Classes

¡Feliz año bisiesto a todos! Happy leap-year day!

I had some free time today so I thought I'd let you know about the classes I'm taking here in Salamanca (in no particular order) --

1. Advanced Grammar & Usage V
This class, which meets for one hour four days a week, is taught through my program (IES) by a University of Salamanca professor named Carlos Cabrera. He is an eccentric, kooky guy who really understands how to explain grammar to students. On Mondays and Tuesdays we review grammar, not just the structures themselves but WHY they are used. While this incredibly helpful, I often wish that the class was taught in two 2 hour periods because frequently when I feel myself on the cusp of mastering a concept, it's time to leave. On Wednesdays and Thursday we discuss the spanish language from a variety of angles - for example, next week we will be starting a project researching whether or not Spanish is a sexist language. I enjoy this class despite the fact that it is right before lunch and the work, at times, can be tedious.

2. Franco Regime and the Transition to Democracy 
Another IES course, Franco is taught by Professor Zulima Sanchez Sanchez, (that's right, Sanchez Sanchez) a law professor at University of Salamanca who studied at Columbia University Law School for a while. I have somewhat mixed feelings about this course - on the one hand the material is fascinating and Professor Sanchez has an interesting outlook on the subject. However, the course lacks a certain amount of structure and organization. I feel like most days we just end up talking very generally about the military, the church, and that Franco was bad. I hope that the material will become a little more detailed once we start learning about the transition to democracy.

3. Introduction to Spanish Theater of the 20th century 
One of my two classes at the University of Salamanca. The professor, Emilio de Miguel Martinez, is an incredibly entertaining man probably somewhere in his late 60s or early 70s. He has a very dry sense of humor and although he seems very soft spoken, commands the attention of the classroom. Because the class only meets once a week and the first week he was sick, and the second week he presented the syllabus, I have only had one real class and still don't have a sense of what it will be like. I know it will certainly be interesting and I will have the opportunity to see some Spanish theater in Salamanca.

4. Comparative Literature (inter-artistic studies) 
This is my other USAL course which meets Monday and Tuesday mornings. I stumbled upon this class accidentally early on in the semester when I was trying to arrange my schedule around participating in a choir at another university in Salamanca (which I am no longer doing). The course is an academic mutt of sorts. It is listed as an art history course, taught by linguistics professor Manuel González de Ávila, meets in the history/geography building and, although it is called 'Comparative Literature,' it isn't really about comparative literature. The syllabus traces the evolution of images and words and looks at the connections, differences and overlaps between their representations over time. We started off by looking at the earliest cave drawings, heirogliphics, cuneiform etc., and working our way forward. In the end, I often feel like this is a philosophy class, as the professor questions whether the image or the word evolved first in the human consciousness...it can get a little 'metta' at times.

5. Reading the City: Art and Literature of Salamanca 
Another IES course, this is by far and away, my favorite course I am taking this semester. It is an art history and literature co-taught class by two USAL professors, Laura Muñoz Perez and Javier Sanchez Zapatero. On Tuesdays we have literature with Javier and we read famous works written since the 1200s by individuals who lived and studied in Salamanca and discuss their relationship to the city. On Wednesdays we do the same with Laura, but with art. But the best part of this class is that during class, we go with our professors to the streets of the city, tracing the paths of the works of art and literature we discussed in the classroom. It often reminds me of my summer in Israel on EIE and how learning and then walking the history made the country come alive for me. The course title in Spanish, "Leer la piedra," translates to "Reading the stone." As the semester continues and I walk throughout Salamanca seeing University buildings of the Renaissance and cathedrals constructed in the 13th century, with the knowledge I gain in this course I will be able to read the stories that the stones of the city still stand today to tell.

I have rambled on about school for quite a while...now I actually have to go to sleep so that I can function in class tomorrow.

Saludos,
Abby