Study Abroad in Barcelona: Courses
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Recommended credits are shown in parentheses. Course descriptions for all Spanish language courses are available on the AIFS website. Courses are subject to change at the discretion of the UPF.
Students taking Spanish language should seek pre-approval for several levels of Spanish from their home institution in order to ensure that they receive credit for the level that they are placed into following the placement test.
ECTS: Universitat Pompeu Fabra awards ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits. The number of class hours and ECTS credits will be shown on the transcript to allow each student’s home institution the ultimate decision in the awarding of U.S. credit. Recommended U.S. semester credits next to each course are based on 15 classroom hours per semester credit and are not a conversion of ECTS credits. Students should consult with their university advisors prior to participating in the program to have course credit pre-approved and ensure that they are taking the appropriate amount of credits.
Barcelona Program for Interdisciplinary Studies (BaPIS)
Students on this program can take up to 15 credits.
Apart from Spanish language courses, all courses are taught in English unless otherwise stated. Students who wish to take courses taught in Spanish should ideally have completed 4 semesters of college level Spanish.
ART HIST 51607 (3) | Contemporary Spanish Art
Art/Science 51794 (3) | Art, Mind and the Brain
This course focuses on a solid dialogue between Neurosciences and Humanities by posing crucial questions on sight and aesthetics. If “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, what is behind the eye of the beholder? Are there inescapable rules of Art? Does biology condition what we can experience as art? Does it condition Art and Music? Why is Science counterintuitive? Is the Nature vs. Nurture question a false problem?
The course attempts to frame these questions and more into the current scientific knowledge of the brain. We analyze how sensory systems build up a representation of the world and continue with the question of the foundations of knowledge, the limits of knowledge and the evolutionary roots of belief, linking neurosciences with long lasting obsession in Western philosophy: the grounds of knowledge. Finally, a discussion on the so-called “critical periods” of sensory development and the question of nature and nurture as framed by current biological evidence is carried out as conclusion.
Biology 51797 (3) | From Hipocrates to Personalized Medicine: Healthcare Adapted to Societal Changes
This course will provide an historical perspective between medical practice and Biomedical Science and human societies and will look at how these two areas feed into each other, leading to an increased lifespan of all human populations as well as to the eradication and eruption of new diseases. The course begins with medical practice through the ages and progresses to cover the current medical challenges of a global world and how scientific discoveries since the second half of the 20th Century have shaped medicine.
We will address the technical, ethical, and socio-economic challenges of today’s societies, which have shaped their evolution, including the current COVID-19 pandemic and the different approaches adopted by different countries. We also look at the rise of genetic and regenerative medicine and the possibility of treating patients on a personalized basis and economic aspects of healthcare (biotechnological companies, Big Pharma).
Communication 51805 (3) | The Jews in Spain: History, Heritage and Memory
The course proposes an itinerary through the rich cultural heritage of Hispanic Jews to present day along with interpretative elements to understand the recovery of that heritage and to manage it by analyzing the history of the Jewish people in the Hispanic lands and the interrelations, connections and influences between the Hispanic societies and Judaism, from the Middle Ages to present day. This is a course of history with a distinct interdisciplinary approach. A general contextual overview and an itinerary through the history of the Jews in Spain frame the discussions to follow.
The aim is to delve around a series of selected themes to better understand the boundaries between Spanish Jews and Spanish gentiles from multiple perspectives and across time.
CS 51600 (3) | Barcelona, the City and its History
Film 51803 (3) | Stardom Wars: Controversies on Creativity and Authorship in Spanish Cinema
Gender Studies 51798 (3) | Gender-based Violence and International Protection of Human Rights
It was as recently as 1992 that a UN Committee (the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) asserted that gender-based violence against women was a form of discrimination and a human rights violation and not just a private matter in which the State should not interfere. Since then, a number of instruments and mechanisms have been developed within the UN Human Rights System as well as in regional human rights’ protection systems to address such violence and, in recent years, to also include protection of other persons affected by gender-based violence, in particular, the LGBTIQ+ community.
For this purpose, the historic evolution that led to frame gender-based violence as a human rights violation and analyze the existing instruments and tools available at the international level (both UN and regional) to ensure that states adequately address gender-based violence against women and LGBTIQ+ individuals will be reviewed.
History 51805 (3) | The Jews in Spain: History, Heritage and Memory
The course proposes an itinerary through the rich cultural heritage of Hispanic Jews to present day along with interpretative elements to understand the recovery of that heritage and to manage it by analyzing the history of the Jewish people in the Hispanic lands and the interrelations, connections and influences between the Hispanic societies and Judaism, from the Middle Ages to present day. This is a course of history with a distinct interdisciplinary approach. A general contextual overview and an itinerary through the history of the Jews in Spain frame the discussions to follow.
The aim is to delve around a series of selected themes to better understand the boundaries between Spanish Jews and Spanish gentiles from multiple perspectives and across time. Based on the in-class commentary and analysis of primary sources, film debates and case studies, specific topics will be examined: the perception of the self and the perception of the other; the shaping of a Jewish identity in the Hispanic lands versus the creation of the “Sephardic” cultural construct; the representations of Jews and Judaism; the role played by archetypes in the views on Judaism and Spanish anti-Semitism; and in Modern and contemporary times, the reconfiguration of Jewish identity from Modern Crypto-Judaism to the rising phenomenon of the Sephardic Benei Anusim.
Humanities 51796 (3) | Ethics in a Globalization and Sustainability Context
Although globalization and sustainability have become familiar terms, they are at cross purposes. The way globalization has been conducted with an emphasis on the economic sphere—international trade and cross-border investment flows, has created a series of crises that threaten the ethical values and beliefs of a sustainable society. The primary goal of a business is usually seen as making a profit, however, the path towards achieving this goal can, in many instances, create dilemmas regarding justice, equity and honesty.
