All the sessions for the last day of the Summer Institute took place at NYU Madrid, focusing on the contrasts and connections between urban and rural areas through historical, cultural, and literary perspectives. The day began with the panel “Urban and Rural Spaces,” introduced by Pedro Cabello (CUNY), which explored interpretations of urban and rural environments and their interconnections. Wiktoria Bryzys (Boston University) kicked off the session with her presentation on the city-as-bride trope in “The ‘Romance of Abenámar’ and the Poetry of al-Mu’tamid,” proposing a new source for the Romance that led to an interpretation emphasizing the agent role of the personified city of Granada. Following her, Montserrat García Rodenas (Georgetown) discussed “ruinification” in audiovisual artifacts within the national Iberian landscape of the 20th-21st century, examining how ruins serve as archives and recall futures that never came to be. Eva Álvarez Vázquez (UMass Amherst) concluded the panel by addressing the erasure of working-class memories in the 1980s from a gender perspective, using recent documentaries and RTVE news archives as primary sources. The ensuing Q&A session delved into topics such as gentrification, the social nature of ruins, class pride, and gender.
This engaging panel set the stage for the afternoon’s roundtable, “La España desindustrializada,” moderated by Luke Bowe. Featuring filmmaker Luis López Carrasco (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha), historian Rubén Vega García (Universidad de Oviedo), and journalist Aitana Castaño, the roundtable continued the exploration of Spain’s socio-economic history. López Carrasco addressed the possibility of dismantling the monolithic narratives of Spain as an emerging economic power, underscoring the importance of cultural production in giving voice to marginalized communities. Vega García emphasized the crucial role historians play in shaping memory, noting that their efforts often get overshadowed by audiovisual and literary representations. He proposed fostering a more fluid dialogue between different media and discourses. Castaño turned the focus to narrating Asturias’ history from the perspective of Asturians, particularly the mining communities. She discussed the talks she gave at schools about her graphic novel Carboneras as an example of efforts to convey these stories to younger generations. The Q&A session brought forth discussions on memory, narrative fragmentation, and solidarity among women in Asturias and the mining community, fostering a sustained conversation on the day’s theme.
After a lunch break, the session “eltaller Reads Together,” one of our most well-received formats every year, featured a conversation between Brais Lamela (Yale), author of Ninguén queda, this year’s chosen novel which participants read beforehand, and Germán Labrador (Princeton). The discussion was conducted in Galician with simultaneous translation into English, reflecting the group’s commitment to promoting the diverse languages spoken within the Iberian Peninsula. The room was arranged in a circular, laid-back setting to foster open discussion. The conversation began by exploring the personal relationship between Lamela’s dissertation and his novel, highlighting what the novel offers that an academic publication does not. They discussed the use of microhistory to address collective experiences and the blending of genres in both research and fiction. Next, they examined the search for a way back home, focusing on autobiographical elements and the motif of returning, particularly the connections between the U.S. and Galicia. Lamela’s relationship with archival work was also a key point of discussion. The themes of colonization and the violent transformation of territory were analyzed, along with a debate with the public on whether Ninguén queda can be understood as a campus novel.
The last panel of the day, “New Directions in Iberian Studies,” aimed to end the Summer Institute with a forward-looking discussion featuring new and promising scholars shaping the future of the field. Moderated by James Fernandez, director of NYU Madrid, the session included presentations by Ameya Tripathi (NYU), Rafael Arjona (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), and Lola Visgerio (Centro de Estudios del Museo Reina Sofía). Tripathi reflected on how the week’s presentations made him reconsider his own book project, Documents of Revolution: Literacy, Translation, and Internationalism in the Spanish Civil War, which explores geographic connections, movements, diaspora, and temporalities, centering on the construction of national identity. His work argues that documents produced in this context require an anti-colonial understanding. Arjona discussed his project on identity and memory in the contemporary Sephardic world, focusing on interviews with those who applied for citizenship through Spain’s 2015 law that grants nationality to Sephardi Jews with a connection to Spain. He aimed to highlight modern Sephardic identities and their relationship with Spain. Visgerio examined leftist artistic groups’ efforts to create an alternative Andalusian identity from the late 20th century onwards, addressing the neglect of contemporary Andalusian art in historical narratives and emphasizing the importance of ephemeral materials like fanzines and posters. The discussion soon shifted to themes of reparations and Spanish identity, debating why Sephardic Jews received reparations while moriscos did not, and examining the sentimental bond between Sephardic Jews and Spain. They also highlighted the transnational connections of Andalusia and Jewish American brigadiers during the Spanish Civil War. The Q&A session underscored the importance of academic exchange and interdisciplinarity, the interaction between contemporary artistic practices and academic research, and the challenges of gaining global interest in local topics within the publishing world. This concluding panel effectively reinforced the Summer Institute’s commitment to exploring new directions in the field and fostering innovative research in Iberian Studies.