The Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at NYU Arts & Science (CEMS) has collaborated with the Institut Ramon Llull on a new visiting professorship program in Catalan Studies.
Beginning in fall of 2023, an annually-appointed guest lecturer will add a Catalan perspective to many of the global cultural issues CEMS engages with, including art, immigration, race, and other questions connected with European and Mediterranean identities. “This will be a fantastic opportunity to strengthen NYU and CEMS’ broader study of the Mediterranean region by bringing in creative scholars and public figures with expertise in Catalan culture,” remarked CEMS director Stephen Gross.
The program’s inaugural visiting professor will be Carles Guerra. Guerra has also been director of the festival Primavera Fotogràfica de Catalunya, the Virreina Centre de la Imatge, and head curator of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona. From 2015 to 2020 he was director of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies. His research focuses on dialogue as a practice in the areas of art and visual culture. He has been an associated professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, professor at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, and has curated a wide range of art exhibits. Guerra is currently curating a 2024 exhibition at the New York American Folk Art Museum focused on Francesc Tosquelles, an avant-garde Catalan psychiatrist.
CEMS is NYU’s interdisciplinary hub for teaching, research and programming on Europe and the Mediterranean, from both historical and contemporary perspectives. CEMS faculty lead research and teaching in European energy and climate policy, technology studies, food security, identity, geopolitics, immigration, democratic institutions, and populism and nationalism, collaborating with colleagues across Arts & Science and NYU. Offering undergraduate and master’s degree programs, joint degrees with the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU Arts & Science, and support for doctoral candidates in related disciplines across the University, CEMS also maintains an active calendar of workshops, lectures and conferences, many of which are open to the public.
While at NYU, the guest lecturers will participate in CEMS seminars as well as presenting a public lecture about their scholarship, which will be co-hosted by KJCC at NYU Arts & Science, which has a long tradition of supporting creative and scholarly projects on Catalonia.
Directed by Pere Almeda, the Institut Ramon Llull promotes Catalan language and culture internationally. The Institut collaborates and supports artists, institutions, entities and festivals, while encouraging exchange and collaboration in the fields of literature and translation, studies of Catalan studies, performing arts, cinema, music, visual arts, design and architecture. Based in Barcelona, the Institut has offices in Berlin, London, New York and Paris.