Many travelers who visit Granada insist it’s the must-see city in all of Spain. With one of the clearest windows into Spain’s unique historical symbiosis of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, Granada is also a youthful city with a vibrant student life that will make meeting new friends even easier—Granada awaits!
Our curriculum takes full advantage of Andalusia and all southern Spain has to offer. The program offers two unique program options that are designed to improve your Spanish proficiency: the Intermediate Spanish Program and Advanced Spanish Program.
Students placed in the Intermediate Program take IES Abroad courses in both English and Spanish. The Advanced Program courses are conducted entirely in Spanish, including study at the Universidad de Granada. Both options introduce you to Spain’s Moorish heritage and Jewish past, and its continuing links to North Africa through Islamic and Contemporary North African Studies. Advanced students can also experience Arabic language courses of all levels, at the Universidad de Granada.
Granada will also be your classroom. Explore the last capital of Moorish Spain: visit the Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, and the Generalife, an impressive garden just nearby. When you’re not learning about the history of this fascinating city, enjoy tapas with new friends, visit the nearby Sierra Nevada Mountains for a ski trip and observe Granada’s treasured Spanish-Muslim art. Welcome to study abroad!
We want you to feel at home in Granada, so we will do everything we can to help you integrate into life in Granada. Gain valuable work experience and get to know the locals and their culture through an internship you’ll earn academic credit for.
These dates are preliminary and are subject to change. Students should not book flights according to these dates.
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 a variety of courses that help you explore and better understand the Spanish Language, History, and Culture, through an in-depth and hands-on approach. Our world-class professors and course options at the prestigious Universidad de Granada enhances your academic experience and provide you with new perspectives each day in class.
You take 15–19 credit hours per semester, and all courses are worth 3 credits unless otherwise specified. You craft your own academic experience according to the program in which you enroll by selecting from the following required and optional components.
Intermediate Program (2 semesters of college-level Spanish)
Advanced Program (4 semesters of college-level Spanish)
This is a list of planned course offerings. 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.
About Universidad de Granada www.ugr.es The Universidad de Granada is the third largest university in Spain. It was founded by Charles V in the early 16th century and is the successor to the Arab University of Yusuf I. The University is a dynamic and forwardthinking institution, offering diverse opportunities that attract the highest number of exchange students from universities all over Europe. The new Campus de la Salud, created by the Andalusian government and the Universidad de Granada, brings together the private sector and university faculties for health care research. The university sponsors many programs, sports clubs, and cultural activities, such as concerts and film series.
Courses All IES Abroad Granada students are registered as students of the Universidad de Granada. If you enroll in the advanced program, you are strongly encouraged to take at least one course there. Course offerings vary from semester to semester.
Courses are available in the following disciplines.
To get an idea of what courses may be available, search courses by facultad (college) on the University's Facultades site.
Location and Commute Time The UGR has seven campuses; the Central Campus, The Health Campus and the Campuses of Cartuja, Fuentenueva, and Aynadamar in Granada. There are two additional campuses in the North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla. All local Granada campuses are 10-15 minutes walking from the IES Abroad Granada Center, except the Cartuja Campus (15 minutes away by bus).
While adding study abroad to your resume is impressive enough, adding an international internship is even more powerful, and can help 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. All IES Abroad internships are supervised and offered as academic options earning 3 IES Abroad credits. Internship placements and the accompanying seminars are conducted in Spanish.
Placement examples include:
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 Granada, it will feel like home.
Homestays – You live in a Spanish home and eat two meals a day with your hosts while your program is in session. In some cases, more than one IES Abroad student may be placed in each home. No other English speaking students will be living in your homestay. Homestays are typically located within a 5-35 minute walk from the Center.
Residence Halls – Residence halls include 15 meals (Monday through Friday), with no meals on the weekends. This housing option is suitable for independent-minded students with a high level of Spanish language, who are comfortable being proactive when meeting Spanish students and integrating into local student culture. Placements are limited.
In the fall semester, you live with a host family for the first month of the program until the residence hall opens.
Colegios Mayores – Each Colegio dorm has its own unique social and academic environment. This housing option includes up to 19 meals per week in student cafeterias. It is ideal for outgoing students with a high level of Spanish language who want to integrate into local student culture, participate in Colegio activities, and are willing to abide by the rules and curfews of the Colegio. Placements are limited.
In the fall semester, you live with a host family for the first month of the program until the Colegio opens.
Part of making you feel at home in Granada 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 places off the beaten path—we’re all about our student services. This is just one of the things we’re known for.
The program begins with a mandatory 10-day orientation that introduces you to the IES Abroad Granada staff, your fellow students, and the city of Granada. 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.
The IES Abroad Granada Center staff organizes local museum tours around the city. In addition, you may spend two days in Malaga, take a one-day trip to an Andalusian National Park, and a two-day trip to Ronda and Seville. During this time, you will also receive intensive Spanish language instruction.
