Madrid, Spain

All students register for a total of two course units (c.u.)*. Course offerings are subject to change. The minimum requirement to participate in the program is successful completion of SPAN 0400, 0305, 0340 (or equivalent) by the start of the program.

Advanced Spanish 1

SPAN 1000 (1 c.u.)

This course is designed to develop students’ communicative abilities in Spanish as well as their knowledge of Hispanic cultures and societies. Students practice communication through speaking, listening, reading, and writing. All activities are highly interactive and focus mainly on speaking and listening. Students must have fulfilled the language requirement to enroll in this course.

Foundations of Spanish Culture and Civilization

SPAN 1300 (1 c.u.)

A general introduction to the study of Spanish culture, this course is designed to help students understand the historical foundations of contemporary Spanish society, its values, and its institutions. The focus is on the main events of Spanish history and the origins and continuity of social and political institutions from pre-modern Spain up to the beginning of the modern era. This course is offered in the Penn-in-Madrid summer program.

Modern and Contemporary Spanish Literature

SPAN 3430 (1 c.u.)

This course, which complements SPAN 3500, will introduce students to the intersectionality of the main literary, historical, and social currents in modern and contemporary Spain

Madrid: Art and Society

(Term title for Studies in Modern and Contemporary Spanish Culture)

SPAN 3500 (1 c.u.)

This course offers a survey of Spanish modern and contemporary art history, with a special focus on Madrid. (Additionally, we will see some architectonic and artistic examples in various other Spanish cities that students are likely to visit, such as Barcelona, Sevilla, or Toledo). Its main objective is to provide students with a useful tool to explore and understand the city in which they will be living and studying during these weeks. As an introduction, we will examine Madrid’s origins and its important mannerist, baroque, and neoclassic heritage, framing the transformation of the city into the kingdom’s capital during the Hapsburg and early Bourbon reigns. But the core of our course will be the 19th and 20th centuries: Romanticism, Real-Naturalism, Modernism, the Avant-Garde, the impact of the Franco dictatorship on Spanish arts, and its later evolution after the return to constitutional monarchy in 1975. Students will have a very active role in the development of the course, both inside and outside the classroom –touring and reporting on neighborhoods, museums, and important landmarks.

Students will live in apartment-style housing.

Tuition and fees are subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and may change without notice. The tuition and fees below reflect rates for summer 2025. 

• Tuition for summer 2025: $5,396/c.u. General fee: $466. Total: $11,258
• Program fee for summer 2025: $3,450
  • Penn Summer Abroad deposits ($500) will be credited to students’ accounts when final program costs are posted
  • Includes administrative costs, accommodation including kitchen, and all group activities and excursions
  • Program fee does not include airfare

Download: Estimated Cost Sheet for 2025 (PDF)