Becoming a Sevillano Student

I have recently started my semester-long classes at the Universidad de Sevilla, as well as one class with CIEE, my study abroad program.  I thought I would just talk a little bit about each one because the one element of "Study Abroad" I have so far neglected to mention is the "study" part.  Last week, I completed an intensive session course within my study abroad program.  The course was taught at the Palacio de CIEE, a little building with classrooms for the CIEE students, and was entitled Language in Context: Contemporary Spain.  The class, taught entirely in Spanish by a native Sevillano, focused on the contemporary history of Spain from the Spanish-American War in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the birth of the current Spanish parliamentary monarchy.  Furthermore, the class incorporated a dual concentration on Spanish grammar, so we received both a content grade and a grammar grade on our assignments.  Though the class only lasted two weeks, it went from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and was a good way to settle into taking classes in a foreign country.

A bunch of friends and I (left corner) stand in front of the Palacio de CIEE.

Three days ago, on Monday, February 7, I attended my first classes at the Universidad.  As a student in the Advanced Liberal Arts program with CIEE, I am required to take at least three classes at the Universidad, alongside Spanish students.  The classes I am enrolled in are Comedia Española: Ciclo de Lope, Historia del Arte Moderno en Andalucía, Historia del Cine Español and Advanced Spanish Grammar and Writing.  All four of these classes can be counted towards my Spanish major back at Tufts.  The first class, Comedia Española, focuses on Spanish theater in the 17th century, specifically the works of Lope de Vega.  The famous Spanish playwright redefined comedic theater in Spain, and our class follows the stark transformation of Spanish theater within one century.  My next class, Historia del Arte, focuses on architecture, sculptures and painting in the Renaissance and Baroque periods in Andalusia.  My final class at the Universidad de Sevilla, Historia del Cine, chronicles Spanish cinema through the 20th and 21st centuries and my Advanced Grammar and Writing class is taught at the Palacio de CIEE, amongst all American students.

The beautiful Universidad de Sevilla (departments of Philology, History and Geography), a former Tobacco factory.

Thus far, I have attended all of my classes except for my cinema class, which does not start until next week.  In Spain, students are ushered into their prospective majors from an early stage and there is little leeway for students to explore different subjects.  Rather, a student applies to a school in particular, say the History school, the Philology school or the Communications school, and must take classes within that school.  Thus, the schedules of the schools have some variation and the Communications school and the Science schools start one week after most other schools within the Universidad.  Fortunately, as American students, the kids on my program are granted the opportunity to take classes in a number of different schools, and I know friends studying in the Biology, Psychology and Economics schools.

As for my teachers, my theater professor, Mercedes Flores, is a young, lively teacher who is a great lecturer and shows true passion for the subject.  She is very open to the several American and Erasmus (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students--a program which allows European students to study anywhere in the continent) students and is extremely easy to understand.  My Art History professor, Jesús Rojas-Marcos González, is also accommodating to the international students and shows a great knowledge of the topic.  I look forward to several class excursions in which we view and tour some of the structures and museums which he has discussed in class.  Finally, José Luis "Juli" Martinez, my Grammar professor, is the cream of the crop.  He is also the coordinator in charge of the Advanced Liberal Arts program, so he has been with us since day one and knows every student pretty well through the group activities, organized trips and meals we shared at the beginning of the semester.  As a professor, he is extremely kind and funny, and is known throughout CIEE for accompanying his lectures with little doodles of the lecture content.  As I mentioned before, I have not met my Cinema instructor, José Luis Navarrete Cardero.  Yet, I had an email correspondence with him earlier in the semester because his class is a year-long class and I wanted to see if I would be able to not only take the class, but jump into the curriculum midway through.  He advised me that I would have no trouble at all and said he would love to have me join his class, so he certainly made a good first impression.  I have been extremely lucky with my classes thus far, and I hope to enjoy them through June.  Not to mention, my class schedule has worked out so that I have no Thursday or Friday classes, giving me long weekends with which to travel, explore Seville and visit my friends in other countries.

Adios for now and check back soon for a post about my trip to Morocco.  I leave tomorrow!