Spain

The course provides a study on environmental economics in order to evaluate environmental consequences of economic activity, as well as to interpret market-based instruments of environmental regulation. It examines the economics of renewable and non-renewable natural resources; concepts for the valuation of non-market amenities; environmental cost- benefit analysis; techniques of valuation of environmental impacts; and theory of optimal management of renewable and non-renewable resources. 

This course explores contemporary challenges in international relations such as polarization in contemporary democracies, peace and security, human rights, and geopolitical competition. It examines the impacts of these issues in various regions of the world. The exact topics and regions of focus vary by year depending on current events. This course is divided into four units and each unit is led by a different lecturer.

This intensive language course prepares students for regular university courses by emphasizing communication and participation in an academic setting in Spain. It focuses on grammar, conversation and composition; Spanish culture, and basic Catalan. The course includes organized visits to cultural areas in Barcelona (La Pedrera, Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Cathedral of Barcelona, and the Jewish Quarter). Assessment: Class participation, weekly assignments, final exam.

This course provides students with a general overview of how Spanish artists in the 20th and 21st centuries seek references and are influenced by religion, politics, identity, gender and popular culture while simultaneously re-appropriating historical icons and images to provide new readings and modify traditional interpretations. It examines specific art works that have shaped Spain's contemporary history and society such as Picasso's “Guernica,” Dalí's references to psychoanalysis and sexuality, or Miró's multiple interpretations of Abstraction. The course also focuses on the role of the viewer in the 21st century: that of an active viewer that must interact with art works to decode their meanings via the study of Abstract Expressionists such as Tàpies or Saura, the Abstract Geometric such as Chillida, political and social critics such as Arroyo and Grupo Crónica, more well-known contemporary artists, such as García Alix or Plensa, as well as young emerging artists. This course highlights important events in Spanish history such as the Civil War, Franco's dictatorship, the transition to democracy, terrorism or today's current economic and political crisis through the public art works or manifestations that—officially or not—influence the city of Madrid and demonstrate how contradictions become compatible and how a city might become the ultimate example of a Post-Modern society.