Talks for secondary school students
This programme of talks aims to prepare secondary school students aged between fifteen and seventeen to take part in debates about today’s world.
Listening to the Rainforest: Words of a Yanomami Wise Man
A Morning with Davi Kopenawa
Davi Kopenawa, spiritual and political spokesperson of the Yanomami people and a world leader in the defence of the rights of indigenous communities, will be talking to us about his people’s intimate relationship with the rainforest and the tragic implications of its destruction. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) so that the students can work on the contents beforehand in the classroom and thus make the most out of the lecture. ...
Books about Us
A Morning with Tsitsi Dangarembga
Writer and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga defends the power of storytelling and imagination as means to self-knowledge and emancipation, and defends the importance of a literature that reflects the voices and the experiences of the people who are often sidelined. This conversation takes places within the framework of Resident CCCB, an international residency program of the CCCB in collaboration with Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and supported by Fundació Privada MIR-PUIG. ...
Quantum Computers: The Coming Revolution
A Morning with Ignacio Cirac
Ignacio Cirac, world leader in quantum computing research, talks about the huge transformations that this new technology will entail, a paradigm shift that will transform all fields in which computing is used, with a scope that is still difficult to predict, as are its social implications.
Archaeology of the Jungle
A Morning with Eduardo Neves
Eduardo Neves, the archaeologist of reference in the study of the Amazon jungle, overturns the false conception of “virgin forest” and shows how Amazonia today is the product of thousands of years of indigenous occupation. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in ...
Defending the Rights of the Jungle
A morning with Patricia Gualinga
In this conversation, Patricia Gualinga, leader of the Kichwa people and renowned activist, will be talking about the Living Forest and the resistance of her people, an international reference in the defence of indigenous territorial and cultural rights. The session has a pedagogical ...
The Cultures of the Jungle
A morning with Rember Yahuarcani
Artist Rember Yahuarcani, a well-known painter and activist from the north of Amazonia in Peru, talks about the ancestral history of the Witoto people of the Amazon jungle and the potential of making indigenous cultures known. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) ...
Art that Has Meaning
A morning with William kentridge
Is the image of a table a table? For versatile contemporary artist William Kentridge, a table can also be seen as a phase in the existence of a tree. In his work, images resist being fixed as hard-and-fast meanings and artistic practice becomes an open process that seeks to understand the world ...
Africa: Decolonizing Knowledge
A morning with Oyèrónké Oyewùmí
Sociologist Oyèrónké Oyewùmí highlights the need to deuniversalize the way we understand the world and the role of Africa as a producer of knowledge. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) so that the students can work on the contents ...
The Seduction of Lies
A morning with Zadie Smith
Writer Zadie Smith talks about the weight of imposture and the effects of false beliefs in our society after the publication of her book The Fraud (2023). The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) so that the students can work on the contents beforehand ...
A morning with Patrick Radden Keefe
Journalism and the boundaries of truth
Renowned journalist and author Patrick Radden Keefe reflects on the importance of investigative journalism and the consequences of giving up on uncovering and defending the truth. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) to prepare and to work on the contents in the classroom.
A morning with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Racism, resistance and reparation
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, renowned historian and activist, lecturer in Afro-American Studies at Princeton University, talks about the origins and effects of racial discrimination and the power of anti-racist movements. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) to prepare and to ...
A morning with Helga Nowotny
AI: A Time Machine
Artificial Intelligence has become a powerful prediction tool. An increasing number of instruments are enabling us to see the present and possible outcomes of what awaits us as humanity. In this talk, Helga Nowotny, a sociologist specializing in science and technology reflects on digital ...
A morning with Brenda Navarro
Adolescence: A Strange Country
Conversation with writer and sociologist Brenda Navarro about the difficulty of belonging, the feeling of not fitting in and the power of affection in adolescence as themes running through the plot of her latest novel. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) to prepare and ...
A morning with Pol Guasch
Friends and Imaginaries
Friendship is a fundamental relationship that is often little talked about. To coincide with his latest novel Ofert a les mans, el paradís crema (Anagrama, 2023), writer Pol Guasch invites us to extend the imaginaries surrounding friendship in a conversation about this ...
A morning with Gerard Coll-Planas
Untangling Violence
Sociologist and specialist in gender and sexuality Gerard Coll-Planas offers a complex look at gender violence by visibilizing all the inequalities affecting our relationships. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) to prepare and to work on the contents in the classroom.
A morning with Fina Birulés
Thinking about the World from Philosophy
The philosopher Fina Birulés, citing Hannah Arendt and other renowned thinkers, upholds the role of philosophy as a place from which to understand and act in the world. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) to prepare and to work on the contents in the classroom.
A morning with Louise Amoore
Responsible Algorithms?
What will be the impact of the political use of algorithms? Louise Amoore analyses the biases and lack of transparency in the use of artificial intelligence and, accordingly, the new ethical paradigm that confronts us.. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) to prepare and ...
A morning with Lluís Nacenta
AI and Creativity
On the occasion of the Artificial Intelligence exhibition at the CCCB, the researcher Lluís Nacenta describes some of the questions raised by artificial intelligence in the debate about creativity. The session has a pedagogical dossier (in Catalan) to prepare and to work on the ...
A morning with David Farrier
Fossils of the Future
David Farrier suggests that we could imagine our life as the fossils it will make, and thus become aware of the indelible traces we leave as a legacy for future generations as a necessary step if we are to question and rethink our present way of life. The session has a pedagogical dossier ...
