1) Spanish Language (30%) One in-class essay and one 3 page paper.
2) Catalan Language (30%) One short, easy test.
3) History and Culture of Catalonia (30%) Research project with a 10 minute presentation and 5 page paper.
4) Activities and excursions throughout the semester. Theme: "The Mediterranean: Bridge or Border". (10%) Graded on attendance!
One of the coolest (and perhaps also the most annoying) parts of the pro-seminar was that every class was taken at a different University. The only reason it was so great was because it helped us learn the city real fast. The Spanish Language class was the worst because it involved an hour commute each way to the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, ways off any tourist map that you could pick up around the city. (It was especially painful when we had to get there at 9:45 in the morning!) The class wasn't really useful as well-- the only thing I learned was a colloquial phrase or two. The teacher went over prepositions and the subjunctive briefly, but certainly not enough to learn anything new. Although, I loved my teacher's shoes and I bought a pair for myself! (Camper!) The Catalan Language class was super easy and was maybe a 35 minute commute via the metro at the Universitat de Barcelona. The teacher switched back and forth between English, Castellano, and Catalan, although I think we're all at a high-enough level of Castellano that we didn't need the English translations too, haha. We did exercises in a notebook everyday and the teacher would laugh to himself at the end of every class and say "Americans in Barcelona!" Then we would laugh silently because he went to school at Oxford and has a British accent when speaking English even though he's from Catalonia. The History and Culture class was good-- lots of essential background on Catalonia/Barcelona. And it was taught at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, about a 25 minute commute via metro.
Okay, now on to the real classes! First it's a requirement to take one class offered by CASB. My choice was between Unequal Experiences: Lives of Women in the History of Spain or Spain and its Revolutions (1808 to the 1980's). Needless to say, I chose the women history class. It meets twice a week, Monday and Wednesday, from 10am to 12pm and has about 15 or 20 other people from my program in it. It's taught by Juanjo, one of the directors of the program. If you ask him any question, related to the topic on hand or not, he will go on and on for at least 20 minutes before getting back to the class material. Last class he talked for at least that much time about prostitutes because someone unabashedly asked about peep shows in Barcelona. So far, though, we've been talking background about Spanish history and we'll be reading biographies about women eventually... The official class description: This course analyzes the vital experience of women during the last 500 years of the history of Spain. Based in the study of individual biographies, the course will explore the relationships between gender, society, politics, culture, and progress in the Spanish context like the real debate surrounding this topic. I intend for this class to count for an elective toward my Spanish major.
For the three other classes, I had the option of choosing classes (in Spanish and Catalan) from the Universitat de Barcelona (with buildings all over the city) and the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (the one that's an hour commute each way). The advantage to taking classes at the UAB is that CASB pays for a 3 month unlimited train ticket because it's quite expensive otherwise to get there. The UB's campuses are closer and don't require the "zone 2" ticket so the 3 month unlimited metro pass (called T-Jove) is cheaper. However, if you do take a class at the UAB, you have to suffer the commute. The UAB's list of classes don't say whether a class is taught in Catalan or Castellano, so a lot of 'shopping' would probably have had to happen. I don't particularly like to ride trains for such a long a period of time either, especially if I don't get a seat! So I decided to take my 3 other classes at the UB.
The first class I chose is in the Facultat de Filologia, only 4 metro stops away from me. I was super excited to take a class in this building because it is SO gorgeous. But on the first day of classes, I discovered that my classroom wasn't actually in the old building, but in a newer-looking one next door. The class I decided to take is called Spanish Theater in the Golden Age: Text and Spectacle. It's taught by a very enthusiastic professor named Lola Josa, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:30pm. Unfortunately, she is very difficult to understand. She starts to raise her voice and speak slowly and more loud when she starts getting to something important, and then all the sudden when she gets to the climax of whatever she's saying, she talks fast and in a whisper for the most important part. She also goes through the material fast without much repetition. She's one of those professors, who, on the first day, is so enthusiastic about what she's teaching, that she says (perhaps in part to make the students laugh, but actually serious) "Spanish theater is life! And life is Spanish theater!" For the coursework, we have to read about 5-8 plays. Although at the pace we're going so far, I'm not sure if we're going to get through all of them. All of the non-international students who actually go to the University have in-class essays and take-home essays throughout the semester. Us lowly international students (or Erasmus as everyone says because that's a very popular study abroad program within Europe for Europeans) only have to answer a few understanding-based questions at the end of every book just to make sure we understand what we've read. SO EASY! I love it. However, all the texts are from the 15th and 16th centuries and written in very old Spanish so they are quite difficult to read. More often than not, when I try to look up a word I don't know in an online dictionary, it doesn't show up. So fair game... if I had to analyze these things I'm not sure what I'd do. So far we've read "La Tragicomedia de Don Duardos" by Lope de Vega and next on our list is "La Numancia" by Cervantes. We just pre-paid for a ticket to see a play El Alcalde de Zalamea by Calderon de la Barca at a theater here in Barcelona (optional, but of course why not go!). Here's a photo of the class and the teacher is the one in the red shirt. Even though it doesn't seem like it from the picture, there are about 60 students in the class. Two other people from my program are also taking the class with me, but they're not in the photo.
