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AIFS Study Abroad in San José, Costa Rica
Summer 2012
Course Descriptions |
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Spanish Language CoursesThese courses will be taught for a total of 80 hours (4 credits).
Students will be placed into the appropriate level depending on a
written test taken on-line prior to departure and an oral test taken
upon arrival in San José. All courses are subject to a minimum
enrollment of 5 students. There is a maximum of 10 students per
language class. | Spanish Language Courses | | | Course Code and Credits: | Spanish 101(4)/Spanish 102 (4) | | Course Title: | Elementary Spanish I/Elementary Spanish II | | Course Description: | | Students with no previous Spanish study or with only one
semester in college usually place at these levels. Focus is on
functional uses of the language as well as grammar, lexicon and
cultural themes. Included are introductions, giving and receiving
information, writing letters, indicative, past perfect and preterit
tenses, expressing likes and dislikes and imperative forms of
“tu” and “usted”. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Spanish 201 (4)/Spanish 202 (4) | | Course Title: | Intermediate Spanish I/Intermediate Spanish II | | Course Description: | | Students who have studied Spanish throughout high school and
continued with one semester in college, or students who have 2
to 4 semesters in college, usually place into these levels. It concentrates
on overall communicative skills: perfect tenses, preterit
versus imperfect, telling stories, the future and the conditional,
the imperative uses of the subjunctive mood, and transmission
of messages (verb tenses). | | | Course Code and Credits: | Spanish 301 (4)/Spanish 302 (4) | | Course Title: | Advanced Spanish I/Advanced Spanish II | | Course Description: | | Students with at least 6 semesters of college Spanish, experience
living in a Spanish-speaking country or Spanish study on
a regular basis since elementary school usually place at these
levels. Grammar work is to refine and develop communicative
skills: the impersonal se, adjectives, nouns and verbs, indicative
and subjunctive tenses, spelling and accents, arguments/debates,
expressing degrees of possibilities, cause, consequence
and mode of action, formal and informal letters. | |
Spanish Specialized Language CoursesThese courses will be taught for a total of 80 hours (5 credits).
Students will be placed into the appropriate level depending
on an oral and written test taken upon arrival in San José. All
courses are subject to a minimum enrollment of 5 students. | Specialized Spanish Language Courses | | | Course Code and Credits: | SPN 141 (5) | | Course Title: | Español Básico para Profesionales de Salud (Basic Spanish for Health Professionals) | | Course Description: | | This course is designed for the purpose of giving health personnel,
who do not have any previous Spanish experience, the
tools necessary for interacting with and interviewing simulated
Spanish speaking patients. Students will acquire the linguistic
knowledge and skills that will permit them to communicate at a
basic level with simulated Spanish speaking patients.
| | | Course Code and Credits: | SPN 241 (5) | | Course Title: | Español Intermedio para Profesionales de Salud (Intermediate Spanish for Health Professionals) | | Course Description: | | This course is designed for health personnel that have taken a
minimum of 100 elective hours of Spanish as a second language.
The goal of this course is to deepen the knowledge of medical
related Spanish and increase the competency of communications
in specifically simulated situations with Spanish speaking
patients. | | | Course Code and Credits: | SPN 341 (5) | | Course Title: | Avanzado para Profesionales de Salud (Advanced Spanish for Health Professionals) | | Course Description: | | This course is designed for health personnel that have an advanced
background in Spanish and who need to improve their
linguistic competency in order to interact with their Spanish
speaking patients and their families. The goal at the end of this
course is to be able to communicate in an effective and fluent
form with Spanish speaking patients and families. | |
Courses taught in EnglishBelow is a sample list of the courses that will be taught throughout
the 5-week program. The courses for 4 credits comprise 48
hours of classes plus mandatory field trips; totaling 60 hours.
Field trips provide on-site examples of some of the topics
learned through class work and readings. Courses for 3 credits
also run throughout the 5-week program and total 48 contact
hours. All courses are subject to a minimum enrollment of 5
students. Each student may enroll in only one optional course. | Courses taught in English | | | Course Code and Credits: | Business 235 (3) | | Course Title: | Introduction to International Business | | Course Description: | | An overview of the cultural environment of international business,
and institutions which affect business today. The Latin
American perspective with regard to the U.S., Asia and Europe is
examined: NAFTA, Mercosur, the EC and other common market
areas and agreements. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Business 250 (4) | | Course Title: | Ecotourism: The Costa Rica Case | | Course Description: | | The course addresses the economic importance of ecotourism
for the Costa Rican national economy, the stimulation of grassroots,
community ecotourism projects, and the role of ecotourism
in securing environmental protection. The advances and
limitations of ecotourism will also be explored. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Environmental Studies 202 (4) | | Course Title: | Environmental Impact and Social Development | | Course Description: | | This course covers major environmental problems and issues
confronting modern society. Students will examine ecosystems,
population patterns and dynamics; use and misuse of resources;
population and environmental quality; environmental citizenship
and economic incentives and Costa Rican initiatives in ecotourism. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Environmental Studies 203 (4) | | Course Title: | Tropical Ecology | | Course Description: | | Students will learn about the interaction between earth and land
and how this interaction affects our life and the stability of the
planet. Students will gain an insight into basic ecological concepts,
natural environments, organisms and their interactions,
and about human impacts on the environment. Emphasis will be
given to the study of the most relevant tropical ecosystems such
as: tropical rainforest, cloud forests, coral reefs and mangroves. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Environmental Studies 204 (4) | | Course Title: | Tropical Marine Biology | | Course Description: | | The course studies the balance between ecosystems and human
stress and demands on the constantly changing marine environment.
