The Office of International Programs and the Department of History have collaborated in organizing a 16-day trip to southern Spain in Summer 2025 for NEIU students to join.
An informational meeting was held on Sept. 19, 2024, in room 3094 in Lech Walesa Hall for students to learn more about what the trip entails and how to be a part of it. The meeting was led by Chair of the History Department Dr. Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh. Dr. Farzaneh explained how the Study Tour focuses on the history of Islamic Spain.
The trip would begin on May 30, 2025, and would end on June 16, 2025, in Sevilla, Spain. The study tour program partners with the University of Seville for this opportunity. NEIU students will attend study lectures, tours, and events happening in different cities along the trip.
During the study trip, NEIU students will learn about a time when there was no Spain or Portugal, when Muslims (Moors) ruled over Christians and Jews, and the culture that colonial Spaniards brought to the Americas. This trip will also help students uncover how Latino culture and identity are connected to not only the native cultures of the indigenous peoples, but also to the ones Spaniards introduced.
As a member of the trip, NEIU students must be enrolled in HIST 344: History of Islamic Spain during the summer. In addition, enrolled students must follow all the rules, take part in all prearranged and scheduled classroom activities and trips, attend all class sessions, complete required readings, and course assignments prior to returning to Chicago. The overall trip costs around $3,900 and this includes the hotel, airplane ticket, transportation for the trip with the NEIU group, and guided tours.
The package created for the trip doesn’t include the tuition and fees for taking HIST 344, books and supplies, passport fee (if students have no passport or it will soon expire) and transportation to and from the O’Hare International Airport, or out of program visits to other places.
The package also doesn’t include the cost of replacing lost items, personal or souvenir shopping, visiting sites that are missed as a group, excluded foods such as snacks, dinners, drinks, and medicine and the purchase of trip interruption insurance for personal reasons.
On the itinerary, NEIU students will be able to visit cities such as Cordoba, Cadiz, and Granada. The basis of the trip takes place in Sevilla. There will be opportunities for students to venture out on their own to different cities in Spain, Portugal, or other countries in Europe for a certain period of time.
For more information on the trip, view the History department page on NEIU’s website to get in contact with someone from the department. You can apply online to hold a spot in the program. Once you submit your application, you will be sent information as to how you can pay the $100 non-refundable deposit. The first payment for the trip is due Nov. 25, 2024.
