Since the end of June and until the end of July, the fifth edition of the UPF international summer school (UPF Barcelona Summer School) has welcomed students from all over the world and from the University.

Pompeu Fabra becomes a meeting point where cultural contrasts and different points of view enrich the academic experience of all participants and help to build a unique environment of reflection.

The programme of the UPF Barcelona Summer School lasts for five weeks in which a total of 129 students will be taking part, 105 from abroad and 24 from UPF (of whom 12 are scholarship students on the Global Cities: Barcelona-Los Angeles programme, taught in conjunction with the University of California-Los Angeles, UCLA).

This year’s edition highlights the increased participation of students from Pompeu Fabra University (24, compared to last year’s 15), since the Barcelona Summer School is part of the UPF Summer Term offer, an opportunity for students from the University to advance their studies during the summer period to be able to share the classroom with people from other backgrounds.

With quality academic courses in the fields of the humanities, social and political sciences, communication and economics and business, the students encounter a space for discussion on issues of global interest, explained from a Catalan, Spanish and European perspective, with a highly applied and multidisciplinary approach. Those who enrol can choose from a total of 14 courses, taught in Spanish and English.

The teaching staff consists of UPF lecturers such as Javier Arregui (Department of Political and Social Sciences), María Gundín, Albert Satorra, Josep M. Raya (Department of Economics and Business). Other lecturers are Jordi Mir, Anna Serra, Eloy Fernández Porta, and Joan de Dios Monterde (Department of Humanities); Blanca Fullana, Alan Salvadó and Ricardo Íscar (Department of Communication).

Lectures by guest lecturers open to the university community

The lectures given by the lecturers invited to each of the different subjects are open to participation by the students of the summer school and to all members of the university community.

Some of these guest lecturers are Andrea Noferini, professor of the Department of Political and Social sciences at UPF, who will speak on “Legislative Politics in the European Union” (11 July, 5.15 pm in the Auditorium of the Mercè Rodoreda building on the Ciutadella campus); Fernando Guirao, Jean Monnet chair of History at UPF, who will deliver “History matters, before and after Brexit” (18 July, 5.15 pm, Albert Calsamiglia i Blancafort hall on the Ciutadella campus).

Other guest lecturers are Eloi Serrano, professor of the Tecnocampus School of Health Sciences-UPF and researcher of the CIDOB (13 July, classroom 13.104 of Ramon Turró, title tbc), and outside the University, noteworthy is the lecture by Jesús López, professor of Economics at the University of A Coruña, with “Human Capital: Theoretical issues and empirical evidences in the Economic Growth and Geographical Economics literatures”, which he already gave on 6 July last. 

Cultural activities to showcase Catalan culture

The academic programme is completed with various activities in order to get closer to Catalan culture and society. Thus, the opening of the Barcelona Summer School consisted of a guided tour through the Barceloneta district, which included a visit to the fishermen’s association; there was also an excursion to Montserrat; also planned are activities for finding your way about the city as well as workshops on songs in Catalan and “castells”, or human towers.