Since the Spanish department will only accept 3 classes abroad to count for the major, my next two classes could be whatever I wanted. I decided to take one art history class in the Facultat de Geografia y Historia because I wanted to get rid of my last art history elective for my Art major (hopefully they will take it). I would have preferred to take an art history on something uniquely Spanish like Gaudi or Picasso, but all the courses that they were offering were general survey classes. So I ended up choosing a class called History of Art of the Avant-Gardes (1905-1960) taught by a professor from Italy, Mondays and Tuesdays 5-6:30pm. Because her native language isn't Spanish, she's super easy to understand-- she speaks slowly and very clearly. The class doesn't seem too different from the art history classes I've taken at Cornell-- she lectures with slides up on the screen from a Powerpoint while we all take notes. There's an exam at the end that will be a short essay section and a section on identifying and talking about 3 pieces of art. Every class, she warns us of a painting or two that could show up. We also have to write an essay about some exhibition we see. We hand it in in a very strange format: 5 pages, single space, size 10 Arial font. So what's that in Times New Roman 12 double spaced? I don't know-- maybe 12 pages or so? We also have to show up to one of four Ciclo de Cine presentations throughout the semester (basically, a movie is shown, and someone who worked on the movie answers Q&A). I missed the first one because I had a conflicting class, but I'll go to the next one at the end of this month. There are about 40 people in the class and I think 5 other people from my program are taking it too. It's in a building about a 5 minute walk from the Facultat de Filologia-- super easy! Here's a photo of the teacher setting up the Powerpoint for the day's lesson:
My last class won't fulfill any requirements. I decided to take a 5-week intensive class in beginning Catalan called Catalan: Comprehension and Oral Initiation (Module 1). It is from 7-9pm Monday through Thursday. And guess what.... I only have 2 more classes left!!! It will certainly free up the rest of the semester for more time to explore Barcelona (I still have so many touristy things left to do!!) The very first day of class I was very impressed by where everyone was from. About 21 people showed up and they were from all around the world: Spain, United States, Holland, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Italy, England, and Austria. However at about the second week the number of people who regularly showed up to class dwindled to a steady 10 or 11. Every day we do exercises in a notebook very similar to the one I used in the Catalan part of the pro-seminar. Actually, the class is in the same building as where we had the Catalan pro-seminar class, about a 35 minute commute via the metro. Here's a picture of the outside of the workbook and the first page... see if you can understand!
For the class, we had to do a 5 minute presentation in Catalan on where we're from. Even though there were people from all over the world in the class, there happened to be (coincidentally? by fate? luck?) another Zoe from Chicago. So we decided to do a 10 minute presentation together instead of a 5-minute one individually. At the end of the class (next Monday!) we'll have an exam that she says will be easy to pass. Here's a picture of the outside of the building that the Catalan class is in (in the daytime, and then one at night--I usually am there at night), a picture of one of the many classrooms we've been switching around in, and a funny sign posted in the hallway.
One of the biggest differences between classes in Spain and classes in the US is that the teachers consistently arrive late. So even though the class is scheduled to last an hour and a half, it really doesn't. The Spanish Theater professor arrives 10-15 minutes late every day and the Art History professor arrives 5-10 minutes late. My Catalan professor doesn't arrive late because she has a class before us in the same room. My CASB teacher arrives maybe 5 minutes late, but he doesn't have an excuse because his office is literally 2 doors down from the classroom. I wish professors at Cornell did this too!
This is hilarious! You are as funny as John Leguizamo on stage, acting out his life, only with yours we get puppet cartoon videos you like, photos, and marvelous descriptions especially about how tardy your professors can be.
ReplyDeletemom