Berkley Center

One of the most salient differences I've observed between American and Spanish way of life is the university culture. It has been a challenge getting used to the informality and lack of structure in the Spanish educational system. Both the philosophy behind the educational system and the attitudes of students and professors towards the function of the university have made me consider the value of the American university system when measured against the Spanish system.

Firstly, Spaniards study one subject in depth. There is no direct translation for the word “major” as it is conceived in the American university system. In Spanish, the subject that a student studies at the university level is called a “carrera” (“career”). This implies that upon finishing his or her degree, a student is prepared to work in the field in which he or she studied. A Spanish student has very little freedom to take classes from other subject matters. This approach to a university education has been interesting to compare to Georgetown’s approach of educating the whole person and having general education requirements. As someone who has little idea as to what I want to do as a profession, I would find the pressure to limit myself to a detailed study of one subject matter a bit stifling, especially since I have found that studying different subjects at Georgetown has opened my mind to approaching my studies from different perspectives.

In addition, I've had to adapt to how classes are taught at the large public university that I attend here in Madrid. For example, I took a literature class dedicated to Cervantes last semester, and the professor lectured from a sheet of randomly compiled bullet points that he handed to us every class. There was no dialogue between students and professor in the class. This was quite a contrast from classes I've had on Spanish literature at Georgetown, which were centered on students expressing their ideas about the literature being studied. Although it depends on the professor, in most of the classes I've taken here the professor lectures about his or her views with regard to the subject matter and expresses them in a rather unstructured manner and in a way in which they are not to be challenged. Consequently, during finals last semester, I felt that I needed to have a better grasp of the professor's view of the material, which was often hard to obtain from my scattered notes that attempted to follow the professor's disorganized lecture style, instead of the analytical skills to interpret the material from my own perspective.

With regard to the student body at this large university, I've found it intriguing to observe how they approach their education. On the one hand, the buildings in the university are covered with activist graffiti, and the students seem passionate about their views towards issues like abortion and women's rights. On the other hand, Spanish students have told me that in most classes it is considered ill-mannered to raise your hand in class and challenge what the professor says. He or she is seen as an expert on the subject matter, and his or her opinion is essentially regarded as fact when it comes time for final exams. This change in behavior from outside and inside of the classroom perplexes me, because from the educational system I am accustomed to in the United States, I see the classroom as an ideal place to express my opinion, and just as a professor challenges my opinion, I have the right to challenge his or her opinion.

Overall, the public university system in Spain appears to focus on learning established information in detail, and although there is merit in concrete knowledge, Spanish students are generally not challenged to be creative and think outside of the box, which I also think is an important aspect of a good education. The informality of the campus culture allows for students to express themselves and engage in discussion amongst each other, maybe even more than at Georgetown since the administration seems very uninvolved in the actions of the student body and seems to place little importance on the aesthetic aspect of the campus. However, the classroom environment seems to hinder rather than encourage the development of the student's’ beliefs and ideas, and the students for the most part seem to placidly accept this custom.