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School of Modern Languages

Centre for Galician Studies in Wales

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About the Centre

The Centre for Galician Studies aims to constitute both a forum and a motor for interdisciplinary encounters and research about contemporary Galicia, in Wales and in the UK. Our chief wish is to promote a dialogue (both within and outside academic networks) where contemporary Galician culture, language and politics, (also their characteristic paradoxes and contrasts) are approached from multiple perspectives, seen through different eyes, articulated by international voices. Issues pertaining to bilingualism and cultural identity and their relevance to both Galician and Welsh culture will be of particular interest, fostering a productive intercultural dialogue.

Contacts

Director: Dr Helena Miguélez-Carballeira
(h.m.carballeira@bangor.ac.uk)

Galician Assistant: Ms Ánxeles Torres Padín
(a.torres-padin@bangor.ac.uk)

About Galicia

Galicia is an Autonomous Community of Spain and one of the three so-called Historical Nationalities of the country, together with the Basque Country and Catalonia. It is situated in the North-West of the Iberian peninsula, on the Atlantic coast. Historically, Galicia’s specific language and culture have been the least internationally visible of the three historical communities, a trend which current expanding interest on the region is beginning to counteract. For a detailed account of the history of Galicia and its language follow this link.

Studying Galician

Galician is one of the four co-official languages of Spain and is spoken by almost three million people. Studying Galician will develop your understanding of the Iberian peninsula as a thriving composite of different historical cultures and, due to the language’s links to Portuguese, it will also bring you into contact with Lusophone countries and their history.

Galician is an optional component of any Bangor degree with Spanish as a named element, or it is a core component of our Single Honours Spanish degree. Provision of Galician modules includes:

LZS2028 Galician I
LZS2029 Galician II
LXS2024 History of Galicia
LXS3018 Contemporary Galician Narrative

Year Abroad in Galicia

You can study as a Socrates student at three Galician universities: the University of Santiago de Compostela (www.usc.es), the University of Vigo (www.uvigo.es), and the University of A Coruña (www.udc.es).

You can be an English language assistant at a Galician primary or secondary school. If you are interested in this option contact your Spanish year abroad tutor, Jordi Cornellà (j.cornella@bangor.ac.uk).

Galician Summer Schools

All three Galician universities now offer Galician summer schools that both students and adult learners can apply for. These summer schools, usually held during the month of July, are designed to endow the foreign student with a very good grounding in both the language and culture of Galicia. All thee also include numerous day trips and excursions into some of the most beautiful and historically important locations in the region. Here are some details:

  • The University of Santiago de Compostela and the Institute of the Galician Language (ILG) offer Galician summer courses for foreign students at elementary, intermediate and advanced level. The main aim of this course is to give the student the opportunity to acquire familiarity with the Galician language and its sociocultural situation. Apart from Galician language lessons and introductory lectures to the literature and history of Galicia, this course includes a series of excursions and visits to places of chief cultural and scenic interest. To find out more about this course visit:  http://www.usc.es/ilgas/cursos_gex08/cursos_gl.html.
  • The Galician Summer School offered by the University of A Coruña is held at the Faculty of Philology within the University campus. It includes 80 hours of class during the month of July. The registration fee is of 60 Euro. For more details about this summer course please contact Dr Carme Fernández Pérez-Sanjulián at carme@udc.es.
  • The Galician Summer School organised by the University of Vigo offers a very interesting and innovative format. All matriculated students are taken to the town of Allariz and to the city of Vigo, and they will be accommodated in both places for the whole duration of the course. Students will receive around 60 hours of taught contact hours. The course also includes day and afternoon trips to A Guarda, Tui, Santiago de Compostela, Celanova, Riberia Sacra, etc and a series of cultural activities including music concerts, short story readings, etc. Matriculation fee is 90 Euros. For more details about this summer course please contact the Linguistic Normalization Area at anl@uvigo.es.

All Galician summer schools offer bursaries of up to 450 Euros for their students. To find out more about them and how to apply for student bursaries, contact Marta Prego Graña (a.torres-padin@bangor.ac.uk).

Newsletter

We are producing a yearly newsletter in Galician which is available for free download here (PDF format, right-click to save locally).