For students currently in grades 9–12
Special programs & collaborations
Custom Programs

Looking to create a custom program or collaboration?

Travel programs with the Smithsonian Institution for grades 8–12

Challenge yourself academically at the world's most prestigious universities

Non-profit organization offering student travel scholarships

High school youth summit focused on public health, climate change, and equity

columbia-climate-school-icon

Campus-based climate change program for grades 9–12

Barcelona

June 25 — July 13
$8,690 + airfare

Barcelona

June 25 — July 13
$8,690 + airfare

Join us in Barcelona for an insider’s experience of Spain on this Pre-College summer program for high school students. Broaden your horizons with in-depth, field-based seminars and elective workshops as you become part of an inspiring and supportive community of instructors and students from around the world. Choose one seminar and dive into your subject matter through engaging discussions and hands-on projects that immerse you in Catalán life.

• Explore business and marketing in a modern hub of entrepreneurship
• Use your camera to capture the vibrant colors of La Boqueria, a traditional market
• Visit the legendary Camp Nou Stadium, home to F.C. Barcelona
• Practice Castilian Spanish with locals on a cultural scavenger hunt
“Traveling on her own and living in Barcelona for three weeks was a great experience for her. The program was well designed and gave the students an opportunity to participate in activities in the Barcelona area as a group, but with time to explore on their own as well.”
—Susan T., New York, NY

Seminars

Choose a seminar and explore Barcelona and the surrounding Catalán countryside through the lens of your chosen subject. Putney seminars combine experiential learning and global perspective, and are intentionally designed not to be like school, where learning is classroom-centered and text heavy. Instead, Putney students learn by doing. Begin with classroom discussions that frame your seminar concepts and identify key issues. Take the learning beyond the classroom with site visits, meetings with local experts, guest lectures, and field trips. Barcelona’s rich historical, architectural, and cultural background makes it the perfect setting for our field-based seminars. Cap off your studies with a final project or installation to share your work.
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Art & Architecture: Medieval to the Surreal
From stark Romanesque churches that were the initial staging ground of the Medieval reconquest of Spain, to soaring Gothic and later surrealist cathedrals, Barcelona provides a remarkable thousand-year record of the development of European history, art,...
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Business & Entrepreneurship: Barcelona
What makes a business succeed in today’s market and what are the steps between identifying a need and opening your doors? In recent years, larger-than-life characters like Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk have dominated headlines...
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Fashion & Culture: Barcelona
Boasting luxury brands such as Loewe, Delpozo, and Bimba y Lola—in addition to fast fashion giants Zara and Pull&Bear—Spain’s fashion industry is a powerhouse on the world fashion scene. In this seminar, explore Spanish fashion’s historical roots,...
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barcelona food sitting on counter
Iberian Cuisine: Farm to Table
From manchego cheese to manzanilla olives to the iconic jamón serrano (hocks of cured ham) that hang in nearly every taberna and even supermarkets, local ingredients are the cornerstone of Spanish cuisine. The worldwide proliferation of tapas restaurants...
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Photography & Media: Barcelona
Designed for photographers of all skill levels, this course teaches the basics of photography and composition before diving into more advanced shooting techniques and editing instruction. Whether your passion is portrait, landscape, adventure, or abstract...
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