Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of four semesters (or six quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this Course is to provide students with an introduction to the study of contemporary Spain's economy and society, set within the context of its European configuration, for which reason Spain's reality will be continually contrasted with that of the other countries of Europe.

SYLLABUS

1. The Fundamental Characteristics of Spain's Economy and Society at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century.
2. Spain's Demographic Evolution. The New Trends.
3. The Process of Agrarian Reform: the Failure of the Liberal Reforms during the Nineteenth Century. The Structural Transformations of the Twentieth Century.
4. The Beginnings of Industrialization in Spain. Expansion, Crisis, and Conversion in the Twentieth Century. Present-Day Regional Distribution.
5. Commercial Policy. Interior and Exterior Commerce. Spain's Markets and their New Prospects.
6. The Evolution of the Financial System. Banks, Credit, and Interest Rates. Monetary Policy.
7. Transport: an Evolving Sector. Changes in the Rail System. The Modernization of Highways, Ports, and Airports.
8. A Dynamic Sector: Tourism. Tourism Policy and Structural Adjustments.
9. The Energy Sector: Conditioning Factors, Dependence, Perspectives.
10. The Importance of the Public Sector in Spain's Economy. The Public Sector: Origins, Rise, and Crisis. Privatization.
11. The Labor Market in Spain: its Evolution. Unemployment and Measures within Economic Policy.
12. The Evolution of Spanish Society during the Nineteenth Century. Changes during the Twentieth Century. The Emigration Issue.
13. Spain and the European Union: Repercussions in Agriculture and in the Fishing Industry. Issues affecting the Industrial Sector. Regional Policy. The Intensity of Educational Exchanges. The Single Currency and Future Prospects.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND GRADING

Two compulsory exams will be set either in the form of answers to test-type questions or questionnaires, or in the form of short paragraphed written answers to ten questions.

BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY

GARCÍA DELGADO, J.L.: España, economía. Madrid, 1990.
MARTÍNEZ SERRANO, J.A., AND OTHERS: Economía española 1960-1980. Crecimiento y cambio estructural. Madrid: 1985.
MIGUEL, A.: La sociedad española. Madrid, 1992. Estructura social española. Madrid, 1994.
NADAL, J., CARRERAS, A., and SUDRIA, C.: La economía española en el siglo XX. Una perspectiva histórica. Barcelona, 1987.
NADAL, J., CARRERAS, A.: Pautas regionales de la industrialización española (siglos XIX y XX). Barcelona, 1990.
TAMAMES, R.: Introducción a la economía española. Madrid, 1996.
TAMAMES, R.: La Unión Europea. Madrid, 1996.