Spring Into Spain

The 2016 Spring Break Study Abroad program, called “History and Identity in Spain,” offers students school credit to step outside of the U.S. Participants will explore museums, attend shows, and venture onto excursions in the Spanish towns of Madrid and Granada.

Dr. Pillar Herr, Assistant Professor of History at Pitt-Greensburg, will lead 10 Pitt students on the trip.

“I’m looking for students interested in broadening their world views, getting to know a different world and identity in Spain, and what it means to be Spanish, because being in Madrid is different than in the South,” Herr said. “Spain is a place of multiple identities.”

The academic projects for the one-credit HIST 1745 course include a daily blog, pre-departure reading on the history of Spain, walking tours of old Madrid, and a map quiz of the seven current autonomous provinces.

Academics aside, highlights of the trip include a flamenco show; a tour of the Alcázar of Segovia (the inspiration behind Disney’s castle); the Reina Sofia Museum, Spain’s national museum of 20th century art; and the Royal Chapel of Granada, where the remains of Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II rest.

According to Bradley Miner, the Study Abroad Coordinator at Pitt-Greensburg, any study abroad program requires applicants to have at least a 2.75 GPA, clear judicial record, status as a sophomore or junior, and completion of at least 24 credits on any Pitt campus.

The program begins in March, but the application deadline is November 6. The words of advice Parker has for students interested in applying is: “Do it! Dr. Herr is a spectacular guide and the experience with make you a better, more cultured person.”