The opening ceremony was attended by Professor Sherine Farhat, last year's winner of the Fred Halliday Award

Yesterday saw the inauguration of the third edition of the Barcelona Summer School of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, co-organised by the Barcelona Institute of International Studies (IBEI), Blanquerna-Universitat Ramon Llull, the European Institute of the Mediterranean and Catalonia International, which will run until 5 July.

Sherine Farhat, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic Cultures at the University of California Riverside and winner of the 2023 Fred Halliday Award, was the guest speaker at the opening lecture: Making and Unmaking the Tale of the "Saracen" (in the European Mediterranean): The case of Sicily.  The event, which took place at the Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona, was also attended by Professor Suad Joseph, distinguished research professor of Anthropology and Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at the University of California Riverside, and Umut Özkırımlı, academic director of the Barcelona Summer School.

This year's edition of the summer school includes a series of courses on politics and international relations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, taught by renowned experts. The courses are interactive and face-to-face. The topics covered include religious engagement and migration, conflict resolution, connections, alliances and influences in the region and the global south, and gender and decolonisation, among others. The programme also includes a course on scientific writing techniques and their basic components, such as logical argumentation, persuasion and social science writing style, as well as cultural outings and visits.