Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

Salamanca Program

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La rana de Salamanca

The UMass Amherst Spanish Department offers a summer study abroad program in Salamanca, Spain. The program is for both undergraduates and graduate students. Students can earn 6 to 9 credits in a one-month intensive program. The cost with airfare, tuition and incidental expenses is roughly comparable, on a per-credit basis, to the cost of attending UMass during regular session.

UMass students spend one month in Salamanca with weekend excursions to various other historical and cultural sites in Spain, and an optional excursion to Portugal for a small extra fee. In summer 2005, included excursions included a day trip to Segovia and a multi-day trip to Southern Spain including swimming in the Mediterranean at Costa del Sol, a stay in Granada with a visit to the world-famous Alhambra, and a visit to la Mezquita de Córdoba.

Salamanca is well known as a University town, being home to the third oldest university in Europe, and visited by many foreign students during the summer. While there are plenty of tourists, you will have a chance to practice Spanish. You'll also have a chance to party liek whoa. People start hitting the streets at 10-11pm and many, often including older folks, don't go home until LATE on weekends. Of course, partying is an optional extracurricular part of the experience. :)

[edit] The programs

Undergraduates studying basic and intermediate Spanish take "Program A," a 9-credit intensive program with a Spanish civilization course, a language and grammar course, and a culture course. The civilization course includes information on Spanish geography, history, politics and culture. The language course includes grammar reinforcement, reading and writing, and presentations, and is closely tailored to the student's level of proficiency by a test given the first day. The culture course includes touring the city, going for tapas, watching movies, and discussing what you see. No English is allowed.

Program A students will spend a total of about 5 hours a day in class when not on excursions.

Graduates and undergrads studying advanced Spanish (usually beyond 311 at UMass) may take "Program B," a 6-credit program with a focus on literature and/or Spanish for teachers.

[edit] For Spanish minors

Students interested in a Spanish minor should note that Program A counts as two upper-level electives. By taking through Spanish 240, then 301, Program A, 320 or 321 and 322 or 323, you will complete a Spanish minor at UMass.