Across the United States, it is clear that Spanish is not just for travelers any more. The popularity of Hispanic culture - art, music, literature, fashion, food, dance, film - and the increased visibility of the Hispanic population in the United States, as well as the importance of mutual understanding and communication between the United States and the Spanish-speaking world, has made obsolete the traditional concept of linguistic and cultural borders.
These trends have made Hispanic linguistic and cultural competence a necessity across a wide range of professions, and the Middlebury Spanish School has adapted to meet these needs. Courses in political culture, instructional technology, second language acquisition, film, and the arts prepare graduate and undergraduate students for travel, study, and work abroad, as well as for increased facility in the Spanish language and grounding in the Hispanic culture here at home. Our goal in both the curriculum and the co-curricular activities is to equip students for the future, through active engagement at all levels of sophistication and across a wide range of areas. In the years during and after the Spanish Civil War, the School was an important bastion of free Spanish thought and discourse. Today it honors its intellectual and cultural heritage with a commitment to academic inquiry and the celebration of language and life throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
The faculty facilitate many co-curricular activities which have become traditional favorites, such as the staging of a zarzuela, various athletic activities, a weekly radio program, film festival, and other events involving music, dance, and comedy. Visitors to the campus also provide highlights to the cultural curriculum; a full complement of writers, artists, musical groups, and lecturers provide additional opportunities for linguistic and cultural exploration. In addition, each summer the faculty and the students enrich the Hispanic-centered environment with activities geared towards individual needs and interests, such as foto-conversación and phonetics workshops for beginning students, creative writing groups, mentorship programs between graduate and undergraduate students, and cooking and dance classes. In the words of one student, "I love the mixture of language, culture, literature, and professional preparation, where one can concentrate in one particular area or experience courses from a wide variety of areas. The range of activities and the diversity of the people made for an impressive experience. I wish there were more time to enjoy and participate in everything!"
The palabra de honor (the Language Pledge to speak to other students and faculty only in Spanish throughout the summer), combined with the carefully crafted array of courses and activities, allows for significant and often stunning results in overall communicative competence and academic achievement that substantially exceed the impact of ordinary coursework. The seven-week intensive language program provides courses on a variety of learning levels, each of which conveys the equivalent of a full year's college instruction—often more—as students literally live the language throughout each day. The six-week graduate program offers students the opportunity to earn an M.A. or a D.M.L. degree through rich and varied offerings in the fields of linguistics and second language acquisition, literature, history, and international affairs, as well as through courses covering a broad spectrum of artistic expression in the Spanish-speaking world. Also of note is a series of professional preparation courses for teachers of Spanish, including courses on technology for integration into language instruction.
The School in Spain offers exciting and comprehensive academic programs for undergraduates who wish to spend their junior year in Madrid or in Getafe, Logroño, or Segovia, and for graduate students who desire to obtain their M.A. degree with an intensive summer at Middlebury followed by a dynamic and academically sophisticated year in Madrid. For those who opt to earn the M.A. through four summers of residency, Spanish School students may spend one of those summers at our campus in Guadalajara, Mexico. This program offers a strong academic component parallel to that of the Vermont campus, as well as the added advantages of homestay with Mexican families and increased opportunities for linguistic and cultural exploration.
"The true secret to the 89 years of success and growth in the Spanish School is the passion of its students," says program director Susan Carvalho. "The relevance of our curriculum and the challenges of the program attract top students who are eager to maximize their experience, to soak up everything they can about the Hispanic past and the Hispanic present; and this eagerness in turn creates an environment filled with the excitement of growth and discovery. Our students leave wanting more, and if we are equipping them with the tools as well as the drive to continue their learning beyond the Middlebury boundaries, then we are accomplishing our purpose."
¡Bienvenidos a la sesión de verano del 2007 de la Escuela Española!
Este verano ofrece muchas posibilidades para los estudiantes de la Escuela Española, tanto en la selección de cursos--a nivel graduado y a nivel de pregraduado--como en la variedad de actividades co-curriculares. Los estudiantes vienen a la Escuela Española principalmente para estudiar; sin disminuir este aspecto central del programa, reconocemos también que hay muchas maneras de aprender, y que la inmersión cultural es tan importante, y tan cargada de información valiosa, como lo son las clases académicas. Por eso, hemos armado una gran variedad de actividades, espectáculos, conferencias y presentaciones, y películas representativas de todo el mundo panhispánico:
• Inauguraremos la sesión con un festival español, para celebrar la diversidad del mundo hispano con música, baile, y comida.
• También nos visitará el poeta español Fernando Operé, quien organizará un Festival de Poesía y Música protagonizado por los estudiantes. Los interesados en difundir la expresividad de la poesía hispana podrán participar con sus talentos de declamación, de acompañamiento musical o de danza.
• Como Artista-en-Residencia nos honra con su presencia Aquilino González Barrio, profesor de escultura en Salamanca. Junto con su clase de pregrado sobre el arte del mundo hispano, él ofrecerá un Taller de Arte este verano, para estudiantes de todos niveles con talento, aspiraciones o interés artístico.
• Tendremos el honor de contar con la presencia de varios músicos conocidos. Inauguraremos la sesión con un concierto por el famoso pianista granadino, Francisco Alvarez Díaz.
Habrá otras conferencias y discusiones sobre el teatro, sobre la pedagogía, y sobre otros temas de interés inmediato para nuestros estudiantes.
El objetivo de todas estas actividades, junto con el teatro, el coro, el festival de cine, juegos, bailes, deportes, clubes de cocina, etc., es coordinar el aprendizaje lingüístico y cultural con los intereses que Uds. ya traerán a la experiencia "middleburiana." Cada verano es distinto, no sólo por los cambios de directores y los cambios dentro del profesorado sino, y principalmente, por los nuevos talentos y las nuevas energías que Uds. aporten a los logros del programa. Contamos con su entusiasmo, su dedicación y su energía para que este verano sea uno de los más memorables, para que la "Clase de 2007" deje su marca en la historia de la Escuela, y para que las tradiciones de los 90 años de la Escuela Española continúen revigorizándose.
¡Adelante!
Susan Carvalho
Directora, Escuela Española