IRVING, Texas (Aug. 4, 2023) — The University of Dallas recently welcomed back the latest group of students studying Spanish in Ávila, Spain.
The Ávila trip, an annual summer study abroad program that the University of Dallas coordinates with the Catholic University of Ávila, immerses students in medieval and contemporary Spanish culture.
José Espericueta, PhD, associate professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages, leads the program in Ávila, a medieval fortress city home to St. Teresa of Ávila.
“The University of Dallas benefits greatly from our relationship with the Catholic University of Ávila. Studying abroad is such a formative experience for a student. While its linguistic virtues are self-evident, it has so many other benefits,” Espericueta said.
“Students are regularly humbled by the genuine hospitality and goodness of the people of Ávila, whether that comes from an enthusiastic homestay señora making dinner or a friendly taxi driver.”
While students soak up Spanish in the streets and countryside of Spain, the annual program also immerses them in Spanish poetry, culture and Catholic mysticism through a partnership with the Catholic University of Ávila. Additionally, this year’s extracurricular diversions included day trips to Roman aqueducts, flamenco shows, shops and holy sites. Several students also reserved time between studies for volunteer work with disabled adults as part of a local initiative of the Catholic community.
The Rome semester may get a lot of press around campus, but so did the Ávila group in Spain. A local news channel covered the UD students in a television segment, and they met the mayor of Ávila.
In addition to the program’s spiritual and historical elements, students also enjoy opportunities to hone their Spanish in corporate or medical settings. Students of Business Spanish visit businesses and organizations, and students of Medical Spanish for Health Care Professionals tour nursing facilities.
One participant, Lauren Gowans ’26, said she especially enjoyed the extracurricular trips.
“My favorite part was the weekend excursions, especially Segovia. One experience that I was not expecting was eating a full baby pig in Segovia,” Gowans said.
“Overall, I learned so much about Spain and matured as a person after experiencing international travel and having to organize transportation and hotels whenever I traveled. I have some really good friends from UD and abroad that I otherwise never would have met.”
Espericueta emphasizes that Spain holds an important place in the exchange of ideas between the classical world and the Americas. With a diverse literary culture and a richly layered history, Spain is a major center of church history and an influential intellectual parent of the New World.
“It is extremely important that students educated in the liberal arts understand the crucial role of Hispanic traditions within the broader Western tradition,” Espericueta said.
“While we study this at UD, it becomes all the more meaningful when students can see the birthplace of St. Teresa, visit and touch the Roman aqueducts in Segovia or tour through Salamanca, where some of the greatest minds of the early modern period resided.”
