Current events
October at the crossroads
(This article is part of our Current Events series)
October is a month at the crossroads. Summer’s leisures have come to an end, fall is in full swing as the school year settles in and winter occasionally pokes its nose on frosty mornings. Barbecuing is officially over but it is not yet the season to serve choucroute or set up the raclette on the table. Halloween was itself meant to be a sort of crossing of paths though of a different, netherworldly, kind.
Continue reading “Current events”
Retiro Not For Tourist
At Schiller we understand that learning is not exclusive to the classroom and that is why our professors focus a good chunk of class-time towards visits and activities that are associated to the assignments and coursework. With this is mind, our students went on a day trip of “Retiro: Not for Tourists” organized by Professor Pinto.
The day started with a private tour to Madrid’s Royal Observatory, uncovering the secrets and astronomical jewels hidden in this place, such us a meridian circle, a collection of precision clocks, a bronze mirror polished by W. Herschel and a Foucalt’s pendulum in the central rotunda displaying the daily rotation of the earth. But if we are being honest, the most interesting instrument was the large equatorial telescope by Grubb, dating from 1912.
After that the students got the chance to visit the most renown landmarks of Retiro like the Cristal Palace, Rose Garden and the statue of The Fallen Angel. During the walk, the Public Speaking class experimented with a unique experience for the park, imitating the Speaker´s Corner in London, and started to give improvised speeches in English gathering the attraction –and some praises!- of the people passing by.
And if you are thinking about the last picture with a tree, that will be the oldest tree in the park, which is an Ahuehuete from Mexico, dating around 1630.
Moldova Day
SIU Madrid is always proud to prove that the international in our name is not a marketing strategy but the nature and vision for our institution. It is in that chord that, Tuesday September 10th, her excellency the Ambasador of the Republic of Moldova, Violeta Agrici, presented the country to Schiller’s students and staff.
Moldova, a country that many have never heard of, or confuse with the Maldives, has many things to offer. From the amazing landscapes, food, wine, to its people, that will make everyone feel like home.
The Ambassador spoke about the country’s politics and economy, presented its potential as a rapidly growing investment destination and also as an “exotic” tourist destination.
After having learned a bit about Moldova, everyone enjoyed some typical foods: Sarmale, a very old dish brought by the Ottoman Empire, consisting of rice, vegetables, and sometimes meat, all wrapped in vine leaves or pickled cabbage leaves and baked for several hours, Plăcinte, a flaky pastry traditionally filled with cottage cheese, potatoes, or cherries, as a sweet desert, Prunes filled with walnuts and soaked in wine, buttery dough filled with rose jam.
And finally, the staple, the product for which Moldova is known worldwide, it’s wines! SIU students and faculty had a taste of red and white wines, as well as a variety of sparkling white and rosé wines.
We would like to thank everyone from the Embassy who came and showed her support.
Fall 2019 Wine Trip
It has now become an SIU Madrid tradition to welcome the fall semester with our Wine Trip. As a university, we want to see students develop their skills outside the class and see them immerse in the Spanish culture.
It is for that reason that our Undergraduate Advisor, Professor José Pinto, prepared a trip all of us will remember. This time we went to “Finca la Estacada” a vineyard where all SIU family, students and professors, had the opportunity to learn more about how wine is made and the excellence they use in the process.
While we were there we also had the opportunity to have our “Wine Trip Games” a series of competitions between groups of students and professors. So, we all got ready for the challenges and created some wonderful memories of a time well spent.
In the end we all enjoyed a good meal in honor of a Spanish tradition to never leave a place with an empty stomach. We can already assure you we will come back again next year!!
Current Events Launch 2019
With the September term well under way and the fall right around the corner, the Paris campus now looks forward to the launch of “Current Events”. Every start of the month, we’ll be giving a brief overview of a selection of classes running at Schiller Paris that very month. The objective is double: provide readers an idea of our course curriculum on the one hand, and a perspective making sense of the whole on the other. Calling it “Current Events” becomes all the more appropriate as we attempt to tie in our curriculum selection with ongoing events taking place in the world at large. The mission of Schiller is to provide students a theoretical grounding and practical skills that they can deploy in the successive stages of their careers. Course content, the learning experience in Paris, interactions with faculty and classmates from around the world – all of this and more are what make the a Schiller degree a key moment before stepping into the wider world and into the current of events that continuously make their mark.
Continue reading “Current Events Launch 2019”