The academic program is comprised of Spanish language courses, topical courses taught in English, plus Latin American literature taught in Spanish. Students must take Spanish language but have the option of also taking one course taught in English or one literature course taught in Spanish.
Attendance is mandatory, and students are only allowed to have one excused absence. If a student is absent more than one day, he/she will automatically fail the course and lose the academic credits.
Grades No AIFS participant is permitted to take a course without receiving a letter grade. Pass/Fail grade options are not available.
Transcripts will be provided by Veritas University.
Courses are tentative and subject to change.
Spanish Language Courses
These courses will be taught during morning sessions for a total of 80 hours (4 credits). Students will be placed into the appropriate level depending on a written test taken online 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 two to four 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 six 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. | |
Environmental Studies Courses
These courses will be taught in afternoon sessions 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 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. Certified divers may pay a $100 fee in order to complete two optional immersions in each field trip (4 tanks). | |
| 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: | 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 the Economic Integration, globalization and conditions for a successful integration between economies and the effects of free trade in the region as well as the effects of protectionism. There will be a special treatment on foreign investments and joint ventures in Latin America. | |
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. | |