Barcelona: Art, Theatre & Culture
Program Dates
Postponed to Summer 2026*
*Students should arrange to arrive in Barcelona on the morning of the program start date.
Program Overview
This 4-week, 8-credit program offers students the opportunity to study visual art and theatre while experiencing Barcelona’s unique Mediterranean culture. Specifically, students will attend select performances at the Grec Festival de Barcelona, featuring theatre, music and dance from a range of international companies in more than 35 venues around the city. In addition, students will have the opportunity to explore many of the city’s famous museums and galleries, informed by instructors’ presentations on the works they are seeing.
Program Eligibility & Admission
- Open to rising sophomores, juniors and seniors.
- Recommended for Performing Arts students, but open to all majors and minors.
- Limited to 16 students.
Course Information
Total of 8 credits. Students will be required to be enrolled by Emerson College in the following two courses:
- IN 360 - Visual Art, Theatre and Culture in Barcelona, Spain
- TH 315 - Topics in Contemporary Theatre
This course can meet the requirements for one or more of these courses. Contact your advisor to see how the course will fit into your degree audit:
- Interdisciplinary Perspective in the General Education Curriculum
- Aesthetic Perspective in the General Education Curriculum
- Global Diversity Course in the General Education Curriculum
- Art History Minor Elective Course
- Advanced Drama Studies Course in the PA Curriculum
- Upper Level Liberal Arts Course in the VMA Curriculum
Academic Highlights
- Attend performances at the iconic Teatre Grec, the open-air, outdoor Greek theater on Montjuic Mountain, as well as at Barcelona’s many other state-of-the-art venues.
- Explore the Museu Picasso, the Fundacío Joan Miró, the Macba Museum of Contemporary Art, the Center of Contemporary Culture Barcelona, the Dalí Museum in Figueres, Spain, and more.
- Hear a guest lecture on Catalan and Spanish history, including the country’s evolution from dictatorship to democracy and the current state of Catalunya’s bid for independence from Spain.
Cultural Highlights
- Experience Catalan culture and identity through an immersion in history, customs, traditions, and food.
- Enjoy a long weekend in Madrid, seeing Picasso’s Guernica at the Museo Reina Sofia and the Prado Museum’s collection of masterpieces by Velászquez, Rubens, Goya and El Greco.
- Participate in a Catalan cooking class.
- Visit Gaudi’s world famous basilica, La Sagrada Familia and the historic Gothic Quarter together with a local guide.
Cost & Inclusions
Program Fee: $8,650
Included in Program Fee
- Tuition (8 credits @ $850/credit)
- Registration Fee
- Housing
- Airport pick-up
- Some meals
Not Included in Program Fee
- Round-trip airfare to/from Barcelona (Est. $1,500)
- Airport drop-off for return flight
- Local transportation
- Most meals and incidental or personal expenses
- Passports (or visas, if required)
- International Health Insurance*
*May be waived by those with alternate comparable insurance.
*Health Insurance Coverage: Participants must have an insurance plan that provides coverage while abroad. If you feel your current insurance is not adequate, please research a plan that is.
For information on Supplemental Health Plans, please visit our Health Insurance Requirements page.