Psychology & Research in Madrid

You may take English-taught courses at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid for an additional cost. Choose from classes offered during the primer cuatrimestre (fall) or segundo cuatrimestre (spring). These courses cost an additional fee and have a slightly different schedule than the study center courses. Contact Amy Garwood-Díaz at the Learning Abroad Center if you would like to take one or more of these courses. 

Getafe campus

Courses are available in the following disciplines at the Getafe campus:

Business Administration
Film, Television and Media Studies
Finance & Accounting
International Studies
Journalism

Leganes campus

Courses are available in the following disciplines at the Leganes campus:

Aerospace Engineering
Audiovisual System Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Communication System Engineering
Electrical Power Engineering
Energy Engineering
Industrial Electronics and Automation Engineering
Industrial Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Telecommunication Technologies Engineering
Telematics Engineering

Third semester college-level Spanish. Further improve conversation and comprehension proficiency. Develop reading and writing skills through literary analysis and grammar review. This class is designed to further develop and strengthen the language skills acquired in Beginning Spanish II.

Fourth semester college-level Spanish. Further improve conversation and comprehension proficiency. Develop reading and writing skills through literary analysis and grammar review. This class is designed to further develop and strengthen the language skills acquired in Intermediate Spanish I.

Course description forthcoming

Syllabi forthcoming

This introductory course in corporate financial management is designed to develop the student’s capacity to understand the basic concepts in investment and financial decision-making at the corporate level. The course will also discuss the role of the financial manager and financial analysis and planning.  Studies the forms, sources, and management of business capital. The finance function and its relation to other business functions and to general policy objectives are considered. Topics include: capital requirement, short and intermediate financing, management of current assets, capital budgeting, and the cost of capital.

The main objectives of this course are the following: 1. To study the basic mechanisms of how our environment functions. To study the different ecosystems in Spain, their principal characteristics and the relation between their components; 2. To analyse and assess the impact and consequences of human activity on the different ecosystems.  Learn the risks and the environmental impacts on those ecosystems and how to prevent them; and 3. To develop a fuller understanding and appreciation of the world of nature in a global way.  To understand the changes caused by the interaction of the ecosystem’s components and the balance between them.

This course explores the basic precepts and cultures of the world’s major religions through reading, reflection, study, and dialogue.  The intended outcome, more than gaining an in-depth understanding of each faith theologically, is to encourage religious tolerance and promote the celebration of theological diversity among the peoples of the Earth. The major religions to be explored will be: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.  Students will be invited to claim their own faith, while embracing openness to learn from all faiths. Equal time will be dedicated to each faith, however, because the Iberian culture has been historically shaped by the influence of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, a special unit will be dedicated to the blending of these three traditions.

To provide students with a broad introduction to marketing concepts, factors that influence marketing management, and the role of marketing in business and within organizations. The course will 1) try to develop the student´s understanding of marketing terms and concepts and 2) to identify and differentiate between marketing functions, the management of these functions, and their interaction. The course will try to give a cross-cultural context and application to the concepts developed by marketing, due to the tendency of most organizations to become more globally oriented.

This course offers a general view of Spanish culture and society through readings, lectures and cultural activities. Topics portraying the transformations experienced in the country during the last years include: the political system, the social and economic problems, the multi-ethnic society, the new role of women, the new family models and the present image of Spain.

This course examines principles of social responsibility, ethics, law, and stakeholder theory as they apply to organizations domestically and abroad. Coverage includes business ethics; individual versus societal interests; labor and employment issues; consumer protection; discrimination and diversity; the natural environment; politics, public policy, and government regulation of business. Particular attention is given to developing moral reasoning skills.

This course is designed to develop the student’s capacity to recognize and reason about ethical issues connected with international business management. Specifically, students will be able to 1) recognize potential ethical dilemmas arising from a cross-cultural context, 2) understand the factors in a cross-cultural context that inform a manager’s choice of action, and 3) apply knowledge of the cross-cultural context to come to a solution of the ethical dilemma.

This course is designed for students who wish to perfect their listening comprehension, oral expression, and general interaction both in conversation and other forms of oral communication (presentations, speeches, etc.). To this end, class activities will include listening exercises, watching films, class debates, conversation simulation and role-play, brief presentations, and other activities of linguistic support (grammar, vocabulary, nonverbal communication, etc.). Taking advantage of the linguistic immersion in which the students are participating, students will be encouraged to interact with their environment and learn in real-life situations.

The course begins with brief overviews of the structure of the central nervous system, basic principles of nervous conduction and synaptic transmission, neurotransmitter systems, and basic techniques used in biological psychology research. We will then review current knowledge on the biological substrates of a range of behaviors and mental processes, including memory, emotion, and sleep. The course will also examine the biological basis of a variety of neuropsychological disorders and forms of mental illness, including addiction, depression, and anxiety.

The course is designed to convey the ways in which current approaches are directed towards a better understanding of the biological basis of psychological states and treating mental illness. During the course, you should become comfortable with the basic details of brain function and gain a general understanding of the biology of behavior, mental states, and mental illness. You should also begin to develop the skills to understand techniques and evaluate results of neurobiological and behavioral experiments.

The aim of this course is to introduce the notion of “culture” as the set of mentally and socially mediated constructs employed by individuals and groups to interpret reality. From that basis, this course examines the set of conflicts currently underway both within Western societies – as seen, for instance, in the “Cutlure Wars” as well as in the latest US presidential election – as well as the tensions between the Western and non-Western cultures – such as those of India, China and the Arab worlds – with an emphasis in the role played by the media and the cultural industries.

