ICARUS

ICARUS: Spanish culture, interculturality and personal growth

✨ Start your exchange. Live it fully.

You are about to live one of the most intense and meaningful experiences of your university life.

Studying abroad is much more than attending classes or travelling on weekends. It is about discovering who you are when everything is new: a different culture, a different language, new ways of thinking, relating and living.

ICARUS is designed to help you make the most of your exchange experience in Spain.

This programme offers you a space to pause, reflect and connect while you are living your semester abroad. It provides tools to understand what you are experiencing, to navigate cultural differences with greater awareness, and to build meaningful relationships in a multicultural environment.

If you want your exchange to be more than just a collection of memories, if you want it to become a transformative personal and intercultural experience,
ICARUS is for you.

About the programme

ICARUS: Spanish culture, interculturality and personal growth is an experiential international programme designed to support incoming students in their integration into the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (UFV) and into Spanish culture.

Through cultural immersion, social action, guided reflection and individual mentoring, ICARUS accompanies students throughout their exchange semester, fostering intercultural

competence, personal growth and a deeper understanding of the host culture.

The programme is free of charge and open to international students (Erasmus+ and bilateral), as well as to a small number of local or full-degree students, as part of UFV’s internationalisation at home strategy.

Programme approach

ICARUS follows an experiential and reflective methodology. The contents and activities are designed taking into account the U-Curve theory of cultural adaptation (Lysgaard), which helps students understand the different emotional, relational and cultural phases they may experience during their stay abroad.

This framework allows students to better understand what they are feeling, normalise challenges related to adaptation, and grow through the experience in a conscious and meaningful way.

What does ICARUS include?

In-class sessions

Group sessions focused on personal and intercultural growth, self-awareness and reflection.
Exploration of Spanish culture, history and social context, in dialogue with the cultures represented in the group.
Reflection on identity, values, intercultural communication and the experience of living abroad.

Schedule: Wednesdays, from 15:30 to 17:30.
(Some activities may take place outside this time slot. A detailed calendar will be shared in advance.)

Out-of-class activities

Cultural excursions and visits to emblematic places in Spain, promoting immersion in history, heritage and cultural life.
Volunteering activities with local organisations in Madrid, fostering social engagement, responsibility and openness to diverse social realities.
Individual mentoring sessions with a UFV mentor, focused on personal accompaniment and intercultural integration. Mentoring sessions may be held in Spanish, English, French, German or Italian, depending on the student’s preference and availability.

Objectives

To support students in their intercultural adaptation process during the exchange semester.
To foster self-knowledge, personal awareness and emotional reflection.
To develop intercultural competence, empathy and communication skills.
To encourage meaningful engagement with Spanish culture and society.
To promote social commitment as an essential dimension of university education.

Competences developed

Intercultural and global competence
Personal and emotional competence
Communicative competence in multicultural contexts
Social and civic competence
Competence for lifelong learning

Learning outcomes

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

Understand their own identity and its impact on intercultural relationships.
Recognise and manage the different phases of cultural adaptation.
Build respectful and meaningful relationships in multicultural environments.
Show an open, empathetic and collaborative attitude.
Value social engagement as part of their academic and personal development.
Integrate the learning acquired in ICARUS into their university and professional life.

Dates and place

From January 21st to May 23rd.
Universidad Francisco de Vitoria.
Teaching modality: In-person.
Language: English.

Academic recognition

Participation in ICARUS: Spanish culture, interculturality and personal growth is academically recognised with 3 ECTS credits, corresponding to an estimated 75 hours of student workload, including in-class sessions, cultural activities, volunteering, mentoring and personal reflection.

Registration

Places are limited. To apply, please complete the registration form before January 20:

👉 Registration form: https://forms.office.com/e/ahkdvvJJmG

🌍 Take more than memories with you.

Your exchange will go by faster than you imagine.

One day you will be packing your suitcase and looking back at everything you have lived. Through ICARUS, you will not only explore Spanish culture and society, but also your own way of adapting, relating and growing in a multicultural environment.

Because an exchange does not end when you leave Spain.

It continues in the way you look at the world, at others and at yourself.

Make your exchange count.

Live it consciously.

Take it with you.

Contact

For more information, visit the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization, Central Building, Module 1 (outside).

Malena, IR student: “ICARUS connects us with students from other countries”.

Sydel, USA: “ICARUS is for you if you like deep conversations and learning about the world.”

Benjamín, Chile: “ICARUS has changed mi life”.