidad de Alcalá. A
Fulbright Scholar, he received his M.A. in Economics at the University of Chicago. He has
been a Visiting Scholar at
Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley.
CURRICULUM
This Honors Semester is divided into two modules for a
total of 16 semester hours of advanced honors credit. Students
take two of the three courses during Module I and one of two courses in Module II.
Politics, Identity, and People is a
required course in Module I. Two featured required courses - City-As-Text and Directed
Research - are taught in both
modules for the entire semester. This program is multi-disciplinary, and includes
cooperatively taught courses in some
cases. NOTE: Knowledge of Spanish language is not required to participate in the program.
However, some proficiency
is desireable.
REQUIRED COURSES
CITY-AS-TEXT
(3 credits: Humanities, Social Sciences)
Madrid-centered studies reflect the politics, historical context, and evolution of Spain.
From Cervantes’ Golden Age
Madrid to colonial glory and decline, from the Spanish Civil War to the Franco
dictatorship, from Madrid’s recent
democratic transition to a post-modern European capital, Madrid’s metamorphosis is
worthy of study. Madrid’s many
faces - Madrid of cafés and tertulias; Madrid of barrios;
EuroMadrid; Madrid of immigrants, gypsies and marginality;
bureaucratic centralized Madrid; monumental Madrid; Madrid the city of the living dead;
Madrid the court and the capital -
all coexist. Linking theoretical frameworks from the domain of anthropology and
ethnography to the practice of structured explorations and analysis of selected Spanish
literary works in translation, this integrative seminar will provide a forum
where students can explore both sites and readings.
INTENSIVE SPANISH
(Non-credit)
An intensive Spanish class will be offered during the first two weeks. Subsequently this
class will meet for two hours a
week to allow students to develop further knowledge of Spanish to enhance their learning
experience.
DIRECTED RESEARCH
(4 credits: Field of research topic)
Students will be guided as they undertake a research paper or other project which
incorporates course work, their
interests, and field work. The course coordinators will assist in formulating appropriate
topics, identifying available
resources, and engaging students in productive writing strategies. Students interested in
creative projects are also
expected to produce an analytical written document.
POLITICS, IDENTITY AND PEOPLE
(3 credits: Social Sciences, Anthropology, Political Science)
Module I
The present-day Spanish political system and its functions will be compared to other
political systems, and studied
within the framework of current European politics. The course will analyze Spain as a
country of many nationalities,
introducing students to the different Spanish Autonomies - Castile, Catalonia, Basque
Country, Galicia, Andalusia, Valencia -
in order to enliven contemporary social experiences of present-day Spain. Through site
visits, students will discover
regional diversity.
All courses will be conducted in English, except for Intensive Spanish.
ELECTIVES (Modules I and II)
SPANISH ART AND ARCHITECTURE: BREAKING TRADITONS
(3 credits: Arts, Humanities) Module I
"Being a modern is not a fashion, it is a state of being. It is necessary to
understand history, and those who understand
it know how to find the continuity between what it was, what it is, and what it will
be." Le Corbusier. A provocative analysis
of the most recent Spanish art and architecture will be integrated into a world context
and students will explore modernity, historicity and the interplay between them. Field
trips to prominent contemporary architectural sites and museums in
Madrid will serve as laboratories for this course.
EURO 2000: EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND NATIONAL
IDENTITY
(3 credits: History, Political Science, Social Sciences) Module I
Europe 2000? What will happen and how will things work? In this course students will
acquire an understanding of the
events and on-going progress towards European integration. Students will analyze European
Union policies, the process
of integration, and the economic implications for the United States and other geopolitical
regions.
SPANISH ECONOMY
(3 credits: Economics, Sociology) Module II
Economic history and macroeconomic foundations of modern Spanish Economy will form the
basis for the following
topics: Spain and the Post-World War II international order; From Stabilization to the
First Oil Crisis; The New Democratic
Era and the Adjustment Process; From EC Accession to Participation in the EMU; and
Transatlantic Issues: The Euro and
the Dollar.
CELEBRATING SPANISH CINEMA
(3 credits: Media, Communications, Humanities) Module II
Spanish cinema will be studied as an expression of Spanish culture and society within a
European framework. After a
review of early Spanish movies, e.g., "Un perro andaluz," the lens will focus on
authors who lived during the Francoist
period (Berlanga, Bardem, Camus, Borau, Saura.) Study of these authors, their
contemporaries, and successors
(Almodóvar, Aranda, Bigas Luna, Trueba, Amenábar) will allow students to explore
connections between filmmakers and
their works in a comparative international context.
SEMESTER BREAK
(Excursion Dates: Four days/Three nights)
An excursion to Andalusia in southern Spain will introduce students to the historical
cities of Granada, Seville and Cordoba.
In addition to the semester break exploration and other planned visits students will have
opportunities to investigate other environments which have molded Spanish and European
history and to discover the rich local tapestries of art and architecture, history,
culture, religion, philosophy, music, dance and theater.