This post is going to be all about my classes here in Spain and what I have been learning! I am about halfway through my semester so I will be sharing what I have been doing in class so far. I am enrolled in five classes here through the University of Alicante. Three of my classes are in Spanish, two are in English, and all of them are very history-focused. I have classes Monday-Thursday (no Friday classes ever!) using a block schedule so I have each class twice a week and each class is about two hours long.
One of my classes is Camino de Santiago which is all about the pilgrimage called the Way of Saint James in English. The Camino is a trail that is located throughout Europe with the most popular trail being in Southern France and Northern Spain. In this class, we talk about the history of the Camino and how it has become so popular, along with the religious aspect behind the Camino. To complete the Camino and get a Compostela (a special certificate) you must walk at least 100 km along the trail which takes weeks! We have been learning the ins and outs of the Camino, which has been super interesting.
Another one of my classes is in Spanish and it’s called Cine Español. In this class, we are learning about how the cinema has changed in Spain over time. We watch quite a few movies in class and then we analyze them. We talk about important themes and also the cinematography behind the movies. This class is super interesting for me because I get to learn about the culture of Spain through watching movies which makes it fun!
One of my other classes is Spanish Literature which is also in Spanish. In this class, we analyze literature from famous writers throughout decades in Spain. We talk about different periods of writing like the romantic and modern times in Spain. This class is challenging, especially being in Spanish but it has helped me learn a lot of new vocabulary and extend my knowledge about the history of Spain.
Another one of my classes is art and the history of painting in Spain. This class is similar to my other classes in the sense that we analyze art from the periods of time in Spain. We talk about what art means and how art has changed over time specifically in Spain. This class also has a hands-on aspect which is super fun. We get to paint and draw different pieces of art in class to help us learn more and better understand the content.
My final class is called Transformations of Spain. In this class, we talk about a lot of different topics including gender and migration but we focus on how Spain has changed over the past 100 years in these different topics. This class is in Spanish which makes it a little challenging to understand some of the new and big vocabulary words but overall it is super interesting. This class has helped me gain a better understanding of Spain’s overall history.
Altogether, my classes are super interesting and I am learning a lot! These classes differ a lot content-wise from my typical Education classes at Hope but they are all very discussion-based which is similar. The workload is also different. Here I am writing a lot of papers and doing a lot of research whereas at Hope I find myself working more on presentations and projects. Overall, it is going super well and I am excited to keep learning for the second half of my semester!
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