The UAB to focus the 2026/27 academic year on Catalan culture
Throughout the 2026/27 academic year, the UAB will be running an institutional campaign centred around Catalan culture. The inaugural lecture, the new edition of the Science Carriage, and other institutional activities will focus on the multiple aspects of Catalan culture with the same strong commitment in disseminating its culture that the UAB has always had, from its inception to the present day. In this way, the University seeks to share with the university community the open nature of a culture that has become a factor for coexistence—something highly relevant in the current context of threats to democratic values and the rise of identity-based extremism.
Culture goes beyond a set of aesthetic expressions or recognised traditions; it encompasses everything humans are capable of creating to give meaning to life and the world. Thus, we can speak of national cultures just as we do of scientific, gastronomic, or political culture, for all of them shape a way of being and existing in the world.
Since its origins, Catalan culture has operated simultaneously through a logic of continuity and change, permanence and adaptation, tradition and modernity, and uniqueness and universality. Today, Catalan culture must be understood as a meeting point and a democratic project of progress that is both unique and universal. The UAB aims to reflect this wealth of perspectives through a series of institutional activities organised throughout the academic year.
And, naturally, language will be a key theme. On 2 October, American linguist Mary Ann Newman will kick off the academic year dedicated to Catalan culture by delivering the opening lecture at the UAB's inaugural event. The event will take place at 12:30 p.m. in the Rectorat building’s conference hall and will also serve as the official opening ceremony for the entire Catalan university system. It will be presided over by UAB Rector Javier Lafuente and the President of the Government of Catalonia, Salvador Illa. The event will be streamed live on the UAB's YouTube channel.
Another initiative centred on the Catalan culture this year will be the Science Carriage. This unique project by the UAB and the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya offers a space for communicating science and innovation within an in-service train carriage, offering passengers the chance to learn about research findings with the aim of improving society's scientific and technical education. The exhibition featured in the carriage—along with the accompanying audio guides and podcasts to be released throughout the academic year—will explore the multiple approaches to Catalan culture from various academic fields.
This institutional campaign builds upon previous ones that have helped strengthen the UAB’s commitment to disseminating knowledge and science; in earlier years, the UAB focused on the themes of diversity, the reduction of fossil fuels, and mental health.
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