Antropología de la Diferenciación y la Estratificación Social (in Spanish at Universidad de Granada): This is by far my most intimidating class. I can say without a doubt, I have the lowest level of Spanish of anyone in the class. However, I am keeping up and learning a ton. As you can tell by the name of the class, Anthropology of the Differentiation and Social Stratification, many of the words are cognates so that helps a lot. The professor is also super willing to work with me and the other students are very understanding and helpful as well. It’s kind of fun being the only American in a class of about 35. Not to mention the subject of the class has been completely enlightening for me. We have covered gender issues and how the effect how our society is structured and now we are moving on to social class. Don’t tell my parents or my advisor, but the class almost makes me want to go into the social sciences. 😉
Mediterranean Ecology (in English): This class is awesome, especially since we get to go on the best field trips. During class and lectures we talk about what abiotic (non-living) conditions make the mediterranean area unique and how plants and animals have adjusted to cope with those conditions. During the field trips, we examine the plants, animals, and geological structures we learned about in class. For example, we got to see Spanish Badlands! And one of the driest places in all of Europe, called Cabo de Gato.
Islamic Civilization before 1492 (in Spanish): Most Americans know the date 1492 as the date “Columbus sailed the ocean blue” from our nursery rhymes. However, that is also a very important date in Spanish history because that was the year the last of the Muslims were pushed out of Southern Spain or Al-Andalus (where Andalusia gets its name). This class is a quite comprensive cover of Islamic history, with special emphasis on its effects on Andalusia. Our professor also leaves open time to discuss current events that relate to the class which is very enlightening as well.