Vassar-Wesleyan en Madrid

CURRICULAR OPTIONS at the UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III de MADRID

Courses taught by Spanish faculty for foreign students [1]	Regular UC3M courses
Curso de Estudios Hispánicos (CEH)	Cursos de Humanidades (CH)	Asignaturas de  Grado

 

FACULTADES, TITULACIONES AND THE PLAN DE ESTUDIOS

• Upon entering the university Spanish students enroll in a degree-granting facultad. Throughout their four years at the university nearly all of their courses (asignaturas) will be taken through within their facultad. The plan de estudios outlines the four-year program of instruction that students must follow in order to receive their degree (titulación). As can be seen on the following samples, the plan de estudios is organized according to year (curso) and semester (cuatrimestre). Hence, a first-semester Junior would enroll in courses offered during the "primer cuatrimestre" of "el tercer curso" (or simply "tercero").

   

  Familiarize yourself with the format of these examples of plan de estudios.

  Humanidades: http://www.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/titul_psc/humanidades/plan_estudios

• Economía: http://www.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/titul_psc/eco/plan_estudios
• Sociología: http://www.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/titul_psc/sociologia/plan_estudios
• Comunicación audiovisual: http://www.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/titul_psc/comunicacion_audiovisual/plan_estudios
• Periodismo: http://www.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/titul_psc/periodismo/plan_estudios

Note that any given topic (e.g., history, film studies, philosophy) may be offered in different facultades or departments. The organization of the European/Spanish curriculum differs considerably from what American students are accustomed to. Studying the UC3M web site prior to departing from the US will facilitate greatly your registration in Madrid.

 

EL PROGRAMA / THE COURSE SYLLABUS

The UC3M is exceptional for the access it provides to course syllabi (programas). Links to the programas are available on the plan de estudios for each facultad. Using the programa for "Historia del teatro", a course offered in the spring to 3rd year Humanities students ("tercero de Humanidades, segundo cuatrimestre"), note the following information:

• Obligatoria = this is a requirement for all Spanish students enrolled in this facultad
• Curso: 3º = this is a third-year course
• Créditos: 4 = the course bears four UC3M credits
• Cuatrimestre: 2º = this is a spring term course
• Horas/semana: 3 = the course meets 3 hours per week

 

Other pertinent information follows, such as themes convered, readings, basis for evaluation. Review the format of the Spanish programa using the following examples:

Titulación: Comunicación Audiovisual
Asignatura: Teoría y análisis de la narrativa audiovisual

Titulación: Humanidades
Asignatura: Historia de la revolución científica
Asignatura: Historia del cine
Asignatura: Psicología

Titulación: Derecho
Asignatura: Historia y filosofía política
Asignatura: Relaciones exteriores de la Unión Europea

CURRICULAR OPTIONS at the UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID (UCM)

Students with special needs may choose to enroll in a regular courses offered at theUniversidad Complutense de Madrid. In the past Wesleyan students have enrolled in courses offered through the following facultades o departamentos:

• Bellas Artes (Studio Arts)
• Biología
• Ciencias de la Información / Comunicación Audiovisual (Cine)
• Psicología
• Química
• Filología hispánica
• Geografía e Historia

HOW TO BEGIN YOUR COURSE SELECTION PROCESS

Identify what courses might be of interest to you offered through the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M)'s Curso de Estudios Hispánicos (CEH) "Publicación de horarios": follow links to specific facultades or departamentos to verify the schedule of courses offered for the current semester: http://www4.uc3m.es/horarios-web/publicacion/principal.page The UC3M recently completed the transition to the Grado degree or program of study. The UCM, however, is still in the process of transition to Grado. AS of fall 2011 the first three year courses of study at the UCM will be listed under Grado and the fourth and fifth years will appear under licenciatura. If you experience difficulties, the program staff will be able to help you. "Catálogo de titulaciones de primer y segundo ciclos y grados": Consult the programa (syllabus) for courses of interest by following this to the corresponding licenciatura at the UCM. Follow this link to the “plan de estudios” to identify courses offered at the UCM. Course schedules are sometimes found under the link "docencia" on departamental web pages. Departmental web pages vary greatly at the UCM and may be located by following the appropriate link on one of the following pages: Facultades y Escuelas Departamentos Our office staff in Madrid is prepared to help you identify options at the UCM.

VOCABULARIO BÁSICO

asignatura	a regular university course
curso	academic year: “el curso 2010 - 2011” a program of courses, such as the “Curso de Estudios Hispánicos” a course, such as the “Cursos de Humanidades”
licenciatura	the previous degree that undergraduates aspire to in Spain, roughly equivalent to the American B.A. or B.S. Already phased out at Carlos III.
titulaciones	degree granting programs, such as Derecho (Law), Economía (Economics), Periodismo (Journalism), for instance.
primer ciclo, segundo ciclo	lower and upper divisions; traditionally the “licenciatura” in Spain has been a five-year program of study, encompassing two years of introductory instruction (“general education”), identified as the “primer ciclo”, and three years of more technical instruction, the “Segundo ciclo”. Most titulaciones at the UC3M (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) are four year programs.
cuatrimestre	Each curso in Spain is divided into two cuatrimestres, one beginning in September and ending in February, the second extending from February to June
programa	class syllabus
plan de estudios	the four (or five) year course of study leading to a grado (titulación); the plan de estudios will include required courses and optativas (electives); few if any optativa are allowed in the primer and segundo cursos.
Bologna Accords	an agreement between EU member states that all universities will adopt the same pattern of professional training (typically a three-year undergraduate degree followed by a two-year professional qualification) in order to make qualifications in different member states more comparable. Convergence of course structure is likely to lead to a convergence of assessment systems, in line with the desire to increase mobility.
Erasmus	a mobility (not scholarship) program that allows European students to study abroad, within Europe, for a cuatrimestre (semester) or curso entero (academic year)