Study Abroad

For information about applying for a passport, go to http://www.usps.com/passport/welcome.htm.

Block 4 in Chile

Professor Andreea Marinescu, Program Director

Spaces of Memory in Post-Dictatorship Chile. This study-abroad course will examine how the urban space of Santiago, Chile bears the visual marks of its recent history. We will explore the traces left on the city by President Allende’s democratic government (1970-1973), Pinochet’s military dictatorship (1973-1990), and how these visible (and invisible) material elements have shaped the discourses of memory during the transition to democracy. Through Santiago’s public monuments and private spaces, we will explore how multiple constituencies have sought to come to terms with the trauma of the dictatorship. Some of the questions we will ask are: How do spaces shape our relationship to the past? What are the implications of an officially sanctioned Memory Museum? How can a society fight the reification of memory and yet find avenues to commemorate loss?

In Santiago we will visit the following sites: The Moneda Palace (the Presidential palace, bombed in September 11, 1973); The National Stadium (which functioned as a detention camp the first few months after the military coup); Villa Grimaldi (former torture and detention center of the Chilean Secret Service, now a Park for Peace); Londres 38 (former torture house in the center of Santiago, now maintained by the families of those imprisoned there); the Salvador Allende Museum of Solidarity; Pinochet’s former residence, which is now a museum; the Vicaría de la Solidaridad (the Catholic Church center that gave refuge to the victims of the dictatorship); and the recently opened Memory and Human Rights Museum (2010).

The course readings and the films will be associated with each of these sites. For example, in preparation for the visit to the National Stadium we would watch the documentary National Stadium, which deals with the recuperation of political memory through testimonies of those who were detained there in 1973. In this way the students will be able to experience how cultural productions are informed by and inform the spaces they represent. Prerequisites:  SP306 AND COI; limit: 12 students. 1 unit 

Summer in Spain

May through July, based in Salamanca, Spain

Elementary Spanish in Spain (SP111)is designed for students with less than one year of high school Spanish and focuses on providing students with the necessary skills to navigate through daily life in Spain. Intensive grammar will be taught and practiced with an emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing exercises. There will be weekly exams as well as a midterm and final. Consent of instructor is required.

Intermediate Spanish in Spain (SP211) will be an intensive review of Spanish grammar with an emphasis on both oral and written application of verb forms, vocabulary and syntax development, as well as improved reading skills. Students taking SP211 must have taken SP101 or equivalent. Consent of Instructor and SP201 or equivalent is required.

Cultural Context, Oral Expression (SP305) is designed for students who have completed intermediate Spanish or equivalent work. The course includes advanced composition and conversation practice through the study of literary and cultural texts, movies, and cultural activities of the Spanish-speaking world. Critical Analysis (SP306) continues the acquisition of the Spanish language and trains students in the most important methods of critical analysis through readings in different genres. Consent of Instructor and SP201 or equivalent is required.

For program fees, contact Kathy Bizzarro OR Colorado College Summer Programs.

CC in Salamanca Facebook link:   http://www.facebook.com/CCinspain

Oaxaca Program

Semester in Mexico (not offered 2013-2014)

The Mexico program is  in Oaxaca and is a combination of two blocks that earn credit in the Spanish Department, taught by professors from Colorado College, and another two-block course taken in any of the three divisions (humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences) at the Universidad Mesoamericana in Oaxaca, which are guaranteed Colorado College credits. A particular attraction is a week spent in Cuernavaca, where students visit the famous Cortes Museum and take field trips to Taxco, Mexico City, with its Museum of Anthropology and Pyramids, and Xochixalco. Major and minor students with financial need may apply for department funds.

The minor is based on participation in the four-block fall semester in Mexico. Students on campus must take 5 units from the following AN211, EC337, EC402 (when topic is appropriate) HY 115, 253, 335, PS338, SO234, SP201, 305, 307, 335. The Integrative Experience: Students write a paper in which they relate the field experience in Mexico to a course taken on campus. Note of Explanation for students on the program in Mexico: the Mexico Program, will always include a least one course outside the Romance Languages, usually in the Social Sciences.

Length of the program:  four blocks with an Orientation half block
Enrollment: 15 students

Eligibility: Spanish 201 or equivalent, sophomores and juniors.
Credit: 4.5 units.
Application deadline: To be determined
Campus advisors: Members of Spanish  Department.