University of Santiago de Compostela

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University of Santiago de Compostela
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Shield of University of Santiago de Compostela
Motto: Sigillum Reg Universitat Compostellan
Established: 1526
Type: public
Rector: Senén Barro Ameneiro
Undergraduates: 39,007
Postgraduates: 3,547
Location: Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
Campus: urban
Faculty: 2,149
Website: www.usc.es

The University of Santiago de Compostela (Galician: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spanish: Universidad de Santiago de Compostela) is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia.

In 1504, Pope Julius II approved the foundation of a university in Santiago but "the bull for its creation was not granted by Clement VII until 1526".[1] In 1555 the institute began to separate itself from strictly religious instruction with the help of Cardinal Juan Álvarez de Toledo and started to work towards developing other academic fields, including the emerging science fields.

Today the university's facilities cover more than 1,300,000 square meters. In terms of human resources, the university has more than 2,000 teachers involved in study and research, over 42,000 students, and more than 1,000 people working in administration and services.

Contents

[edit] Faculties

The University of Santiago de Compostela offers a wide range of degrees in 19 faculties:

[edit] History of the University of Santiago de Compostela

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[edit] From one university to many

The roots of the University go back to 1495, when the Santiago de Compostela solicitor López Gómez de Mazoa founded, with the help of the San Martiño Pinario abbot, a school for the poor known as "Gramatic Academy" in the monastery of San Paio de Antealtares. Early on, the success of the school was in doubt due to a lack of economic resources. But in the year 1504, Pope Julius II issued a Papal Bull recognizing the institution and allowing for the institution of higher learning in the "Gramatic Academy".

The definitive consolidation of the University comes with Alonso III de Fonseca, named archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in 1507. Alonso de Fonseca was an extremely erudite man, a Renaissance man and patron of numerous artists of the time, who was in touch with important thinkers such as Erasmus of Rotterdam. At this time the old Pilgrim's Hospital was purchased with the aim of transforming it into a university college. The Santiago Alfeo College, today known as the Fonseca College, was also built, which became the epicentre of the university life till the second half of the 18th century and still remains emblematic in today's university. At the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries the San Patricio College, or College of the Irish, was created and the San Xerome College was moved to its current location.

In contrast to current practice, these colleges agglutinated all the seats of learning in the same building, where students lived as boarders. At this time, three were the main disciplines: Theology, Grammar and Arts, which were soon complemented with the study of Law (paying special attention to ecclesiastical law) and Medicine, more preoccupied with the health of the soul than about the care of the body.

The 18th century witnessed a profound transformation in the University of Santiago. Not only was it the era when the University escaped completely from the control of the religious orders of the Catholic Church, but it was also a time when the University lost part of its autonomy to the centralising forces of the Spanish Monarchy. It was during this period that Charles III granted the title of "Regia" to the University. The University seal is enriched with the Royal Crown over the coat of arms of Castilla, León and Galicia, as well as the most important founders' emblems.

After expelling the Jesuits, Charles III granted their land and buildings in Santiago to the university, thus establishing the core of the new university. Immediately, the University recuperates to its plan of studies disciplines that have been previously given to certain religious congregations, including academic degrees and schools for Experimental Physics or Chemistry.

The beginning of the 20th century produced a new generation of intellectuals closely tied to the university who would make up the core of a revival in the cultural life of Galicia. At the same time, there was a wide acceptance and support to the modern currents of thought. This introduced key figures from different scientific fields in our institutions. This is when the USC experiences a significant growth in the number of students as well as in careers, which also meant a significant growth in infrastructures. Thus, it continued to develop with new buildings, the enlargement of the University Building, the Faculty of Geography and History, and further on accommodation buildings, the College of Veterinary (Galician Parliament), the College of Deaf and Dumbs (Seat of the Xunta de Galicia) and the Faculty and Medicine. Another great project was the establishment of the Hall of Residence in 1930. Definitevely, it is a period of great quantitive and quality changes with an important increase in infrastructures along with the regionalisation of studies in search for a best adaptation to the Galician reality.

Another characteristic of the XX century was the establishment of agreements with foreign intitutions of university education, at first with Portuguese universities. From then on, academic halls were established for women, who became members of the university in the 1913-1914 academic year. Moreover, the amount of books of the institution has been increased with new endowments, such as that of the American Library.

The militar rising against the Republic and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War meant a period of change in the University of Santiago. The military coups dominated the city council, imposing on the University a new rector and new norms such as praying before and after each lesson. Precisely, the Santiago de Compostela anti-Franco opposition came from "middle class intellectuals" and students of the university and not from the working-class movements, as happened in Coruña, Vigo or Ferrol.

[edit] Recent history

The University of Santiago de Compostela was the first university in Galicia. In the 1980s, two additional university campuses in A Corunna and Vigo were established, fully dependent of the University of Santiago de Compostela. Later that decade the two became independent universities, able for the first time to issue their own official university degree titles.

Before that, the only institution which shared "Official Degree Studies" in Galicia was the "School of Naval and Industrial Engineers" of Ferrol, which was created by a Ministerial Order under the initiative of General Francisco Franco in the early 1960s. This School was directly dependent of the Ministry of Education in Madrid though in 1990 will be amalgamated to the University of A Corunna.

