Madrid
SPAN S-DM Study Abroad in Madrid: Spanish Language and Culture, Past and Present
Johanna Damgaard Liander, PhD, Senior Preceptor in Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University
8 credits
UN Limited enrollment.
This is a second-year course in Spanish language and culture which moves students toward fluency using grammar review and language instruction combined with an in-depth study of the culture and character of Madrid through history, art, architecture, literature, and ethnography. The course focuses on five periods: when Madrid became Spain’s capital in 1561 and before; the theatrical boom of the seventeenth century through the enlightenment of Charles III; the vast contrasts of the nineteenth century; the civil war, subsequent dictatorship, and transition to democracy in the twentieth century; and Madrid’s place in Spain, in Europe, and in the world in current times. Students engage with Madrid directly, living and studying there for five weeks, and gain a deeper understanding of the city in the greater context of Spain by comparing the capital to smaller cities (Toledo and Segovia on day trips) and to the culturally, geographically, and linguistically diverse regions of Mallorca and Galicia, each of which we visit for several days.
Students expand and strengthen their linguistic skills and learn about the history and culture of Madrid by participating in language sessions, instructional excursions, writers’ workshops, lectures, theater class, flamenco class, and viewing centuries of art and architecture. The course provides students with numerous occasions to speak Spanish with native speakers from diverse backgrounds. In class, students compare levels of formality in both written and spoken language. Students become familiar with the vast and fascinating lexicon of Castilian Spanish, develop their written and spoken academic Spanish, and attain an advanced linguistic level by the end of the course.
Prerequisite: Harvard students must have completed Spanish 11, Spanish 15, or Spanish 20 (but not beyond Spanish 20) or received the equivalent score on the Harvard University placement test. Other students must have completed one year or one accelerated semester of college-level beginning Spanish.