Barcelona - Liberal Arts & Business

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Overview

Quick Facts

City:

Barcelona [1]

Country:

Spain [2]

Program credits:

15-19 per semester (5-6 courses)

Language(s) of Instruction:

English

Spanish

Language prerequisites:

None

Feast your eyes on the many sights of Barcelona! Admire the stunning Gothic architecture of Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia church, stroll through the whimsical Park Güell, shop the markets and street vendors of La Rambla, visit the beautiful beaches—should we continue? You can experience it all here.

There are a wide variety of courses available, primarily taught in English by our world-class faculty. When you arrive, you are grouped into language proficiency-based levels to focus your course enrollment options. This will also provide a sense of community with your fellow students and will challenge you to maximize your learning.

In addition to your Spanish language course, you will choose from a variety of English-taught IES Abroad courses, as well as Spanish- and English-taught local university courses to round out your semester. All IES Abroad courses include field study activities that help you connect coursework with your surroundings. You can also take Spanish-taught IES Abroad courses.

Barcelona will also be your classroom. You will easily find yourself at home in the second largest city in Spain, rich with influence in global commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts. This program is ideal for experiencing the excitement of life in Barcelona while improving your Spanish language skills. Welcome to study abroad!

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 internships to cultural activities. As an IES Abroad student, you have the opportunity to live with local residents, who can serve as your local hosts and resources to help you make the most of living and learning in Barcelona.

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 possible—which includes the highest quality academic and cultural experiences. We offer unique courses that explore Liberal Arts and Business through an in-depth and hands-on approach. Our world-class professors and course options at prestigious local universities enhance your academic experience and provide you with new perspectives each day in class.

While in Barcelona, you take 15–19 credit hours per semester. IES Abroad Barcelona offers a wide range of academic opportunities, which can be summarized into five course types:

Spanish language courses are worth 4 or 7 credits and are offered at the IES Abroad Center. These courses range from the 100- to the 400-level; Spanish language course enrollment is required.
Area studies courses are worth 3 credits and are offered at the IES Abroad Center in English and Spanish in a wide range of disciplines.
Internships are worth 3 credits and combine project-based placements in business, media, service learning, or at an educational organization with a required seminar. Internships are only available if you place in the advanced Spanish language level.
Estudios Hispánicos (hispanic studies) courses are worth 2 credits at the University of Barcelona and 3 credits at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. They are specifically designed for international students and are available in a wide range of disciplines, in both Spanish and English.
University courses at local universities are in Spanish and English, and you take these classes alongside local Spanish students. Courses may be worth 3 or 4 credits.

Courses

This is a list of planned course offerings [3]. A final list of course offerings will be made available to you in your MyIESabroad account.

To learn more about IES Abroad’s innovative theoretical and pedagogical approaches to teaching language abroad, refer to the IES Abroad MAP for Language & Intercultural Communication [4].

Partner Institution(s)

You may enroll in courses at the following local partner institutions.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
University Courses in English

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)

University Courses in English

BS50201 Culture and Business in Middle East and Africa [27]
BS54202 Business Simulation (syllabus not available)
BS54203 International Expansion (syllabus not available)
EC20668 Psychology and Business [28]
EC20851 Advanced Macroeconomics I [29]
EC21204 International Macroeconomics I (syllabus not available)
EC21689 Employment Policies and Labor Market [30]
EC21932 Game Theory and Design of Institutions [31]
EC21951 Topics in Macroeconomics [32]
EC21958 Business Logistics [33]
EC51269 International_Economics [34]
FI51267 International Finance [35]
HS22259 Modern and Contemporary History of Latin America [36]
IB21246 International Business History [37]
LW21001 Labour Law [38]
LW21062 History of Contemporary Law (syllabus not available)
LW21090 Gender and Criminal Justice [39]
MG21140 Operations Management [40]
MG21704 Comparative Public Management [41]
MG21812 People Management and Globalization (syllabus not available)
MG21917 New Topics in Commercial Management [42]
MG50206 Management Control (syllabus not available)
MG51268 International_Management [43]
MG54204 International Team Management (syllabus not available)
PS50204 Consumer Behaviour [44]
US22342 The City and Urban World [45]

