Barcelona Summer - UPF Language & Culture

Barcelona Summer UPF - Student in Barcelona

Vertical Tabs

Overview

Quick Facts

City:

Barcelona [1]

Country:

Spain [2]

Program credits:

7-10 credits

Language(s) of Instruction:

English

Spanish

Language prerequisites:

None

Spend this summer getting to know the exciting, vibrant city of Barcelona--its unique markets and street vendors, the stunning Gothic architecture of Antoni Guaudi's Sagrada familia, the whimsical Park Güell--all while improving your language skills and meeting the locals!

Barcelona will be your classroom.

Enroll in one IES Abroad language course and one to two area studies courses at the prestigious Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), IES Abroad's local partner university. Even though you'll directly enroll at UPF with local and other international students, the on-site IES Abroad staff are there to provide support when you need it.

We want you to feel at home in Barcelona, so we will do everything we can to help you integrate into life in Barcelona, from arranging comfortable and safe housing to organizing cultural activities. Welcome to study abroad!

Program Dates

These dates are preliminary and are subject to change. Students should not book flights according to these dates.

Academics

Our mission is simple: to provide you with the best study abroad program in Barcelona possible—which includes the highest quality academic and cultural experiences.

You begin the program with a four-week IES Abroad language intensive course, worth 4 credits.

After your first week of the IES Abroad language intensive course, you begin your course(s) at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). You may take one to two courses (an extra fee applies for a second course), each worth 3 credits. Courses are available in both Spanish and English, and range from beginning level to advanced.

You enroll in a total of 7-10 IES Abroad credits.

Courses

This is a list of planned course offerings. A final list of course offerings will be made available to you in your MyIESabroad account.

In English

Contemporary Barcelona and it's Cultural History [3]

Society and Politics in Contemporary Spain [4]

Spanish Postmodernism and Beyond [5]

In Spanish

Destination Barcelona [6]

Images of Spain in Contemporary Cinema [7]

The Silver Age: Spanish Avant-Garde Intellectuals and Artists Between the Wars [8]

Spain and the Americas: Transition and Democratization [9]

Culture and Literature in the Spanish Golden Age [10]

Partner Institution(s)

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
www.upf.edu [11]
UPF was founded by the Catalonian government in 1990 and is a public institution. It is named after the scholar who established the grammar of the modern Catalan language, and enrolls approximately 10,000 Spanish and international students.

Field Study

IES Abroad Barcelona organizes field study trips that complement what you’re learning in the classroom, and contribute to your general knowledge of Spanish culture and society.

Housing

Our job is to make sure that your greatest challenge is deciding what landmarks to see first or discovering the best café—not finding a place to live where you feel comfortable. We do our best to locate housing that is reflective of how the local students are living. Our goal is that when you leave Barcelona, it will feel like home.

You have the unique chance to experience two types of housing during the seven weeks of your program.

Homestays – During the four-week period of intensive language instruction, you live in a home with local residences--a homestay. This provides a truly immersive experience, which supplements and enhances the intensive language instruction you receive from IES Abroad during this period.

Normally, two or three IES Abroad students live in a home with local residents and sometimes students share a double room. You are provided two meals a day (breakfast and dinner) while the program is in session.

Apartments - After the initial four-week period, you move into an apartment. Living in an apartment is a great way to put your language skills to work. Live with three to five other IES Abroad students in mostly double or triple rooms. Live-in Spanish Resident Assistants (RAs) guide you in cultural integration. No meals are provided, but the apartments have fully-equipped kitchens.

Student Life

Part of making you feel at home in Barcelona is doing our best to help you feel safe and cared for. Whether it is an orientation program that makes you feel prepared, housing that is well-located and comfortable, or the field trips that take you to places off the beaten path—we’re all about our student services. This is just one of the things we’re known for.

Orientation

After your arrival, you receive practical information on housing, transportation, and extracurricular activities, and learn about the city and its culture through scavenger hunts, Spanish language classes, a cinema forum, and local walking tours. You also participate in a short orientation session at UPF with other international students.

Additionally, CORE™, IES Abroad’s Comprehensive Orientation & Re-entry Experience, begins during orientation and continues throughout the semester with activities focusing on cultural adjustment, goal achievement, and preparing for the return home.

Extracurricular Activities & Cultural Events

Field Trips

Although your adventure begins in Barcelona, our field trips take you to other great cities in and around Spain to provide contrast and context for what you are learning in Barcelona.

Possible destinations include:
Montserrat
1 Day
Hike through the montain-top monastry of Montserrat

La Garrotxa National Park
1 Day
Take a guided nature walk through the volcanic remains of La Garrotxa National Park

Sitges
1 Day
Tour the picturesque catalan coastal village of Sitges, also famous for hosting film festivals and other cultural attractions,

Center

IES Abroad Barcelona [12]

The IES Abroad Barcelona Center is located in the center of Barcelona near the Plaza Catalunya. Features include:

High-speed and wireless Internet access
Multimedia classrooms
Study lounges with printers
Large outdoor terrace with social and study space

Center staff:

Dr. Cèsar Alegre Alsina
IES Abroad Director
Originally from Barcelona, Dr. Alegre speaks Spanish, Catalan, and English fluently. He brings more than twenty years of experience in higher education to IES Abroad, including a distinguished teaching career in the United States, experience in student services, and a strong research portfolio. Dr. Alegre is a linguist specializing in second language acquisition, pedagogy, bilingualism and sociolinguistics. Previously, Dr. Alegre served as the Dean of Spanish for IES Abroad Barcelona, where he distinguished himself as the coordinator of language teaching by implementing numerous curricular and technological improvements. Notably, Dr. Alegre launched internet-based teaching tools and an on-line language placement test. Student evaluations of the Spanish language courses and the language faculty have been consistently high under his direction.

