Liberal Arts Classes

Although I am in the Business & Society program here in Sevilla, we're allowed to take up to two liberal arts.  I elected to take the maximum, and I am enrolled in Spanish Linguistics and Art and Fiesta of Andalucia (Southern province of Spain where I live). I have each of these classes for 90 minutes every Tuesday and Thursday at the Palacio (Palace). Its our nickname for the CIEE study center, which sort of looks like a palace. It's a three-story building in the historical center of Sevilla. There is a courtyard in the center of the building with classrooms and offices around the outside. We also have an open deck on the top floor where we can sit in the sun between classes. 

My Spanish Linguistics class is becoming more interesting, but it is slightly over my head. I had thought that it would focus more on pronunciation and the origins of words rather than the material that we are learning but that's alright. Here is the syllabus in case you're interested (it's in English, no worries): http://syllabi.ciee.org/Documents/SPAN%203101%20CSCS%20%20Introduction%20to%20Spanish%20Linguistics.pdf

My Art and Fiesta class is probably my favorite one. We started with a brief history of Southern Spain, going through the Roman and Muslim occupations as well as Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the New World. We'll also be learning about current festivals and religious traditions in Sevilla as they are happening. To supplement class, we go on field-trips around Sevilla every two weeks to see some of the things that we are learning about. For example, below are pictures of the Murallas Romanas, or ruins from the Roman fortress around the city. 

It's a great chance to walk around the city and hear about Sevilla's sights from a historical expert. Our professor is amazing- he must have the entire history of the city memorized. Here are some pictures of el Palacio de la Condensa de Lebrija, or the Palaca of the Countess of Lebrija. You can see the Roman mosaics on the floors as well as Roman artwork and sculptures. 

Here is the Art and Fiesta syllabus if you care to take a look: http://syllabi.ciee.org/Documents/ANTH%204001%20CSCS%20Art%20and%20Fiesta.%20Andalusia%20and%20her%20Popular%20Traditions.pdf
We've got a lot more field-trips for this class, so look out for more up-dates!