Hispanic and European Studies in English AND SPANISH

AH51154EH Contemporary Spanish Art [46] (English)
FS51129EH Spain in Cinema: Local and Global Perspectives [47] (English)
HS51146EH Barcelona: The City and its History [48] (English)
HS51147EH Between Tolerance and Conflict: Muslims, Jews and Christians in the Iberian Peninsula [49] (English)
LT51214EH Contemporary Spanish Literature [50] (Spanish)
LW51139EH Business Organizations in Europe [51] (English)
LW51258EH Crime and Punishment in the US and EU: A Comparative Approach [52] (English)
LW51555EH The International Implications of Human Rights [53] (Spanish)
SO51189EH Social Movements and the Contemporary World: The US, Europe and Spain (1950 - 2010) [54] (Spanish)
SP51158EH Techniques for Oral Expression [55] (Spanish)

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
Hispanic Studies in Spanish

Universitat Ramon Llull (URL)
University Courses in English

BS027 Creativity and Innovation in Technological Organizations [61]
BS402 Business Policies and Corporate Social Responsibility in Tourism and Hospitality (syllabus not available)
EC012 Macroeconomics [62]
FI014 Financial Management [63]
HM401 International Hospitality Management (syllabus not available)
HM403 Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Hospitality (syllabus not available)
HM405 Destination Management (syllabus not available)
MG024 Human Resources [64]
MK041 New Product and Service Development [65]
MK046 Internet and Multimedia Technologies [66]
MK050 Marketing Stimulation [67]

Internships

While adding study abroad to your resume is impressive enough, adding an international internship experience is even more powerful, and can distinguish your application for graduate school or a job opportunity in today’s competitive job market.

An internship provides an invaluable cultural experience, and helps you develop professional and personal skills. Internships are only available if you have taken at least four semesters of college-level Spanish. All IES Abroad internships are supervised and offered as academic options earning IES Abroad credit.

Placement Examples

Business – Business development for a software company; working at the International Chamber of Commerce in Barcelona; assisting with marketing research.
Media & Communication – Working with a local publication that advertises leisure and cultural events in the city; design of advertising campaigns for a real estate agency.
Language Teaching – Working alongside teaching staff at schools in Barcelona and assisting in lesson planning to learn and improve language teaching methodology.
Volunteer Organizations & NGOs – Volunteering with children at a local children’s hospital; working with a local foundation for Latin American immigrants to develop a comparative research study on immigration integration.

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.

Homestays – 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 IES Abroad Barcelona program is in session.

Residence Halls and Colegios Mayores – Rooms in residence halls and Colegios Mayores are double and triple occupancy.
You live with Spanish and/or other IES Abroad students. Meal plans vary among the different halls. Placements are limited
and an additional fee applies for this housing option.

Apartments – You live with three to five other IES Abroad students in double rooms. Apartments have fully-equipped kitchens and meals are not provided. Live-in Spanish Resident Assistants (RAs) will help you with cultural integration. Placements are very limited and an additional fee applies for this housing option.

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

The program begins with an orientation that introduces you to the IES Abroad Barcelona staff, your fellow students,
and the city of Barcelona. Topics such as academics, housing, transportation, and health and safety are covered during this time.

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. Also, during the first week of the semester, intensive Spanish language courses meet daily in small groups to help you to develop your language skills.

A study journey several weeks into the program is included as part of orientation. Past destinations have included Costa Brava and Tarragona.

Extracurricular Activities & Cultural Events

Redefine the way you live and learn in Barcelona through our cultural activities, such as:

Walking tours of the city
Spanish cooking classes and wine tasting sessions
Opera and concert performances
Soccer games and other sports activities

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.

You take a study journey that is included in your program fee. Additional field trips are available with a portion of the cost covered by IES Abroad. Trips are organized by language level and conducted in English or Spanish accordingly. Past destinations are listed below.

Costa Brava
3 Days
Visit Greek and Roman ruins, the medieval city of Girona, and the “dreamland” of Salvador Dalí between Barcelona and the French border.

The south of France
3 Days
Visit the four castles of Châteaux de Lastours, take a guided boat cruise through Canal du Midi, and visit Fontfroide Abbey, a former Cistercian Monestary.

Garrotxa
1 Day
Explore volcanic terrain and hike through the forest of this northeastern county of Catalonia.

Mallorca
3 Days
The island of Mallorca offers visitors exquisite beaches, stunning art and architecture, and views that will inspire.

Montserrat
1 Day
Spend the day hiking the mountain of Montserrat.

Tarragona
3 Day
Experience Tarragona, one of the best preserved ancient Roman sites in Spain. On the way there,
stop at the Ebro Delta, where millions of birds stop along their yearly voyage from Northern Europe to Africa.

Valencia
3 Days
Visit Spain’s third largest city, rich with delicious cuisine, excellent weather, and countless cultural outlets, such as Europe’s newest cultural and scientific complex, Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (the City of Arts & Sciences).

Center

IES Abroad Barcelona [68]

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