Liberal Arts, Spring 2017, Newsletter III

Spring semester is gone and we wish students had an enriching experience in Barcelona. Here it is some of the activities they did at the last part of the semester.  

Students get inspiration through Service Learning

At the re-entry workshop students were asked to share their best memory of their study abroad experience. Several students assured it was their service learning/community engagement activity they did as part of their CIEE Advanced Grammar, Composition and Conversation II class.

Students at the he service learning project is part of the CIEE Advanced Grammar, Composition and Conversation II class, participated in a service learning project at a local elementary school, Escola Collserola with children from 1^st -6^th  grades.  

Jon from Vanderbilt University brought his guitar and sang songs with 2^nd graders; Nopell from Fordham University practice vocabulary and sang songs with 1^st graders; Cate from Lehigh University did an oral presentation 4^th of July for 4^th graders; Grace from Vanderbilt University showed 5^th graders her abilities in cheerleading; and Gaby from Occidental College talked about California to 6^th graders. Children were thrilled and they were very interested in asking questions about the American society.

After their volunteering students interviewed the school principal and the Academic Committee to learn about the educational system and compare it to the American one. This project is also part of the intercultural competence component that CIEE embraces in our program.

Re-entry Workshop to learn strategies for adjustment back in the States

The last day of the semester, LA students participated in the Re-entry Workshop, a session dedicated to reflect on their experience studying abroad in Barcelona, to understand the re-entry process and challenges, to learn strategies for adjustment and ways to stay globally engaged and how to incorporate their experiences into their daily lives. One of the activities consisted in sharing their best memory of the semester while forming a web between them, symbolizing their interconnection. Some of the best memories of our students shared were related to their experiences living with a host family, meeting new friends and travelling.

In Barcelona, students learned how to appreciate art

Students at the Catalonia and Spain Through the Arts class had to do a video project about their appreciation of art in Barcelona. Professor Raquel Crisóstomo had a contest called BANART and selected the best 3 videos. Here it is an example:

Liberal Arts, Spring 2017 | Catalonia through the Arts from CIEE Barcelona on Vimeo.