Thinking about the Mediterranean of the 21st Century
The inter-university programme Aula Mediterrània, which this year celebrates its twelfth edition, is an initiative led by the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed). This is only possible thanks to the invaluable collaboration of different Catalan universities that form a university network, expanded this year with two new master’s degrees, which has established itself as an academic hub for analysis and research on the Mediterranean, as well as a key space for the promotion of research and the exchange of knowledge between both shores of the Mediterranean, since it has the presence of professors and researchers from Europe and the Southern Mediterranean.
More than a decade of continuous activity has made Aula Mediterrània a reference thanks to its holistic touch and its interdisciplinary and inclusive approach from different academic perspectives. It is also a meeting point for students, faculties and researchers, experts and journalists interested in the region.
This edition offers 27 lectures that address key issues to understand the social, political, economic and cultural environment of the Euro-Mediterranean region. All of them discussed with the deepest academic rigour, but in a spirit of communication and dissemination designed for a wide audience. The programme of this edition is marked by current regional political events. First, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which will be analysed from the perspectives of international law, the impact on the regional order, and the position of the European Union. We thus focus on opposition movements and economic policies in the countries of the South.
Secondly, we are committed to providing a historical perspective on relations between the two shores of the Mediterranean with lectures on female migration, slavery and diplomacy in early modern history.
Another central line is the migration issue, on which we study the narratives surrounding migrants, the relationship between gender and migration policies, as well as between the latter and the rise of the extreme right in Europe, border control, or the reception of refugees in the region, among other matters.
The programme also focuses on debates related to disinformation, cultural expressions of the countries of the South and diasporas, climate change, and sustainability.
Aula Mediterrània and Aula Árabe Universitaria, an initiative promoted by Casa Árabe, continue the exchange of speakers between the two programmes, thus enriching academic debates on key issues related to the region. Moreover, starting from this edition, the undergraduate students of the Faculty of History and Geography at the University of Barcelona will be able to choose participation in the Lecture Series as an activity to obtain the free-elective credits.
Aula Mediterràniaa invites you to take part in this space of reflection and key dialogue to comprehend the challenges of the Euro-Mediterranean region of the 21st century.
Free entrance
Conference room, IEMed, carrer Girona, 20 – Barcelona (except for some lectures)
LECTURES
Thursday 9th October – Women and Migration in Early Modern History
Tuesday 14th October – Palestine’s Maritime Rights vs Israel’s Bully Take Over: An Exit Path
Thursday 16th October – United Nations and Palestine
Tuesday 21st October – Integrating Migrants for Integrating Regions. Shared Challenges around the Mediterranean
Monday 27th October – The Corsair Mediterranean: Tales of Slaves, Pirates, and Renegades in the Early Modern Era
Tuesday 4th November – The European Union and Palestine: Complicity, Silence and Double Standards
Thursday 13th November – Genoa and Spain: A Mediterranean Axis between Geopolitics, Finance and Trade in the Early Modern Age
Wednesday 19th November – The Black Mediterranean: Diasporic and Ecocritical Anxieties
Monday 24th November – Water Sensitive Urban Design for the Arid Mediterranean in the Context of Climate Change
Thursday 4th December – The Care and Reception of Refugees in the Euro-Mediterranean Region
Thursday 11th December – Spanish-Muslim Diplomacy in the Early Modern Mediterranean: Issues and Challenges
Wednesday 17th December – The Politicization of Local Migration Policy-Making and the Role of the Far Right
Tuesday 13th January – The Transnational Dimension of the Gnawa Music and Rituality
Thursday 22nd January – Safeguarding the Future: UN Challenges, Multilateral Action and Child Protection
Thursday 29th January – The Mediterranean’s Atlantic Route: the African-Canary Islands Necrocorridor
Thursday 5th February – Disinformation and Freedom of Speech in the Euro-Mediterranean Region
Thursday 12th February – TBC
Thursday 19th February – The Construction of Narratives about Migrants in the Euro-Mediterranean Region
Tuesday 24th February – Neoliberalism and Extractivism in Turkey
Tuesday 10th March – Climate Change Adaptation: Impacts on Human Rights in the Mediterranean Region
Thursday 12th March – Gender and Immigration Politics in the Euro-Mediterranean Region
