Hamilton College Academic Year in Spain

Introduction

 The Hamilton College Academic Year in Spain was conceived in recognition of the continuing need and importance of extended study abroad. Through personal contact with the culture, language, ideals and customs of another nation, American students may escape the insularity and provincialism of their own environment. During this process, they may gain an intelligent perspective on international affairs and a respect for and an understanding of another people. In a world where dialogue and open communication are more necessary than ever before, study abroad continues to represent a significant means of acquiring tolerance toward others and fresh insights into the attitudes and institutions of one's own country.

We believe, furthermore, that the Hamilton College program has proven to be unique. It has operated in recognition of the need for study arrangements in Spain whose academic standards are commensurate with those maintained by the finest American institutions. Although the program takes full advantage of the best facilities and teaching staff of the Spanish academic community, it brings to Spain the administrative procedures and pedagogical philosophy that have been employed so successfully at Hamilton.

Orientation, Fall '94, northern coast

In accordance with the goal of academic excellence, students are able to enroll in small classes where consistent attendance and diligent preparation are required and where their professors are willing and eager to talk to them on an individual basis. Spanish must be spoken at all times, both in and outside of class; all students are required to sign a pledge to this effect before their arrival in Madrid. And, finally, the program?s administrative independence has been secured from the potential hazards of operating under the auspices of the Spanish university system.

A further distinguishing aspect of the program is the careful, individual guidance of students in both academic and non-academic areas. This relates particularly to: (1) the extra efforts that are made to find homes well-suited for student lodging; (2) the activities that are planned to ensure ample contact with Spanish students; (3) the arrangement of independent study projects in lieu of regular courses; and (4) a general attitude of flexibility with regard to the needs and desires of individual students. We take pride in the fact that the students and a full-time director-in-residence are able to develop a close, cordial and understanding relationship.

The program is based in Madrid, where the cultural, educational, social and geographic benefits are optimal. It is our conviction that many students would become dissatisfied with a reduction of such advantages which would be the case if the program operated out of one of the smaller, provincial towns.

The program headquarters, the Centro Universitario de Estudios Hispánicos de Hamilton College, is located on a quiet, tree-lined location within the Madrid University area and around the corner from our affiliate Universidad de San Pablo. This is unquestionably the most promising and exciting development in the operation of HCAYS since its founding in 1974. With the move comes the following significant benefits: (1) an avoidance of any kind of American, English dominated atmosphere, (2) immediate and full access to the intellectual, cultural, and social life of the Spanish student environment, (3) additional space for social activities, computer use, outdoor relaxation, academic facilities and administrative offices, (4) complete control over the hours of operation of the HCAYS office and facilities, (5) a significant improvement in classroom furniture, technological support, and the surrounding physical environment itself, (6) an increase in options for future expansion, interchange with Spanish universities of classroom use, visiting faculty, and possible graduate participants, and (7) convenient and rapid public transportation to all parts of the capital.

Madrid is the intellectual, cultural and geographic center of Spain. Around its eighteenth-century core is a bustling modern European city of some three million inhabitants. It is a city of striking contrasts, vibrant and elegant, varied and inexhaustible in its offerings to the American student. Madrid does not reveal itself instantly, but it is understood in time by the patient and inquiring mind. Rising out of a desert-like plateau, yet nearly surrounded by expanses of beautiful mountains, it is but a short distance away from the legacy of Spain?s rich medieval tradition, preserved intact in such ancient cities as Segovia Toledo, Avila, and Alcalá de Henares.

Commentaries by past HCAYS participants can be found in the section "Student Comments."  

An initial idea of how students come to feel about the program and about Spain can be found in a wonderful poem written by a Fall, 2007 student, Fiona Miller.  We are proud to announce that this piece won first prize in the prestigious poetry contest sponsored by APUNE, the Association of American University Programs in Spain.

Me queda un mes
por Carraspear

Cuando salga de aquí
será con las manos llenas, con un corazón
lleno de todas las caras
que se han grabado en mi piel
como tatuajes brillantes que respiran,
estoy estampada, estoy pesada,
con todas las canciones, los cigarrillos,
con todo el paisaje por todas las ventanas
de todos los autobuses, con todas
las calles que corren como ríos
por la ciudad que ha crecido en mi pecho.
Cuando salga de aquí será
con las palabras que ahora constituyen
los límites de mi cuerpo, estoy marcada,
todo me acaricia.  Será con planos
en mis palmas, será con una arquitectura
distinta en mis huesos.  Cuando salga
de aquí, será con humo en mi sangre,
con destellos de fuego
ardiendo en mis ojos.

I Have One Month Left

When I leave here
it will be with full hands, with a heart
full of all the faces
that have engraved themselves in my skin
like brilliant breathing tattoos,
I am branded, I am heavy
with all the songs, the cigarettes,
with all the countryside through all the windows
of all the buses, with all
the streets that run like rivers
through the city that has grown in my chest.
When I leave here it will be
with the words that now designate
the borders of my body, I am marked,
everything touches me.  It will be with maps
in my palms, it will be with a different architecture
in my bones.  When I leave here,
it will be with smoke in my blood,
with points of fire
burning in my eyes.

We are also absolutely delighted to announce that Christa Whitney, a 2007-2008 HCAYS student, wrote the following poem and translation, and earned second place in the APUNE poetry contest:
  
Integración

Día de lluvia.

sudor, ropa mojada
llenan el aire sofocante
entre abrigos, sacados de fondos
negros por lágrimas del invierno
que se ha vuelto sin invitación

entre ojos.
ojos tristes y cansados
entre ojos que esperan su parada
que ya no pueden esperar
para que se escapen
al viento frío que acaban
de escapar

gira el autobus
y se
caen
todos
a un
lado
un cajón cierra de prisa

manos morenas
Extranjeras.
cogen los codos
de una viejita
del barrio Goya
que se cae

los cogen.
y los enderezan.
los ojos se alinean
desde manos y codos
hasta las caras

se miran
se sonríen
se separan
se olvidarán enseguida

pero queda
una huella
del azul del 
día de verano
sobre el agua de Gilbraltar


Integration

Rainy day.

sweat, clothes, wet
filling the air, suffocating
between jackets, dragged out
black with tears of winter
returned without invitation

between eyes.
sad and tired eyes
between eyes that wait for their stop
that can't wait
to escape
to the cold wind
just escaped

the bus turns
and
they
all fall
to one 
side
a drawer closed quickly

dark hands
Foreigners.
catch the elbows
of an old lady
from Goya
as she falls

they catch them.
set them right.
eyes trace
from hands and elbows
to faces

they look
they smile
they separate
they'll forget immediately

but left behind
a footprint
blue as
a summer day
over the water of Gibraltar


                                         
The program is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.