The University of Granada recently launched the 2nd edition of its MOOC on the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. This free, open-access course is available in Spanish and English, and aims to deliver a comprehensive and direct learning experience to anyone interested in the topic. It has been devised to provide all the rigour and depth one would expect from a university course, with all of the modules designed and structured by a team of 25 experts from the University of Granada, the University of Almería and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). These academics, researchers, professional practitioners, and mountain sports experts will help you to get to know Sierra Nevada in its widest dimensions, applying academic rigour combined with a highly informative approach to enable all participants to understand and enjoy the content.
Among other topics, participants will analyse: the history and historic infrastructure of the massif; its economic exploitation; the physical and biological aspects of its landscapes; Sierra Nevada as a Protected Area; and the various sporting activities conducted in the Sierra.
Sierra Nevada is the third-highest mountain system in Europe, after the Caucasus Mountains, at 5,000m, and the Alps, at over 4,000m. The highest peak of Sierra Nevada and the whole Iberian Peninsula, Mulhacén, sits at just under 3,500m. The three ranges are of a similar age, at around 8 million years old, but our Sierra, being located much further south, presents a number of very special features that set it apart from the other European mountains–in terms of geography, biology, landscape, human endeavour, and economic factors.
The MOOC, which comprises 75 hours of study time and is worth 3 ECTS credits, began on 7 October and will end on 25 November. It is divided into six modules and one cross-cutting module on literary narrative, poetry, painting and photography on the Sierra Nevada.
For further information and to sign up to the course, please visit: https://abierta.ugr.es/sierra_nevada/index_en.html?lang=en
