Program components

Pre-mini-term Seminar

 

A 10-week seminar was held at Union in the spring term of 2003. The seminar sections were held on Tuesdays, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., and team taught by Professors Moyano and Traver.  Guest lectures were given by Kosta Bidoshi and Tom Jewell. Through lectures and previously assigned readings and other work, the students learned

    ---background material on the history and culture of

         southern Spain

                     ---about digital mapping and Geographical Information

                         Systems

                     ---how to create and modify digital maps and to create

                         web pages

and developed the following deliverables:

           ---a layered GIS map using the ArcMap software

                     ---a team proposal and plan for further research

                         during the mini-term.

 

Weekly Schedule

 

The following table illustrates topics and assignments for the seminars as included in the mini-term web page http://doc.union.edu/Spain/index2003.html :

 

Date	Topic	Assignment Due
April 8	Introductions, Project background, Review of "The Soul of Spain" video, quiz	View "The Soul of Spain" video and be prepared for discussion and quiz on the material.
April 15	Culture, Culture Shock, Spanish culture, History of Spain, Roman Spain, Al-Andalus	View "Roman Spain" and review handout for quiz on the material. Bring paragraph about NG article
April 22	History of Spain, Roman architecture, Islamic Spain, Jewish Spain, Christian Spain,	View "Islamic Spain" and review handout for quiz on the material.
April 29	Introduction to digital mapping, examples, introduction to ArcView - Presentation by Kosta Bidoshi	Form teams.
May 6	ArcView: Attribute table, selection, shapefiles, layers, features - Important ArcView concepts	View "Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Spain" video. Bring ZIP disk to seminar
May 13	Roman Architecture and Infrastructure (Prof. Jewell) ArcView: Adding features	View "The Arch - The Triumph of Mathematics and Architecture" video.
May 20	ArcView training, Web page development, project work	Assignment due 5/27
May 27	Coordinate Systems, Projections, Metadata, Labeling, Project work	Quiz: ArcView definitions
June 3	Project work	Project Proposal due June 6.

 

Team Formation

 

Teams were formed such that each team contained students with language, computer, and research skills. Time periods in Cordoba’s history were assigned as follows:

 

 

Mini-term in Spain

Lectures and site trips

 

While at the University of Córdoba, daily lectures in the classroom, and at the historical sites, were conducted by professors in different disciplines.  Below is a day-to- day, detailed program schedule for the entire duration of the mini-term (June 30^th – July 20^th). 

Visits to other cities in southern Spain

The program also includes visits to other cities, such as Toledo, Seville, and Granada, which share similar history and characteristics with Córdoba, and which are key to the understanding of the area of study. Tours of the most important sites in each city were arranged.

Mentors

Five Spanish students, in their last year of their social sciences and humanities studies, were selected to work with our students during the mini-term.  They were divided among the five different teams as facilitators and mentor/guides of each group’s research of historical sites and of the pertinent information in archives and libraries.

 

Mini-Term Program Schedule

Monday, June 30th

            -Arrival to Madrid

            -Dinner and overnight at hotel

 

Tuesday, July lst

            -Breakfast at the hotel

            -All day tour of Madrid (lunch included)

            -Dinner and overnight at hotel

 

Wednesday, July 2nd

            -Breakfast at the hotel

            -Departure for Toledo (lunch and brief visit)

            -Departure for Cordoba and Colegios Mayores (room assignments and

              meeting with University representative and tutors)

 

Thursday, July 3rd – Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UC (by the Mosque)

            -8:30-l0:10:   Lectures on archeology in Córdoba.

            -10:10-10:30: Break

            -10:30-  2:00: Lectures on archeology in Córdoba

            -Lunch and break – Colegios

            - 7 p.m. Group work with tutors

 

Friday, July 4th!! – Law School – UC

            -9:30-1:00: Spain in the XXI C. and Spain in the European Community

            -Lunch and break – Colegios

            -7:30 Review/plan projects with Union professors and UC tutors

 

Saturday, July 5th and Sunday, July 6th

            -Work with tutors in the city as necessary to complete project

 

Monday, July 7th – At the Office of Urbanism, City of Cordoba

            -8:30-10:  Lecture to prepare for field work

            -10-2 :     Field work/visit of the city of archeological monuments

                              (some of these are not opened to the general public yet!)

            -Lunch and break – Colegios

            -7:30-9:30 – (Basement of Plaza de la Corredera)

            Information Systems – Applications to the work on the archeological

            patrimony of the city

 

Tuesday, July 8th – At the Office of Urbanism, City of Córdoba

            -8:30-2:00:  Lectures on Roman and Islamic Archeology

            -Lunch and break – Colegios Mayores

            -7:30-9:30 – Basement of the Plaza de la Corredera

            Information Systems – Applications to the work on the archeological

            patrimony of the city.

 

Wednesday, July 9th – Central Office of Research Support – UC

-9:30-1:00 – Environmental Applications of GIS and Remote Sensing in Andalucia

            -Lunch and break – Colegios

            -7:30 Review/plan projects with Union professors and UC tutors

 

Thursday, July 10th – Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UC (by the Mosque)

-9:00-1:00:  A Socio-Cultural Vision of North American and Spanish Literature

-Lunch and break - Colegios

-7:00 – Group work with tutors

 

Friday, July 11th – Filmoteca Andaluza

-9:00-11:45- Spanish Cinema\

-11:00-1:00- Viewing of “Bienvenido Mr. Mashall”

-Lunch and break

-7:00-9:00 – Viewing of “Los amantes del Círculo Polar”

 

Saturday, July 12th and Sunday, July 13th

 

Monday, July 14th – Facultad Politécnica Superior, UC

            -9:00-12:30 Maps of Urban Noise – A Practical Experience

            -Lunch and break

            -7:30 Meeting with Union professors, tutors, and Cristina to review plans for

            project completion and oral presentation preparation during the next two

            days

 

Tuesday, July 15th and Wednesday, July 16th

            -9:30-2:00 – Preparation for group oral presentations (with tutors,

professors, etc.)

 

Thursday, July 17th – Colegios Mayores

-9:30 - Group oral presentations to Union and UC professors and staff, tutors, etc.

            -8:00 – Host farewell/thank you party for professors, staff and tutors at UC

 

Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19th

            -To Granada and Seville

        

Sunday, July 20th – End of Mini-Term

 

 

Completion of Project

 

Post-return work at Union included the completion of their team research project, final modifications of digital maps and web pages. This work will culminate with team presentations at the Steinmetz Symposium this spring term.

 

Grading was determined as follows:

 

Component	Weight
Seminar assignments and quizzes	25%
Project proposal	10%
Oral presentation in Spain	10%
Mini-term journals	25%
Final project	30%