Global Cities

This course will explore the fact that today, most brands make their offerings available through multiple distribution channels and demonstrate how a brands channel strategy may also act as a key differentiator. Students will develop an understanding of how brands can distinguish themselves competitively while taking multichannel marketing, managing of channel conflict, disintermediation, and push vs. pull marketing efforts in the channel into consideration. 

This course will introduce students to the dynamic relationship between advertising and society. Students will develop an understanding of the fundamentals of how advertising works; discuss the many ways in which our behaviors and attitudes as human beings can be influenced and impacted (both positively and negatively) by advertising; explore various criticisms of advertising; and apply critical thinking skills in the analysis of selected examples of advertising.

Cities around the world are striving to be ‘global’; Barcelona, the capital of Catalunya, is one of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities in Spain. It is globally-renowned for its art and architecture, possessing no fewer than nine UNESCO-designated ‘world heritage’ sites, and has become a major destination for global tourism. In this interdisciplinary course, students will examine the emergence of this elegant, creative city as Spain’s gateway to the Mediterranean; analyze its history and evolution since its foundation by the Romans; explore the role of population dynamics, industrial change and globalization in shaping the city and the lives of its inhabitants; and investigate the ways in which the interplay of urbanism, politics, and society has addressed challenges of social, political, and technological change in the past and today.

This course will provide a structured approach to media systems, and explore the dynamics of news, politics, and freedom of the press. Students will examine how international media report on ongoing, international crises of global importance; investigate the dynamics governing news media; develop an understanding of why audiences from different cultural spheres perceive news in diametrically opposed ways; and gain an awareness of press repression tools used by some regimes and the courageous journalists who try to circumvent these obstacles. Given the rapidly evolving nature of subjects studied, this syllabus is subject to change.

This course will investigate the creation of contemporary identities through “Spanish” films and cinematic form. Students will critically examine the notion of a “national cinema”; the role cinema plays in constructing our stories; cinema’s impact on shifting ideas of what constitutes the human condition; and where and how issues of gender, sexuality, class, and ethnicity surface in cinematic articulations of the relationship between national identity, global trends, and personal history.

This introductory course is designed for students who have never received formal Spanish instruction or who do not know any Spanish language. Students will develop Spanish communicative proficiency in four key areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing; gain an awareness of Hispanic cultures; and have opportunities to practice Spanish language skills in real-world situations. The instructor will strive to use only Spanish as a means of communication, and students are expected to do the same.

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed Spanish 101 or its equivalent. Students will develop Spanish communicative proficiency in four key areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing; gain an awareness of Hispanic cultures; and have opportunities to practice Spanish language skills in real-world situations. The instructor will strive to use only Spanish as a means of communication, and students are expected to do the same.

This course is designed for students with some prior knowledge of Spanish, who can already use basic words and phrases, and understand simple requests. By the end of this course, Students will have built a solid foundation in five key skill areas: intercultural communication, reading, writing, listening, and speaking, in order to accomplish a variety of everyday needs in the host culture. The instructor will strive to use only Spanish as a means of communication, and students are expected to do the same.

After completing this course, the student will understand extended speech and readings (TV, movies,  newspapers, …). Will be able to communicate with a degree of fluency that will allow them to interact with natives with spontaneity. The information presented will be precise when talking about a field of  interest and quite clear when writing or speaking on a range of subjects.

This course will explore the new digital platforms that have profoundly changed how we live, work, and conduct business over the past decade. Students will work to demystify these technologies and develop a deeper understanding of social media as a business tool through a combination of readings, podcasts, class discussion, case analyses, and group projects.

This course will provide the knowledge, skills, and tools for understanding core elements of logistics and transportation systems. Students will examine the dynamics of key logistics and transportation decisions, develop an understanding of best practices, and gain an appreciation for the challenges that typical companies face in managing their logistics and transportation network. 

This course will explore the craft of creative writing in relation to the city and the particular challenges of writing about place. Students will examine different aspects of the city in relation to Barcelona narratives including travel, urban spaces, solitude, politics, ethnicity, and particular boroughs and characters (both fictional and real); and participate in both practical exercises and field work.