Study Abroad (SABR1-UC)

This intensive course aims to investigate two separate media topics in Cuba that are connected by the necessity of careful use of resources in both media production and agriculture practices. We will witness Cuban culture that by economic necessity and political design pursued its own stylistic and sustainable paths. Can Cuba teach us ways to live more sustainably with the careful use of our resources? In Havana, we will work with a young designer and learn about artist communities from a curator. They will introduce us to their artistic community. Students will learn about the role of artists in political communities and personal street art in Havana. Traveling to rural Cuba, we will see examples of sustainable agriculture and the protection of biodiversity that were necessitated by shortages, but are now embraced as exemplary. Your observations will be documented in a blog, in photographs, and a video to be presented at the end of the class.

This trip-seminar will explore the rich historical mosaic of the Italian peninsula that inspired and guided the artists, architects, engineers, statesmen, popes, salaried-workers, and women, toward naturalism and human dignity, thus, setting the stage for the modern world. The cities of New York, Florence and Siena are an incomparable stage for this intensive interdisciplinary seminar on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Most lectures will be delivered in Tuscany at artistic, historical, and monumental sites, as well as in galleries and museums, churches and piazze. Extended study tours to Florence, Siena, Volterra, Pienza, Spoleto, Orvieto, San Gimignano, Assisi, and Perugia will be taken. We will focus on central issues and ideas that comprised the consciousness of the masters of aesthetics of the Middle Ages and Italian Renaissance and their passion for beauty. Artistic and literary expressions essentially embedded in the realms of metaphysics and society, sometimes become indelible by their transformation of pure thought into a pattern of human behavior. Students must be covered by health insurance prior to traveling abroad.

This trip to Spain will explore the influence of Muslim civilization on Medieval Spain. The contribution of Muslim Spain to the preservation of classical learning during the Dark Ages, and to the first flowerings of the Renaissance, has long been recognized. Not only did Muslim Spain gather and preserve the intellectual content of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, it also interpreted and expanded upon those civilizations, and made a vital contribution of its own in so many fields of human endeavor - in science, astronomy, mathematics, algebra, law, history, medicine, pharmacology, optics, agriculture, architecture, theology, music. The first part of the course will be conducted in New York, where some lectures will be delivered in situ, at cathedrals, museums, and cloisters. The second part of the course will be conducted in Spain during Spring Recess. Most lectures will be delivered in Spain at artistic, historical, and monumental sites, as well as in galleries and museums, mosques, synagogues, churches and archaeological locations. Extended study tours to Toledo, Seville, Cordoba, and Granada will be taken. Through lectures and discussion sessions this course will examine the impact of Muslim civilization on 11th and 12th century Iberian Peninsula. The class will also explore the influence of individuals like Averroes, Maimonides, and Alfonso El Sabio on the Spanish medieval period.

Now in its 16th season, this program is a thrilling experience for anyone who loves theater. In the morning, learn about the history of Great Britain's exciting theater scene from World War II until the present—the golden age when audiences were introduced to some of the world’s most influential playwrights. In the evening, attend new productions in London's West End and the occasional off-West End and/or Fringe playhouses (at least nine productions). Previous classes were the first to see such award-winning international hits as War Horse; One Man, Two Guvnors; Twelfth Night featuring Mark Rylance; and the critically acclaimed play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Areas Covered -The history of post-World War II British theater -More than a dozen major playwrights and more than 20 plays -The present-day theater scene and its influence on U.S. theater