University of Dallas News

Issue date: 9/23/08 Section: News

The renewal of the Spanish Program, begun in the Fall of 2006, is almost complete. This renewal has included "upgrading" our study-abroad opportunities in Spain and Mexico. Rather than partnering with language institutes, UD is now sending or accompanying students to accredited Catholic universities.


Avila, Spain

In 2007 and this past summer, two small groups of UD Spanish students went to the walled medieval city of Avila, in Castile, to study at the Universidad Católica de Avila (UCAV).

In this four-week program during the month of July, students take two courses (six credits). Possibilities include courses in language skills, literature and Hispanic civilization. Business Spanish is offered if enough students request it.

The jewel in the crown of the curriculum is a course in the writings of the two most famous Spanish mystics of the Renaissance, St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross, who were from Avila. UCAV places such an emphasis on this course that it offers an English and a Spanish section. UD accepts the Spanish version for credit toward a Spanish concentration or major. In recent summers, this section of the course on the Carmelite mystics was taught by a friendly and learned Carmelite priest from South America.

Students stay in various residences scattered around the little city. The program includes a number of excursions, including one to Madrid and one to Segovia to see the famous Roman aqueduct and the picture-perfect medieval castle. The schedule allows ample time to explore Avila and to take either buses or trains to interesting places in the area, such as the Monastery-Palace at El Escorial.

The founder and co-director of the summer program in Avila is a UD alumna from the seventies, Prof. Maria Stella Ceplecha. Several other teachers have UD connections.

Dr. Pérez-Bernardo, who spends part of the summer an hour from Avila, was on hand both times to help with registration on the first day of class. This year, she also taught the English version of the course in mystic literature for students not earning Spanish credits. Hence, she commuted to Avila a few days a week, and was able to look in on the students from UD.

I arranged to be in Avila this year when our Spanish students arrived, and led them on a walking tour of the city, placing emphasis on Avila's living tradition that began to develop two thousand years ago when the Iberian Peninsula was part of the Roman Empire.


Puebla, Mexico

This past summer, Dr. Francisco Iñiguez took the first group of Spanish students to Puebla, Mexico and returned very pleased. Thirteen UD students from Irving joined others from universities in Louisiana and Oklahoma for an intensive five weeks in May and June. They studied at the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, or UPAEP, located in the historic district of Puebla de los Angeles. This beautiful colonial city has grown to over 2 million inhabitants.

UPAEP'S rigorous academic program also calls for all students to take two courses from offerings in language skills, literature and other disciplines. The schedule in Puebla is intense. Mornings are dedicated to class and study at the university. Afternoons are spent in group activities that run the gamut from guided walking tours to see dazzling baroque churches, visits to a factory and an orphanage, to workshops at school to learn to cook some typical dishes from Puebla.

The summer program also includes excursions to Mexico City and various pre-Columbian archeological sites. One of the most fascinating jaunts allows students to explore the largest pyramid in Mexico, located at Cholula.

In Puebla, students stay with families: one student per house.

Photographs from this summer's group and more information about the study opportunity in Puebla will be available soon at orientation meetings and on our Spanish Program's webpage.

Dr. Pérez-Bernardo is scheduled to take the second group of students to Puebla in May of 2009.

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