Redefine the way you live and learn in Granada through our cultural activities, such as:
University Clubs & Events The University of Granada sponsors many programs, sports clubs, and cultural activities, such as concerts and film series. All IES Granada students, even those who do not register for courses at the University, receive a Universidad de Granada student identity card. This entitles you not only to enroll in courses at the University, but also allows you to participate in university clubs and sports programs, and all other activities appropriate to your period of study in Spain.
Although your adventure begins in Granada, our field trips take you to other great cities around Spain and North Africa to provide contrast and context for what you are learning in Granada. We organize one- and two-day field trips that are included in the cost of the program. Our breathtaking five-day trip to Morocco is partially subsidized by IES Abroad. Past destinations are listed below.
Cabo de Gata 2 days Hike through this gorgeous national park, characterized by its volcanic rock formations.
Córdoba 1 day Visit the great Mosque of Córdoba, the House of Sepharad, and other local sites.
Jerez and Cadiz 2 days Learn about the complex process behind the production of sherry wine, visit an equestrian school with Andalusian horses, and explore Cádiz, which is said to be Europe’s oldest city.
La Alpujarra 1 day Hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and their unspoiled Medieval villages.
Morocco and Gibraltar 5 days Visit the city of Gibraltar, then cross the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco, and visit Tangier, Assilah, Rabat, the Rif Mountains and Chefchaouen. While in Morocco, you will truly experience Moroccan culture by staying with local families and interacting with local university students and professors.
Seville and Ronda 2 days Visit cathedrals and the historic quarter in Seville. Ronda is a quaint city perched above the cliffs with a breath taking view of the Guadalerín river.
IES ABROAD GRANADA Pisas, 2-2° 18010 Granada Spain
The IES Abroad Granada Center is ideally located in the heart of Granada on Plaza Santa Ana. It has a spectacular view of the Alhambra and is close to several facultades of the Universidad de Granada. Features include:
Javier Martinez de VelascoIES Abroad DirectorDr. Javier Martínez de Velasco, previously the director of IES Abroad Madrid, is now the full-time director of IES Abroad Granada. He received his doctorate in Hispanic Literature from the University of Kansas with a minor concentration in international theatre, and his Licenciado in English Philology from Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. He was a member of the faculty at Central Washington University, including the William O. Douglas Honors College, from 1994 to 2002, teaching Hispanic and Latin American Literature and Spanish, and he held a graduate teaching assistantship at the University of Kansas. He developed a Spanish language program for Spanish Speakers at CWU and co-directed, then directed, CWU's summer program with the University of La Coruña in Galicia, Spain. As a complement to his academic work, he is an accomplished actor and director.
IES Abroad StaffNatalia García CaballosCoordinator of Student Affairs and Internships
Jeff GreeneStudent Life Advisor
Eva MartínOffice Manager
Alba MedialdeaStudent Life Advisor
Elvira RosalesAcademic Coordinator
FacultyDr. Adolfo CalatravaPolitical Science, International RelationsProfessor of Political Science, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Jorge CastroBiology, Environmental StudiesProfessor of Ecology, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Eduardo CuencaEconomicsProfessor of Applied Economics, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Carlos de CuetoPolitical Science, International RelationsProfessor of Political Science, Universidad de Granada Academic Director, Euro Arab Foundation
María del Puerto García CastilloFlamencoDirector, Escuela María del Puerto
Dr. Javier García MarínPolitical Science, International RelationsProfessor of Political Science, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Concha González BadíaSpanish Language and Literature
Dr. Yolanda Guash MariArt HistoryProfessor of Art History, Universidad de Granada
Ana Hernández WaltaPainting, Art History
Hala Jadid AlkashArabic Language
Dr. Indalecio LozanoIslamic StudiesProfessor of Arabic, Universidad de Granada
Dr. María Marcos CobaledaArt HistoryProfessor of Art History, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Javier Martínez de VelascoSpanish TheaterDirector, IES Abroad Granada
Dr. Isabel MarínAnthropologyProfessor of Social Anthropology, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Rosa MorillasLiterature, Spanish LanguageProfessor of English Literature, Universidad de Granada
Ms. Stéphanie MoutonInternship Seminar
Dr. Nieves OrtegaPolitical Science, International RelationsProfessor of Political Science, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Rosana PiñeroSpanish LanguageLanguage Coordinator, IES Abroad Granada
Dr. José Miguel Puerta VilchezArt HistoryProfessor of Art History, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Alicia RamosSephardic Studies, Women's StudiesWomen's Studies Research Institute, Universidad de Granada
Antonio Rodríguez MaldonadoSpanish Language
Dr. Guadalupe RomeroArt HistoryProfessor of Art History, Universidad de Granada
Antonio Ruiz SerranoFilm Studies
Dr. Miguel Ángel SorrocheManagement of Cultural HeritageProfessor of Art History, Universidad de Granada
Dr. Adolfo Sánchez CuadradoSpanish Language
Dr. Adelina Sánchez EspinosaFilm Studies, Literature, Women's StudiesProfessor of English, Universidad de Granada and Women's Studies Research Institute, UGR
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