Spain: Carson Schwartz

Program: Cátedra del Tajo Social Science Research Internship, Summer

Major: Psychology; Spanish

How were your program academics similar or different from taking classes at UW-Madison?

Very, very hands-on. We were conducting a survey in the streets of Toledo, as opposed to my classes at UW, which tend to rely on preexisting data or on surveys distributed virtually. The interns also worked as an independent team with little oversight outside of daily check-ins, which felt very different from undergraduate research I’ve conducted under a PI at UW.

A group of students and program leaders smiling at the camera with their arms around each other. Behind them is an arch with a red banner with a crown on it. — Our research team (not including Aura, a Brazilian master’s student who left the day before this photo) in front of the crest of the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. This was our last day of the program and our first time meeting Enrique (far right) in person.

What is your most memorable experience from your program?

My supervisor brought us to a variety of meetings, panels, and events regarding community-based research, environmental activism, graduate research, and more. I was able to expand my network and my understanding of programs like the Open Rivers project, organizations like la Cátedra del Tajo, and communities by just listening to speakers over the course of a day.

My supervisor brought us to a variety of meetings, panels, and events regarding community-based research, environmental activism, graduate research, and more.

What is the moment you are most proud of?

I designed and maintained the survey tool for the pilot study we conducted over the summer, which saved hundreds of dollars in printing costs and will serve as the basis for the full-fledged survey the team will conduct later this year.

A large presentation screen with Spanish writing. Two people sit to the left with a microphone talking — My supervisors, Beatriz and Raúl, speaking at one of the panels about their projects evaluating community valuation of environmental resources. Not included in the photo are the other researchers who were working on community-led forest preservation projects.

What challenges or barriers did you face as you prepared to go abroad and/or during your time abroad? How did you work through them?

Spain has a much more relaxed sense of deadlines and time limits. I sat in on lengthy discussions about methods that didn’t seem to go anywhere but somehow reached a conclusion. Since things were changing so quickly, I stopped trying to be completely proactive and instead tracked changes in the decisions being made so I could understand what was happening without having to redo my work every day.