91精品

May 23rd, 2018   |   SIT Study Abroad

SIT鈥檚 new Spain program examines the movements and ideas re-shaping the European Union

With SIT鈥檚 new program in Spain, you鈥檒l live in fascinating Bilbao and explore the ideas fueling independence movements in Europe. Spain: Policy, Law, and Regional Autonomy in Europe is centered in Basque country and also takes you to Edinburgh, Scotland, to study the push there for separation from the United Kingdom.

The program explores some of the major ideas and movements motivating large-scale changes in the European Union. It looks at Spain as a case study for emergence of movements toward autonomy within nation states, questioning the future of the nation-state model itself.

鈥淭here is a change underway in Europe. The recent Catalonian independence movement is the same kind of movement we saw earlier in Scotland,鈥� said Said Graiouid, SIT Study Abroad dean for the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. 鈥淪cotland chose not to leave the UK, but the same dynamics are part of independence debates in Belgium鈥檚 southern part region and in northern Italy.鈥�

The program will examine how European laws make these movements more complex, involving regions within nations as well as the broader European Union. Those laws have so far had unusual consequences, said Graiouid. 鈥淚n Kosovo, there was a unilateral declaration of independence. The European Union said it wasn鈥檛 going to interfere, so Kosovo is still hovering in a limbo state, autonomous but not really part of the EU.鈥�

Graiouid said the program is a particularly good fit for students considering careers in government, policy advocacy, public relations, international development, and more.

What鈥檚 more, it will feature some remarkable sights. In Barcelona, there is the renowned and idiosyncratic architect Antonio Gaudi鈥檚 monumental, unfinished Basilica de la Sagrada Familia and the city鈥檚 famous soccer club. Fans of Game of Thrones can walk the medieval city of Girona, where much of the show鈥檚 sixth season was filmed, and visit San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, home to the eighth-century San Pelayo church, the set for many of the epic scenes of season seven.

In nearby France, you鈥檒l visit the spectacular French Basque cities of Biarritz, Bayonne, and Henday and enjoy French Basque architecture, food, and beaches.

During the program鈥檚 stay in Scotland, you can experience the wild Highlands region, a landscape that has inspired works from Shakespeare鈥檚 Macbeth to Harry Potter and epic movie scenes for Braveheart, James Bond films, and others. In the Highlands, you鈥檒l also see Loch Ness, home, at least according to some, to a famous aquatic monster.

Click here to find out more and apply now.