All field trips are mandatory. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Environmental Studies 205 (4) | | Course Title: | Environmental Awareness and Sustainable Development | | Course Description: | | This course considers current worldwide problems in natural
resources management and conservation, and their effects on
sustainable development efforts in tropical countries. Current
issues that condition the possibility for development such as
poverty, global warming, deforestation and potable water will be
analyzed. It presents a multidisciplinary approach to environmental
issues that pertain to the concept of sustainable development
and its applicability. | | | Course Code and Credits: | History 230 (4) | | Course Title: | Costa Rican Health Care System | | Course Description: | | The unique health care system in Costa Rica has achieved excellent
health indicators. This course focuses on the history and
development of the public health care system within the context
of the Costa Rican sociopolitical and economic situation. Strong
emphasis on the mechanics of the system, its strengths and
weaknesses. A third objective, of fundamental importance in
order to understand this system, is the study of Costa Rica as
a tropical country. Students will learn about the prevention and
transmission of relevant tropical diseases. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Physical Therapy 202 (4) | | Course Title: | Introduction to Physical Therapy | | Course Description: | | Introduction of the basic concepts of human anatomy, an overview
of the most common injuries and illnesses that require
physical therapy, and different tools and methods used in treatment.
The course consists of lectures on theoretical concepts,
and also laboratory practice, offering students a hands-on experience
of the different techniques given during lectures. At the end
of the course, students will have general knowledge of various
areas of expertise, and of techniques such as massage therapy,
electrotherapy, and therapeutic exercises. The course lasts 60
hours. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Politics 250 (3) | | Course Title: | Human Rights in Latin America | | Course Description: | | A particular emphasis will be given to the case of Costa Rica,
giving students an opportunity to explore the development of
human rights in the following areas: women’s rights, children’s
rights, HIV/AIDS, the CAFTA agreement and labor rights, indigenous
groups and human rights, disability and age issues, and
the prison environment. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Politics 255 (3) | | Course Title: | International Relations in Latin America | | Course Description: | | The course will analyze the aspects of economic integration,
globalization and conditions for a successful integration between
economies. The effects of free trade in the region as well as the
effects of protectionism will also be discussed. There will be a
special emphasis on foreign investments and joint ventures in
Latin America. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Psychology 320 (3) | | Course Title: | Health Psychology | | Course Description: | | The World Health Organization defines health as being “a state
of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Based on this definition,
the concepts of health and illness have changed. Nowadays,
health care professionals have to tackle the health from a bio-psycho-
social concept. For this reason, it is extremely important for
health care professionals (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, just
to mention some) to have general information about Health Psychology,
which studies how biology, behavior, and social context
influence health and illness. In this way, health care professionals
can have an integral approach to the patients under their treatment.
This course addresses some of the most common topics
pertinent to practice in the health care professions. Prerequisite:
students must have taken other Health Sciences courses. | |
Literature Courses - taught in Spanish | Literature Courses - taught in Spanish | | | Course Code and Credits: | Literature 356 (3) | | Course Title: | Topicos Selectos en Literatura Comparada/Select Topics of Comparative Literature | | Course Description: | | This course covers the fundamental principles of poetry, narrative
(short stories and novels) and drama. The texts have been selected
in order to make comparisons and interest both literature
students and students of Spanish as a foreign language. Taught
in Spanish. Prerequisite: 2 years of college Spanish. | | | Course Code and Credits: | Literature 430 (3) | | Course Title: | Lecturas Selectas de la Literatura Latinoamericana/Select Readings: Latin American Literature | | Course Description: | | This survey course provides a panorama of outstanding classical
and contemporary works, authors, genres or major literary currents
in Latin America. Authors include Borges, Loynaz, Mistral,
Neruda, Paz, Rossi, Garcia Marquez and Carpentier. Taught in
Spanish. Prerequisite: 2 years of college Spanish. | |
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