Following the introduction of the new Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the arrival of Democracy, the new elected president of Spain, Felipe Gonzalez Marquez leader of the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party (PSOE) will introduce legislation from Madrid to transform the, until that date, centralized Spanish State, into an amalgamation of autonomous regions with different degrees of self Administration, in order to let the different nations invided by Spain to develop their culture.

The north-western corner of the Iberian Peninsula will be raised to the status of Autonomous Region, and the Spanish language with have to co-exist with the new official language: Galician.

A new Parliament and a new government have been created in Galicia for its people. And from the Galician Capital, Santiago de Compostela, the newly created Galician Parliament will bring new legislation for the autonomic community.

Galicia now has three universities, each of them with campuses of their own:

University of Santiago de Compostela, University of A Corunna (with two campuses, one in A Corunna and the other in Ferrol), and University of Vigo (with three campuses, one in Vigo, and the other two in Orense and Pontevedra).

In the last decades, the universities of Coruña and Vigo already segregated, the USc student population numbers over 45.000.

[edit] Campus

The University is organized into two campuses, Santiago and Lugo, which together include 30 centres, nearly 80 departments and more than 60 degrees, apart from numerous installations such as research institutes, halls of residence, sports and cultural facilities, and libraries.

[edit] Library

The University's library, as of the writing of the Encyclopædia Britannica 1911, had 60,000 volumes and several manuscripts of incalculable value. One of the manuscripts dated to A.D.788.[1]

[edit] Notable alumni and professors

[edit] Degrees

Health Sciences

  • Diplomatura en Enfermaría
  • Diplomatura en Enfermaría (Lugo) - adscrita
  • Licenciatura en Farmacia
  • Licenciatura en Medicina
  • Licenciatura en Odontoloxía
  • Licenciatura en Veterinaria (Lugo)

Physical Sciences

  • Diplomatura en Óptica e Optometría
  • Licenciatura en Bioloxía
  • Licenciatura en Ciencia e Tecnoloxía dos Alimentos (2º ciclo) (Lugo)
  • Licenciatura en Física
  • Licenciatura en Matemáticas
  • Licenciatura en Química
  • Licenciatura en Química (2º ciclo) (Lugo)

Social Sciences

  • Diplomatura en Ciencias Empresariais (Lugo)
  • Diplomatura en Educación Social
  • Diplomatura en Relacións Laborais
  • Diplomatura en Relacións Laborais (Lugo) - adscrita
  • Diplomatura en Traballo Social
  • Licenciatura en Administración e Dirección de Empresas
  • Licenciatura en Administración e Dirección de Empresas (2º ciclo) (Lugo)
  • Licenciatura en Ciencias Políticas e da Administración
  • Licenciatura en Comunicación Audiovisual
  • Licenciatura en Dereito
  • Licenciatura en Economía
  • Licenciatura en Pedagoxía
  • Licenciatura en Psicoloxía
  • Licenciatura en Psicopedagoxía (2º ciclo)
  • Licenciatura en Xornalismo
  • Mestre, especialidade de Educación Física (Lugo)
  • Mestre, especialidade de Educación Infantil
  • Mestre, especialidade de Educación Infantil (Lugo)
  • Mestre, especialidade de Educación Musical
  • Mestre, especialidade de Educación Primaria
  • Mestre, especialidade de Educación Primaria (Lugo)
  • Mestre, especialidade de Lingua Estranxeira
  • Mestre, especialidade de Lingua Estranxeira (Lugo)

Technical

  • Enxeñaría Agrónoma (2º ciclo) (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría de Montes (2º ciclo) (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría Química
  • Enxeñaría Técnica Agrícola, especialidade en Explotacións Agropecuarias (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría Técnica Agrícola, especialidade en Hortofruticultura e Xardineria (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría Técnica Agrícola, especialidade en Industrias Agrarias e Alimentarias (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría Técnica Agrícola, especialidade en Mecanización e Construccións Rurais (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría Técnica Forestal, especialidade en Explotacións Forestais (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría Técnica Industrial, especialidade en Química Industrial (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría Técnica en Informática de Sistemas
  • Enxeñaría Técnica de Obras Públicas, especialidade en Transportes e Servizos Urbanos (Lugo)
  • Enxeñaría Técnica en Topografía (Lugo)

Humanities

  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Alemana
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Clásica
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Francesa
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Galega
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Hispánica
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Hispánica (Lugo)
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Inglesa
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Italiana
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Portuguesa
  • Licenciatura en Filoloxía Románica
  • Licenciatura en Filosofía
  • Licenciatura en Historia
  • Licenciatura en Historia da Arte
  • Licenciatura en Humanidades (Lugo)
  • Licenciatura en Xeografía

Titulacións propias Titulacións de 1º Ciclo

  • Graduado en Ciencias Criminolóxicas e da Seguridade Pública
  • Diploma en Empresas Hostaleiras

Titulacións de 2º Ciclo

  • Gran Diploma de Xestión e Dirección de Empresas Hostaleiras
  • Graduado Superior en Biotecnoloxía
  • Graduado Superior en Enxeñaría Ambiental
  • Graduado Superior en Xerontoloxía

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Quoted from: Encyclopædia Britannica: A New Survey of Universal Knowledge, 1956. Article "Universities".

[edit] External links

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Galician Universities
University of Santiago de Compostela · University of A Coruña · University of Vigo