IES Abroad Staff

Jane Ewart
Head of Registration and Advising

Francesc Fontes
Administration Coordinator

Pilar Gracia
Administration Coordinator

Salvador Ortiz
Outside Courses and Customized Programs Coordinator

Noemí Polo
Student Affairs Coordinator - Health and Safety, Homestays

María Romero
Assistant Dean of Faculty

Olga Sánchez
Student Affairs Associate - Health and Safety

Beatriz Taberner
Coordinator of Educational Resources and Publications

Ferran Teres
Student Affairs Coordinator - Apartments

Betsey Tufano
General Manager and Director of Administration

Alex Walker
Director of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty

Margherita Mangini
Center Administrator

Matthew Clear
Area Faculty Advisor

María Mejías
Language Faculty Advisor

Ignasi Pérez
Area Faculty Advisor

Ataúlfo Portela
Language Faculty Advisor

Laura Vázquez
Language Faculty Advisor

Faculty
Cèsar Alegre
Spanish Language
Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics, University of Massachussets and Amherst

John Frederick Anderson
Master of Arts in Documentary Photography, University of Wales College Newport, UK Sandra Becerril
Spanish Language

Nieves Borrego
Spanish Language

Rosa Brion
Spanish Language
Ph.D. (in progress) Linguistics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Luis Cardona
Oceanography
Ph.D. in Biology, Universitat de Barcelona

Laura Cervi
PhD. in Political Science, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain- Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy

Alistair Charles
Internships
MBA, University of Brighton

Matthew Clear
Art History
Ph.D. in Mediterranean History, University of Sussex

Josep María Contreras
Spanish Language

Xavier De Pedro
Environmental Studies, Sociology
Ph.D. in Biology, Universitat de Barcelona

Gemma Draper
Master in Fine Arts. Cranbrook Academy of Art. Bloomfield Hills, MI

Alexander Walker
Urban Studies
Ph.D. in Planning Studies, University College London

Marina Díaz
History
Ph.D. in History, Tufts University

Verónica Fajardo
Literature

Laura Vázquez
Spanish Language
Ph.D. (in progress) in Teaching of Language and Literature, Universitat de Barcelona

Josep Grau
History
Ph.D. in History, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Dawn Hiscock
Anthropology, Sociology

Jeannine Horowitz
International Business
Ph.D. in Genetics/Biochemistry, University of East Anglia/John Innes Institute

Sinan Hosadam
Political Science
Ph.D. (in progress) in Political and Social Science, Graduate Center, City University of New York

Pep Inglés
Catalan
Ph.D. (in progress) in Spanish as a Second Language, Universitat de Barcelona

Christopher Kennet
PhD of Philosophy in Sports Management, Loughborough University, UK

Beth Kuhnlein
Management
Ph.D. (in progress) in Management Sciences, Universitat Ramon Llull

Camila Loew
Literature
Ph.D. in Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Raúl Lozano
Spanish Language
Ph.D. in Hispanic Philology, Universitat de Barcelona

Marga García Bolivar
Spanish Language
Ph.D. in Spanish Literature and Linguistics, Temple University

Meritxell Martín
Religious Studies
Ph.D. in History of Religions, University of Virginia

James McGlade
History, Archaeology
Ph.D. in Archaeology, Cambridge University

María Mejias
Spanish Language
Ph.D. (in progress) in Education Studies, Universitat de Barcelona

Wim Mellaerts
History
Ph.D. in History, University of East Anglia

Laura Mier
Ph.D. in Literature, 15th Century Spanish Literature, University of Salamanca

Mauricio Molina
PhD in Philosophy Music, City University of New York

Jay Moran
International Business
MBA, Emory University

Iolanda Nieves
Spanish Language

Nuria Plaza
Spanish Language
Ph.D. (in progress) in Philology, 17th Century Spanish Literature, Universitat de Barcelona

Ataúlfo Portela
Spanish
M.A. Spanish, Miami University, Oxford Ohio

Ignasi Pérez
History, Political Science
Ph.D. in Political Science with European Honors (Doctor Europeo), Universitat de Barcelona/University of Florence

Adil Qureshi
Psychology
Ph.D. in Counceling Psychology, University of Southern CA

Montserrat Suárez
Environmental Science
M.S. Marine Environmental Sciences, Stony Brook University, New York

Carles Roca
Communications
Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Manchester

Daniel Rodriguez
Máster Spanish Teaching as a Foreign Language, University of Granada

Carme Ruiz
Communications
Ph.D. in Archaeology, University if Texas at Austin

F. Javier San Julián Arrupe
PhD in History and Civilisation, European University Institute, Firenze

Isabel Sanchez
Art History

Nuria Silvestre
Spanish Language

Karen Smyth
Psychology
Ph.D. in Mental Health, Trinity College, Dublin

Anna Solé del Barrio
Master Degree in Economic History, Universitat de Barcelona

Ian Stephens
B.A. Sports and Recreation Studies, Madeley College of Physical Educattion, Staffordshire University, UK

Suzanne Strum
Urban Studies
Ph.D. (in progress) in Architectural Theory and History

Cost