The aim of this course is to make students familiar with the most relevant and internationally outstanding Spanish modern artists: Goya, Picasso, Dalí and Miró. With a specific concentration on these Spanish masters, the course will bring students to fully understand and assimilate such fundamental concepts and movements of art history as Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstraction and Minimalism.

This course will provide a broad introduction to the nervous system with an emphasis on the human nervous system. The course will introduce the structure and function of neurons, the major anatomical parts of the nervous system and the main functional systems. Functional systems will be approached through an understanding of the anatomical circuitry. The fundamental concepts of neurochemical communication studied in general terms in the first part of the course will be re-examined relative to specific functional systems later in the course. Although the major focus of the course will be on the normal nervous system, common diseases will be introduced for each main topic. Students will gain an understanding of the nature of many common neurological diseases, which will provide further insight into how the normal nervous system functions. The anatomical substrates of learning/memory, emotions and drug actions will be examined. Through the assigned readings, lectures, and discussions, students are expected to gain an understanding of the neural circuitry and information processing responsible for the diverse range of human behaviors.

The course is specifically designed to improve students’ oral and written business communication skills through language immersion and study of the local cultural and work environment. In addition to academic study, the course will provide an overview of Spanish social culture as it applies to the professional workplace, focusing on specific fields of expertise that are of interest to the students.

The aim of this course is to make students familiar with the most relevant and internationally outstanding Spanish Modern artists: Goya, Picasso, Dalí & Miró. With a specific concentration on these Spanish masters, the course will bring students to fully understand and assimilate such fundamental concepts and movements of art history as Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstraction, and Minimalism. Simultaneously, it will explore one of the most controversial periods of Spanish and European history, from the 19th through the dawn of the 20th Century.

This course focuses on the aesthetic and cultural changes in consumers and the ability of the Made in Spain managers to fine tune their marketing, communications, branding, and retailing efforts to an increasingly fast-paced environment. The course provides students with an extensive preparation on what are the most important asset of Made in Spain products: heir ability to represent a paradigm shift. The course explores the evolutionary phenomena of the four F's (fashion and footwear, food and wines, furniture and building materials, and fabricated metal products and machinery) as well as design, renewable energy, railway construction, e-commerce, and other industrial sectors.

Spanish cinema provides an excellent route for understanding social and political change throughout the 20th and 21st Century. As the most important artistic medium of modernity, cinema allows one to construct and deconstruct many myths and identities. This course will analyze the most relevant Spanish film productions primarily as socio-historical documents (content). Topics in Spain may include the Republic and Civil War (Fernán Gómez and Buñuel), the '60s comic criticism of dictatorship (García Berlanga), and censorship (Lazaga), the transition to democracy (Garci and Almodóvar), and the new '90s cinema (Amenábar, de la Iglesia, Medem, Coixet, and Bollaín). 

Learn how the human body turns different physical stimuli into neural impulses (sensation), and how the brain receives and interprets these impulses (perception). The Focus will be on commonalities between senses as a guide to understanding how the brain interprets data about the external world.

Recent advances in psychological, medical, and physiological research have led to a new way of thinking about health and illness and understanding that our health is not only the product of biological processes but also of psychological, behavioral and social processes. Health psychology is a relatively young field of study that examines the relationship between psychology and health. The course highlights differences between health psychology and the biomedical model and examines the kinds of questions asked by health psychologists like: How our personality may affect our health? What does stress do to our health? What psychological and social factors cause people to behave in unhealthy ways? What can psychologists do to help cure illness? Are there ethnic and gender variations in health? Does it matter how your doctor talks to  you?

This course's aim is to understand how cultural factors influence human behavior and development. Additionally, the interaction between different cultures and how to solve the difficulties that may arise during the acculturation process may be discussed. The course also studies the vision and treatment of mental disorders in different cultures, especially the differences and similarities between Spanish and North American cultures. Mental Health systems of both countries will be also analyzed and compared.

The purpose of this course is to give the student an opportunity to explore current issues in understanding and treating abnormal behavior. The course will provide an initial overview of history, perspectives, assessment (DSM), diagnosis, and treatment, followed by an in-depth look at several disorders from a combined biological, developmental, and cultural approach. The focus will be to achieve an understanding of the various ways that human behavior can be compromised and the various factors that affect our ability to adapt.

Industrial/Organizational Psychology is the application of the scientific study of human behavior and thinking to work organizations. I/O Psychology is both an academic discipline and a professional discipline; this course will focus on both research and the application of research findings to practical problems in the workplace. I/O Psychologist are concerned with the recruitment, selection, training, motivation, and job performance of individual at work. This course will also involved how I/O Psycholgists are involved in issues such as teamwork, leadership, and job attitudes.

The Research Laboratory in Psychology course will offer students the opportunity to be involved in psychological research taking place in a laboratory, institute, medical facility or community setting. Under the direction of a research investigator, students will participated in various stages of the research process: developing questions about behavior, designing experimental methods for answering those questions, collecting data from research participants, analyzing and interpreting the results, and communicating these results. Activities of the students may include recruiting and/or debriefing study participants; collecting, coding, entering, and/or analyzing data; securing literature sources; and participating in lab meetings. This course will include time at the research site as well as preparing for and debriefing experiences in the classroom.

This course requires a $600 laboratory fee for the semester program and a $350 laboratory fee for the summer program. 

Global Identity: Connecting Your International Experience with Your Future is an optional 1-credit online course that helps you process your international experience and apply what you've learned upon your return.  Global Identity gives you the opportunity to work individually with a trained cultural mentor, helping you articulate your newly acquired skills and differentiating you from your peers.

This course is offered at no additional cost on programs six weeks or longer. The Learning Abroad Center will email out registration instructions, or you may contact a program team member.