Fifth Seminar on Ibero-American Studies: “Spanish Language and Culture in Great Britain: the example of Oxford University”. The aim of this international seminar was to convey in Bangladesh the perception of the Spanish language and culture held by a prestigious British university, namely Oxford University.

The 5th Seminar on Ibero-American Studies was held on January 21st and 22nd at the Inditex Chair of Spanish Language and Culture at the University of Dhaka; the director of the Chair for the 2019 – 2021 biennium is Santiago Fernández Mosquera, full professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela. The aim of this international seminar was to convey in Bangladesh the perception of the Spanish language and culture held by a prestigious British university, namely Oxford University. To this end, four professors from this institution – Jonathan Thacker, Diana Berruezo-Sánchez, Ben Bollig and Oliver Noble Wood – together with Amparo Rodrigo Mateu, one of the professors from the Inditex Chair itself, developed a series of lectures for the students and professors from the University of Dhaka, in order to present the teaching and research activities that have historically been carried out by their university, as well as in the United Kingdom in general, regarding not only the literature but also the culture of Spain and Latin America.

The presence of hispanists from such a prestigious academic institution highlighted the importance of the relationships between the Inditex Chair and the most representative academic spheres outside the scope of the Spanish language itself; it was also possible for students and professors from Bangladesh to become familiar with new accents and different perspectives of the language and culture that at the moment is being studied by approximately five hundred students at the Inditex Chair.

The seminar was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Chancellor of the University of Dhaka, and included speeches by the Spanish ambassador to Bangladesh, Mr. Álvaro de Salas Jiménez de Azcárate and by the director of the Chair, professor Fernández Mosquera. The event was also attended by the Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation from the University of A Coruña, Ms. Pilar García de la Torre and the current deputy director of the same university, professor María Josefa Martínez López.

Seminar Program