More than 230 students from all over the world are participating throughout July in the seventh edition of the Barcelona International Summer School (BISS), the benchmark summer academic programme that targets students from UPF and other universities around the world. This year, participants’ origins, 34 in all, have increased compared to the 16 nationalities of the 2023 edition.

This year, the courses on offer have also increased and now total 28 subjects, including topics dealing with artificial intelligence, sustainability, social and political analysis, audiovisual creation, culture, business, and language learning. The programme of the BISS, which began on 1 July and ends on 26 July, combines its academic offer with social and cultural activities that enable interaction between participants of different backgrounds. In addition to students from other countries, linked to more than 40 universities, 44 are from UPF. Among those of foreign origin, the largest group is from the US (95 students), followed by the United Kingdom (27), and Italy (20).

Josep Ibáñez, UPF director of International Programmes: “In both academic and socio-cultural terms, the BISS is a unique and enriching experience shared between international students and UPF undergraduates”

The UPF academic director of International Programmes, Josep Ibáñez, describes its goals as follows: “to offer international students the chance to take especially innovative and interdisciplinary subjects that will be recognized by their universities at home. In both academic and socio-cultural terms, the BISS is a unique and enriching experience shared between international students and UPF undergraduates”.

The subjects taught are an invitation to think and learn beyond traditional disciplines, from a cross-disciplinary perspective. The course teaching staff consists of 31 lecturers from the University’s various centres and departments, as well as from Languages UPF and the affiliated centre, ESCI-UPF. Some of the subjects are being taught for the first time, such as Finance for a sustainable economy (with professor David Díaz de Quijano), on ethical finance; or Shifting Grounds in the Middle East and North Africa? (with professor Jordi Quero), on the transformations undergone by the Middle East and North Africa. Other subjects have already been taught in previous editions and some of the most in demand are Culture and Business: Spain's Top Brands (with professor Blanca Fullana), which reviews local marketing and business trends; and Barcelona on Stage: Documentary Workshop (with professor Ricardo Íscar), a practical subject on documentary audiovisual production.

What motivates students to participate in the BISS?

Students like Kina Kian, Zishan Lin, Hannah Hannon and Molly Lambert are participating in the course on documentary film. All four are of the opinion that the subject is a good way to enter the world of documentary film-making and particularly highlight their opportunity to meet young people from other backgrounds. For Hannah, a 23-year-old studying art in the United Kingdom, her motivation for being here is twofold: her special interest in documentary filming and also to return to Barcelona and Catalonia, which she visited for the first time last April to practise climbing. Hannah has participated in social and leisure activities such as beach volleyball matches, a dinner with other participating students, and several guided tours of the UPF facilities and the sustainable coworking complex Nest City Lab in Poblenou. The complementary activities began on the weekend of 29 and 30 June with reception and induction days, co-organized with other UPF groups, from student associations -such as the Erasmus Student Network- to university teachers and staff, as well as the organizers of the Cinetmosfera series of audiovisual screenings.

Both in and outside the classroom, Molly (United Kingdom) wants to practise her Spanish, since in the UK she combines her studies of economics and Spanish language. For Molly, “coming to BISS is also a good way to assess whether you might want to come later to study a master’s degree or a postgraduate course at UPF in Barcelona”. This is the case of Zishan (China), a 24-year-old who studies French: “I have come to the BISS to prepare to study next academic year here at UPF, where I will be doing a master’s degree in International Studies”. In many other cases, the students’ stay in Barcelona is temporary but still leaves its mark, as expressed by Kina (USA), a 22-year-old student of Political Science and Linguistics: “I wanted to have an experience abroad and meet new people, and here you meet people from all over the world”.

The BISS also allows some students to approach topics that interest them but are completely different from what they study during the academic year. This is the case of Jordan Overboe (USA, 21), a university student of Primary Education, and of Jordan Buttar (Canada, 25), who does Psychology and Biology. Both are taking Culture and Business: Spain’s Top brands. J. Overboe explains: “I chose this course because the most prominent brands in Spain offer an interesting perspective not only on brands, but also on cultures and values. In the US, ads are more specific about the product itself, and here there is greater emphasis on the associated values and experiences”. But both students also tell of other reasons for participating in the BISS. “I've always wanted to come to Barcelona and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to study and also explore the city. Regarding the more social aspect of the programme, everyone is very nice and quiet, very welcoming, the teachers are also very friendly and the city is beautiful and everyone is friendly to everyone, it is easy to talk to people”, says J. Buttar.

Josep Ibáñez: “When they return home, these students will be ambassadors of UPF”

For UPF, welcoming students from so many different countries also represents “an excellent opportunity to strengthen its international outlook and its reputation”, Josep Ibáñez explains. In this respect, he concludes: “When they return to their countries, these students will be a kind of UPF ambassadors. They will constitute a channel through which teaching and research collaborations can be fostered between their home universities and UPF. In some cases, we will strengthen existing ties, while in others, we will create new opportunities for collaboration among teachers and between institutions”.