Thursday 16th April – The Fifteen Wars of Israel against Gaza
Tuesday 21st April – Borders Control and Search and Rescue (SAR) Obligations in the Mediterranean: Between Human Rights and Security
Tuesday 28th April – TBC
Thursday 7th May – A New “New Middle East”? Regional Order after 7 October 2023
Thursday 14th May – From Oil to AI: the Middle East’s Quest for Digital Autonomy
Thursday 21st May – Opposition Learning as Capitulation: Leftist Parties’ Trajectories in the Middle East and North Africa
DIPLOMA OF ATTENDANCE
People who have attended 40% of the sessions (11 sessions) in person may request a diploma of attendance awarded by the IEMed, issued jointly with the master’s programmes participating in the cycle. In case you want to apply for the diploma, please complete the form on the following linK: registration form
This year the twinning with Casa Árabe’s Aula Árabe Universitaria programme, which began five years ago, is maintained. This is reflected in: 1) the exchange of speakers between both programmes in Madrid and Barcelona, when agendas allow it; (2) the organisation of joint seminars; and 3) the recognition of the respective lectures in terms of certification, thanks to the possibility of connecting live to them online. In other words, if Aula Árabe Universitaria students connect online to an Aula Mediterrània lecture, that attendance will be recognised in order to acquire the Aula Árabe Universitaria certificate (up to a maximum of 2 lectures). In the same way, Aula Mediterrània students who connect online to one of the Aula Árabe Universitaria lectures will have their attendance recognised by the Aula Mediterrània certificate (also a maximum of 2 lectures).
DIPLOMA OF ATTENDANCE AT THE MIGRATION MODULE
People who have attended in person (with the exception of the session of 19 March) the 8 sessions organised by: Master’s Degree in Governance – Migration Studies Track, GRITIM-UPF; Master’s Degree in Urban Anthropology, Migrations and Social Intervention, URV; Master’s Degree in Migratory Movements in the 21st Century: Concepts, Realities and Actions, UdG, and Master’s Degree in Contemporary Migrations, Rights and Social Cohesion, UAB/UB.
Undergraduate students from the Department of History and Geography of the UB who have chosen the Aula Mediterrània Lecture Series as an activity for the recognition of elective credits must attend 70% of the sessions in person.
Aula Mediterrània awards
Additionally, the programme organises the Aula Mediterrània awards for the best Final Master’s Thesis:
Open call (to be announced)
MASTERS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAMME
Master’s Degree in Contemporary Migrations, Rights and Social Cohesion, UAB/UB; IBEI Master’s Degrees; Master’s Degree in History and Identities in the Western Mediterranean, 15th-19th Centuries, UB/UA/UV/Universitat Jaume I; Master’s Degree in Diplomacy and International Organisations, CEI/UB; Master’s Degree in Lifelong Learning in Sustainability. Environment, Society, and Economy CEI/UB; Master’s Degree in International Relations, Security and Development, UAB; Master’s Degree in International Journalism, Blanquerna-URL; Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in International Affairs, Blanquerna-URL; Universitat Abat Oliba CEU; Master’s Degree in Construction and Representation of Cultural Identities, UB; Master’s Degree in World History, UPF; Master’s Degree in Governance – Migration Studies Track; Master’s Degree in Urban Anthropology, Migrations and Social Intervention, URV; Master’s Degree in Migratory Movements in the 21st Century: Concepts, Realities and Actions, UdG; Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture, ETSAB-UPC; Master’s Degree in Internationalisation: Economic, Business and Legal-Political Aspects, UB; Master’s Degree in Contemporary History and Today’s World, UB
Agenda (PDF)
Knowledge and interdisciplinary academic research on Mediterranean issues
Aula Mediterrània is held since 2014 in coordination with more than a dozen master’s degree programmes from different universities that, in their syllabuses, teach content related to the Euro-Mediterranean region, and especially to the Middle East and North Africa. The aim of Aula Mediterrània is to support knowledge and research on Mediterranean issues and contribute to the internationalisation of local academia through the opportunity to mobilise experts, academics and actors who are relevant in the knowledge and study of the Mediterranean environment. Through this programme, they have the opportunity to network with universities around the world.
The programme has three pillars: a series of lectures, an academic seminar and the Aula Awards for the Best Master’s Degree Final Projects on Mediterranean issues.
Since the 2020-2021 academic year, Aula Mediterrània has twinned with the newcomer Aula Árabe, promoted by Casa Árabe from 2019-2020, to expand the range of lectures and encourage exchange between participants in both programmes.
Organisers