On this course we will discuss ethical approaches to global issues that are enhanced by the process of globalization and increasing multiculturalism, e.g. the environment, global citizenship & governance, poverty and inequality, peace and conflict, human rights, health and the effects of technology among others.
Law 51801 (3) | Innovation and the Law: How Technology Changes the Legal System
The course aims to give students a general overview of the core legal institutions, while introducing students to the main legal problems attached to the new technologies. A basic introduction to contracts, property, torts from a comparative perspective will be followed by an explanation of the relevant technologies and their implications in the legal understanding of the core legal topics.
In addition, the course will focus on the current trends of the harmonization process in order to give a common response to technology challenges providing a general overview of the problems arising from the interaction between technology and the law.
MKT 51664 (3) | Global Marketing & Culture of FC Barcelona
Marketing 51804 (3) | The Collectivity Revolution
Math 51792 (3) | Analytics for Social Good
Analytics focuses on transforming data into insights by applying advanced analytical methods, based on mathematics, statistics and artificial intelligence models and algorithms to improve the performance of an organization. On this course, key topics and issues in Analytics will be presented and discussed with a focus on their applications in social, healthcare, sustainable and humanitarian organizations.
In the first part of the course, the analytic tools and methodologies will be introduced. In the second part, case studies from humanitarian, social, health care and environmental organizations (such as NGO humanitarian organizations, social care organizations, public services, hospitals or primary health care institutions) will be presented and discussed.
Science 51795 (3) | Building a Brain
Our brain is the main source of our creativity and, in general, our ability to interact with the world. Major scientific efforts have been made in the last century to understand the mechanisms underlying its operation. These endeavours have revealed an astonishing degree of complexity, involving billions of specialized neurons communicating with each other through trillions of plastic connections. But is that level of complexity necessary for a brain to function?
This course will explore the brain’s minimal requirements, building on both our knowledge of simple organisms such as bacteria and worms, and our age-old attempts to build artificial intelligence systems. We will review the history of artificial intelligence and neuroscience, focusing on the connections that the two fields have had, on and off, over the years. Following the classic maxim of Richard Feynman, “what I cannot create I do not understand”, we will work in teams to attempt to build the simplest possible brain out of interacting components.
Science 51799 (3) | Great Ideas that Have Shaped our World: From the Axial Age to the Robot Revolution
Science 51800 (3) taught in Spanish | Innovación e Inteligencia Artificial en el Gobierno: la transformación creativa de la gobernanza urbana/Innovation and Artificial Intelligence in the Government: the creative transformation of urban governance
Soc 51793 (3) | Anthropocene – How People Are Transforming the Planet
Archaeology has been expressing a growing interest in incorporating future-oriented perspectives and the use of the past in planning a better future. Concern for the issues associated with the Anthropocene debate is a clear example. Scientists have argued that the Anthropocene is a useful concept to denote the measurable impact of humanity on the planet. The study of the Anthropocene proposes a radical reassessment of the role of humanity in the world (past, present and future). How, then, does the Anthropocene concept change the archaeological understanding of human relations with the living environment, and with ecology in a broader sense?
The course involves working on the connections between nature and human beings (socio-ecological dynamics) and the concept of the "entanglement" of societies (as seen through archaeological material), global climate change and environmental change, and our ability to measure and understand these changes.
Sociology 51802 (3) | LGTB+: Exploring Identities and Diversity
This course will navigate the complex and mutating field of gay, lesbian, bisex, trans, intersex and queer studies, exploring its history and development since its inception. The course explores non-hegemonic identities and gender and sexual diversity from many different perspectives: their criminalization, pathologization or their fights for equality and rights. Social, legal, historical, and cultural implications of sexuality, articulating academic and activist perspectives will provide a framework and a context.
Furthermore, to highlight the importance of understanding these topics as non-homogeneous and in an intersectional way students' contributions will be asked for in order to build up an intercultural dialogue based on their own perspectives and geographies. The course aims to establish a dialogue between different positions within society and cultural production (such as cinema, literature, poetry, theatre, etc.) so as to reflect on the implications of visibility for the community and for the different representations of such dissident sexualities and identities.
Spanish language courses
Students wishing to take a Spanish language course take a placement test after arrival in Barcelona. Please contact the AIFS Admissions Officer for course syllabi.
- Español Inicial 51637 (fall)/51643 (spring) (6) Beginner
- Español Preintermedio 51638 (fall)/51644 (spring) (6) Pre-Intermediate
- Español Intermedio 51639 (fall)/51645 (spring) (6) Intermediate
- Español Avanzado 51640 (fall)/51646 (spring) (6) Advanced
- Español Superior 51641 (fall)/51647 (spring) (6) Superior
- Español para hispanohablantes 51642 (fall)/51648 (spring) (6) Spanish for Native Speakers
ESCI-UPF International Business Program
Students on this program can take up to 15 credits.
The International Management course is mandatory. Students must also take at least one additional course from the ESCI-UPF International Business Program.
Students who do not wish to choose all of their elective courses from the International Business Program courses can choose to take two or three courses from the BaPIS Program or Spanish language.
Business 51636 (3) | Doing Business in Europe
Economics 51635 (3) | International Economics
Finance 51633 (3) | International Finance
Finance 51655 (3) | Corporate Finance
Management 51634 (3) (mandatory) | International Management
Download PDF with full program details on all AIFS Spain programs!
Download PDF with full program details on all AIFS Spain, Barcelona programs!