Our mission and what we do

The Inditex Chair of Spanish Language and Culture is the tangible outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding entered into by Inditex, within the framework of its Corporate Social Responsibility policy, the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), the University of A Coruña (Spain) and the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh).

Our mission is to promote the presence of Spanish language and culture in Bangladesh through a variety of academic and cultural activities, including full-year courses in Spanish language and culture, a student mobility grant scheme and a programme of top-line exhibitions and performances.

2016 has seen the introduction of a teacher-training programme aimed at incorporating University of Dhaka graduates as members of faculty of the Chair.

Our history

On 30 April 2010 Inditex entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh) to create the Inditex Chair of Spanish Language and Culture. On the same day, Inditex, the University of Santiago de Compostela Spain), the University of A Coruña (Spain) and the University of Dhaka signed a joint working agreement to develop and deliver the Chair’s activities for the benefit of the University of Dhaka’s student body.

The Inditex Group funded the building and fitting out of the Chair’s facilities in the Institute of Modern Languages (IML) and has financially supported its educational and cultural activities from 2011 to the present day.

The Chair’s teaching activity commenced in 2011 under the academic leadership of Professor Guillermo Rojo (USC), who was followed by Professor Mauro Fernández (UDC) from 2013 to 2015, and subsequently by Professor Santiago Fernández Mosquera (USC), from 2015 to 2017 and from 2019 to 2021, and by Professor María José Martínez López (UDC) from 2017 to 2019 and from 2021 to 2023. During this time the Chair has offered year-long courses in Spanish language and culture open not only to the University of Dhaka’s student body but also to the general public. The Chair’s facilities have also housed a wide range of cultural activities such as film cycles, lectures and talks, amongst others. Another area in which the Chair has been constantly active is organising and sponsoring other types of cultural activity and art exhibitions in partnership with institutions such as the Spanish Embassy in Dhaka, the Bengal Art Foundation, the Samdani Foundation and other local, European or international bodies.

Facilities and resources

The Chair has its home on the third floor of the Institute of Modern Languages (IML) building at the University of Dhaka’s Nilkhet Road Campus, where it occupies purpose-designed premises that include classrooms, meeting rooms, a library, a resource centre and offices for members of faculty.

All the Chair's classrooms are fully equipped with projectors, laptops and broadband Wi-Fi to enable faculty and students to use state-of-the-art educational technology, on-line teaching and learning resources and an infinite variety of authentic material.