Undergraduate Current Students | Stern Around the World in Spain

In some ways, the small city of Seville is the Ombligo, or the belly-button, of the western world.  It has been the source or the crossroads of significant economic and cultural shifts throughout human history: 

• Roman Empire: Seville (and the greater Seville region) was a key economic cradle (Hispania) for the Roman Empire, delivering wine, olive oil, and even producing two great emperors (Trajan and Hadrian).
• Moorish Rule: Under Moorish rule, Seville was the hub of an interfaith intellectual renaissance. By combining mathematics, engineering, and shared resource management, the region revolutionized regional irrigation, laying the groundwork for community-managed commons that still exist today.
• 1492: Under a Spanish flag, Columbus “discovered the New World” and returned to Spain with riches. Seville became the counting house for all silver and gold flowing out of the New World and into Spain’s coffers.
• Modern Seville: In the late 20th century, the countryside around Seville embraced modern cooperative movements. One village seized and expropriated land to create cooperative farming, ensuring full employment for all residents. Today, Seville leverages this cooperative model and dominates global organic olive oil and renewable energy markets. 

Across the centuries, Seville has been a hub of economic innovation. Taking inspiration from our locale, we will examine the layered economic history of Seville as context for understanding and solving contemporary Business & Society challenges.  

This Spring 2027 semester course takes place in New York. Then from Sunday, May 16th – Sunday, May 23rd, 2027, you will take a class trip to Seville, Spain.

Course Overview

BSPA-UB 135: Capital, Commons, and Circularity:  Economic Innovation in Spain
3 credits | Class Days/Times - Thursday 2:00pm-3:15pm
Course: Full Semester | Travel: Required trip to Spain in May 2027
Instructor: Professor Jill Simeone (js221@stern.nyu.edu)

The world is becoming ever more complex. As society’s needs and goals expand, the limits of zero-sum economics are obvious in daily life. In this course, you will discover that Milton Friedman sits alongside other governance models in modern economics. You will ask what it means for business and society to be “successful,” and learn how to design three-dimensional business solutions that deliver financial growth, but also much more. This course includes an immersive Tabletop Live Simulation Game that will run during the entire trip that will incorporate a range of stakeholder perspectives.

• Students will role play and work in teams to solve a realistic local issue (for example an economic redevelopment project), with each team having unique resources and needs, and also receiving new facts and complicating obstacles as the week progresses.  
• To be successful, students will need to draw inferences from site visits and course resources, learn lessons from historical missteps, and apply logic and good judgement when facing data gaps. The activity will teach them to collaborate across differences, and make hard choices to achieve strategic goals. 

This 3-credit course satisfies the Global Experience Requirement. It can also count towards:

• Sustainable Business concentration (Issue Area)
• General Stern elective

*Please note: a max of one SAW travel course can be applied per concentration or minor

Eligibility

This course is open to NYU Stern students who meet the following prerequisites:

• Must be in good academic and judicial standing with Stern and NYU
• Must be enrolled at Stern in New York City during the semester you take the course
• Important Notes:
  • This course is only open to NYU Stern students.
  • Seniors who plan to graduate in May - the final grade for this course will not be available until after the May trip
• No application required! But attending or viewing an Info Session is required when enrolling in this course (requires Zoom sign-in via NYU SSO - see date below)
• Enrollment is done through Albert for this course. This SAW course has two registration periods:
  • Priority Registration: During the first week of course registration, only Stern students who meet the requirements listed above, and also have NOT already satisfied their Global Experience Requirement, will be able to register or waitlist for this course.
  • Regular Registration: Starting the second week of registration, the course registration and waitlist will open to all other Stern students who meet the requirements above - pending available space in the course and/or waitlist.
    • Enrollment is open to NYU Stern students who meet the requirements and is first-come, first-served, based on your registration time and the registration schedule listed above.
    • If the course fills up, there will be a Waitlist. Set up ‘Edit Swap’ function on Albert to ensure you’re not stuck on the waitlist
    • If you successfully enroll, you will be contacted via email with next steps. See additional details below.

Program Timeline

**You will arrange your own flights to and from Seville, Spain. Please view the sample itinerary below, note the required program start and end times and plan your flights accordingly to account for travel time to Seville, customs and transportation to the hotel. You must plan to arrive into Seville early enough in the day so that you can check in on time for the official start of the program at the group hotel. Late arrivals and early departures are not permitted. You will be expected to stay with the group until the official end of the program. 

Estimated Expenses

Please note: Although you will register for this 3-credit course as part of your Spring schedule, NYU tuition and registration fees do not cover the additional fees for the trip to Spain.

The Housing & Program Fee will be required of all participants* (see scholarship info below). It will be added to your Spring 2027 Bursar bill, which we anticipate will be due in early January. Please check the NYU Bursar’s website for the Spring 2027 payment deadline. Please note: the Housing & Program Fee is non-refundable after the Spring 2027 drop/add period unless the trip is canceled by NYU Stern.

The Housing & Program fee covers:

• Group Hotel in Seville, Spain
• Daily breakfast in hotel, other meals as listed on itinerary
• Local group transportation
• Group excursions as listed on itinerary

Need-based Travel Scholarships

*All Stern undergraduate students who register for this course will be automatically evaluated for a Stern Global Immersion Scholarship. 

• This need-based award is to help cover the additional travel cost of participating in this program. Awards granted to eligible students with demonstrated need will cover up to the cost of the Housing & Program fee for the travel portion of the class. Following is the SAW: Spain Housing & Program fee and (if awarded) the allocation for the air travel (Travel allocation) for May 2027:
  • Housing & Program Fee: Spain (does not include flight): (TBD)
  • Travel allocation: Spain (if awarded): Estimated $1,000 (TBD)
         *You will arrange your own flights to and from Seville, Spain. 
• Students must have a current FAFSA or CSS Profile application on file with NYU to be considered for an award. Students will be notified if they will receive a Stern Global Immersion Scholarship - and if so, the amount - according to the schedule above. 
• *Note: Only one SAW Global Immersion Scholarship will be granted per qualifying student. If you have already applied a Global Immersion Scholarship to a different SAW course you will not receive any Global Immersion Scholarship funds for this course.  

Passport and Visa/Travel Authorization Requirements for All Participants

Passports: You must have a passport valid for more than six months beyond the dates of the trip. More information on how to renew or obtain a U.S. passport can be found on the U.S. Department of State's website. If you are an international student please contact your Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  All NYU students are welcome to contact the NYU Office of Global Services (OGS) for assistance as well.

Visas: U.S. passports valid for more than six months beyond the dates of travel do not need a visa to enter Spain. However the new The ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) is expected to become operational in the last quarter of 2026 (see below). If you are not a U.S. citizen, please consult Spain's visa requirements. If you have questions, please contact the NYU Office of Global Services (OGS).

ETIAS: The ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) is expected to become operational in the last quarter of 2026. U.S. citizens and citizens from other countries exempt from the Schengen visa requirement will need to apply for a travel authorization BEFORE they travel, once ETIAS becomes operational. Additional information can be found on the ETIAS website.

It is your responsibility to apply and receive the appropriate visas and travel authorizations for your passport in a timely manner for the trip. Trip Program Fee refunds are not provided if you fail to secure your visa or travel authorization.