Academics

Your academic experience abroad is going to be very different from home. Working under the policies and processes of the local institution, you may find a lot less structure, or a lot more.

Courses and Credit Approval

  • CASA Sevilla has a page with a lot of information about courses and activities with direct links to lists of classes by major offered in the fall or spring and a link to find syllabi. 
  • For assistance in selecting courses, see your faculty or college advisor. (Note: You may earn elective, distributional, minor or major credit depending on your major and college.)
  • To discuss program fit, such as program type, expectations, level of structure/independence, or to compare options, get advice from Global Learning advisors and returned students. 
  • Complete the Proposed Course of Study form that is part of the Global Learning application for a record of how your courses will count for credit at Cornell.

Academic Program in Seville

A typical semester course load includes:

Más allá de los estereotipos: Encuentros con la historia, sociedad, lengua y cultura de Sevilla
Unique to this program, the Más allá de los estereotipos provides a structured way to assist students in setting and achieving their personalized learning goals. This seminar provides individualized language instruction, preparation for university study at the University of Seville, specialized field trips, and placements with partner community organizations.

Más allá de los estereotipos runs for several weeks before classes begin at the University of Seville and continues in a condensed form throughout the academic semester. During the semester, students spend 2-4 hours a week with a community organization and then meet as a group to reflect and share learning experiences. Community organizations vary, but have included social service agencies, community radio, a local hospital, urban garden, and bilingual education. At the end of the semester, summarize their learning goals and achievements in a portfolio and individual research project.
 

The University of Seville

All students matriculate at the University of Seville where they have the opportunity to meet local students, experience a new academic system, and study a large variety of disciplines in the different "facultades" of this university of nearly 70,000 students.

Established in 1502 by royal warrant, the University of Seville is one of the oldest universities in Spain. Today, the University boasts an enrollment of more than 70,000 students divided between seventeen facultades across several campuses. The main university building--in central Seville and convenient to the program center--houses the facultades of history and geography and philology, the principal schools in which program students are most likely to take courses. This building was once a tobacco factory--the same one where the heroine in Bizet's opera Carmen was employed.

Academic Overview

CASA-Sevilla is a unique multi-dimensional program designed to integrate linguistic, social, cultural, historical and artistic study and experiential learning.  Students achieve this through taking both American-style and regular Spanish university courses, though learning about Spanish culture and society by living with families in the local community, by working in community organizations, and through educational tours. Students receive strong, individualized linguistic support, with staff and faculty attending closely to the student’s personal learning goals. These individual learning goals are ultimately summarized in a portfolio and individual research project as a capstone for the program’s Seminario Cultural.

Academic Policies

  • All courses in Spanish
  • Take the equivalent of 15 Cornell credits (5 courses) for a full semester, even if it is possible to take fewer and still graduate on time
  • Complete all the academic work and stay until the end of the program, defined as the last officially-sanctioned exam for any course you take abroad (Fall: right before winter break; Spring, no earlier than June 1)

Registration and Grades

  • You will be registered at Cornell and will earn credit for approved coursework for your semester/year study abroad
  • Decisions on the final allocation of credit are made upon successful completion of the course (equivalent of a “C” or higher—all courses for a letter grade)
  • Grades will appear on the Cornell transcript in the same format as they are recorded on the original transcript generated by the study abroad program or university. Grades are not factored into the Cornell GPA