In July 2015, bachelor and master students from the Faculty of Humanities and Svetlana Zykova, Associate Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Translation Studies, took part in the International Summer School of the University of Barcelona.

Within the Cooperation Agreement between two universities, the University of Barcelona provided 5 scholarships to NVSU students enabling them to participate in the International Summer School. Every July the school is held for international students coming to Barcelona to study various courses in English, improve and extend their knowledge in art, culture, history, natural and social sciences.

NVSU students took the course Barcelona: Gateway to the Mediterranean (15^th-19^th centuries) designed by the lecturers and researchers of the University of Barcelona. The course aims to tell the students about the city of Barcelona as an important social, economic and cultural center since the times of the Renaissance and to the Enlightenment.

The course was designed with much love and patriotic feeling towards the history and culture of the city. The course material was presented in the way so as not only to immerse the students into the medieval world, but also expose them to a completely different Barcelona unknown to common visitors and inhabitants. The classes were held at the locations where some important historical events took place and architectural value of the time was preserved. Such historic locations included the Gothic Quarter, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Academy of Medicine, Palau Moja etc.

The course was quite intensive and dynamic, as the lectures were followed by walking tours to historic places. Every day the students met new teachers, discussed new topics and participated in various course events. The course participants obtained new knowledge and invaluable cultural experience enabling them to enrich their understanding of the country and culture. At the end of the course each student received a certificate.

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