CISLA in Spain
One aim of the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA) is to give 糖心TV students the skills to succeed in a globalized world.
So, it was a disappointment when travel restrictions brought on by COVID-19 pandemic prevented most of the 2021-2022 senior CISLA class from being able to do a funded international internship or to study abroad.
But Professors Luis M. Gonz谩lez and Andrea Lanoux, and CISLA staff director Mary Devins, rallied and led 20 of the seniors during spring break, from March 11-20, to Toledo, Spain. Although it didn鈥檛 replace months abroad, the trip 鈥渨as a surprisingly rich and comprehensive international engagement experience,鈥� said Lanoux, CISLA faculty director and Elizabeth S. Kruidenier 鈥�48 professor of Slavic Studies.
Gonz谩lez, CISLA associate faculty director and chair of the Hispanic Studies Department, designed the program along with colleague Gloria Jord谩n Gimen茅z at the University of Castilla la Mancha in Toledo. The program included Spanish, Arabic and French language study, as well as academic lectures by faculty and local experts that focused on the students鈥� research topics, which included human rights, climate change, political polarization, the global economy, women in science, refugees and migrants, and international law.
The trip included an excursion to Madrid and to the town of Consuegra to visit the 12th-century Castle of la Muela.
CISLA graduating senior Daniel Varela 鈥�22, whose majors were Italian studies, Latin American and Latino studies, and international relations, did a remote internship through CISLA with the Mygrants program in Italy, helping immigrants there become entrepreneurs. He said the Spain trip provided a pivotal cohort experience that CISLA students would not have experienced studying abroad by themselves.
鈥淲e were able to dissect Spain from different angles. It was just a whole cultural immersive experience that we were taking together,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust being able to be there 24/7 with each other helped us bridge our relationships that we kind of lost during the pandemic, and actually be able to know who we are together, and as a unit, which I think is really special because we never really got the chance to hang out together during the pandemic.鈥�
Varela said he thought the trip also provided the program input going forward for finding more shared experiences for CISLA students. 鈥淚 think the trip was the pinnacle of how do we do that and how do we do it successfully,鈥� he said.