A morning with Gaston Core and Mònica Miró
The Power of Poetry: From the Iliad to Rap
The choreographer and performer Gaston Core and the expert in classical culture Mònica Miró ponder the power of the word in the piece “Before Nightfall”, which offers a re-reading of the Iliad from a contemporary point of view. The session has a pedagogical ...
A morning with Rada Akbar
Voices That Resound in Art
In recent years, the Taliban regime has been making the Afganistan's women invisible and mute. In this session, he artist and photographer Rada Akbar speaks with sociologist Miquel Missé about how art can provide a channel of communication for silenced voices, and how it can become a ...
A morning with Lea Ypi
What Does Being Free Mean?
The political philosopher Lea Ypi was eleven years old when her country, Albania, began its transition from communism to a liberal democratic system. In this session, Ypi shares her experience, while also questioning the communist idea of freedom as well as considering the promises of justice ...
A morning with Cas Mudde
Battling the extreme right
The dangers of immigration, hate towards feminist movements and gender and sexual diversity, or scepticism towards democracy, are just some of the toxic messages the extrem right propagates. Political scientist Cas Muddle dissects the present-day rise of right-wing extremist movements, offering ...
A morning with Fatima Bhutto
New global pop
Korean K-pop group BTS is all the rage, Turkish soap operas, or dizi, triumph on TV, and Bollywood movies move masses—what is going on in new global pop? Pakistan-born writer Fatima Bhutto draws us into domains that are slowly but surely finding their way onto our screens and into social media, displacing the centralism of popular culture of a strictly Western origin.
A morning with Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil
Other Languages, Other Knowledge
Every culture and every language is a window from where to interpret and change the world. Linguist, writer and activist Yásnaya Elena A. Gil defends the value of minority cultures and languages, not only as spaces where their speakers can create community, but also as tools for resistance ...
A morning with Cristina Rivera Garza
Intimate Violences
Chat with Cristina Rivera Garza based on her book El invencible verano de Liliana, where she denounces the cycle of gender violence and femicides based on her personal experience.
A morning with Miquel del Pozo
The untidy brain
Architect and popularizer of art Miquel del Pozo invites us on a journey through art history to reflect upon the paradox of identity: we will see how artists from different eras have illustrated texts from Antiquity and we will look at how mythological narratives and these images of the past are still fully valid today and they tell us about us (and others).
A morning with David Bueno
The untidy brain
What happens to the brain with the onset of puberty? Why do we feel so many emotions, ups and downs, and turmoil in adolescence? Neuroscientist and educator David Bueno talks to students about changes in their brains in one of the most important stages of their lives
A morning with Jordi Camí
The illusionist brain
How do magicians make us see the impossible? In this talk, we are looking by the hands of Jordi Camí at the latest discoveries in neuroscience and showing how magic “hacks” our mind and reveals its automatic functioning.
A morning with Carolin Emcke
A right has never been won forever
Philosopher and journalist Carolin Emcke, accompanied by trans sociologist and activist Miquel Missé, reflects with the students on the collective effort to maintain an open and plural society, at a critical time when rights and freedoms that we believed were guaranteed stagger.
A morning with Marina Garcés
The time of promises
In this exercise in collective imagination the philosopher Marina Garcés invites young people in our city to delete the questions of fear and make the future a time for promises.
A Moring with Burhan Sönmez
Freedom of expression and the role of literature
At a time when collective rights and freedoms are in danger in Europe, the Turkish writer Burhan Sönmez defends the importance of dissent and radical commitment to democratic values.
A Morning with Alec MacGillis
Living in the shadow of Amazon
The investigative journalist Alec MacGillis talks about today’s consequences of a digital economy in the hands of technological giants like Amazon.
A morning with Judith Schalansky
Inventory of the Imagination
Accompanied by fellow writer Inés Macpherson, Schalansky talks about the power of imagination to invent possible futures or alternative worlds, but also to think of a different present or evoke the past and make it as or more "real" than the real past.
A morning with Gerard Talavera
Learning from Butterflies
Gerard Talavera tell us about his travels through nature studying butterflies, and he talks about the importance of learning about nature to get a better understanding of the world we live in and to take on global challenges such as the climate crisis.
A morning with Yayo Herrero
Rethinking our relationship with the planet
The anthropologist and engineer Yayo Herrero talks with secondary school students about how we can rethink our relationship with the planet by adopting an ecofeminist approach, proposing alternative forms of economic and political reorganisation to recreate the broken bonds between humankind and nature.
A morning with Patrick Boucheron
How is History made?
Patrick Boucheron talks with secondary school students about the profession of the historian and the ethical and political implications of this work in an age in which fake news and the rise of the far right have gained ascendancy.
A morning with Nadia Ghulam
Being a Refugee: Surviving in Adversity
Nadia Ghulam, an Afghan refugee, writer, and activist now residing in Barcelona, talks about her own life story and her experiences when speaking about it with others.
A morning with Marta Segarra
What does it mean to be a feminist today?
In this session with secondary school students, Marta Segarra, Professor of French Literature and Gender Studies, shares her thoughts on present-day feminisms.
A morning with Kate Clanchy
Why do we need poetry?
Kate Clanchy describes her own relationship with poetry as both a well-known British writer and as a teacher in a small school in Oxford, where she has introduced poetry to her pupils with surprising results.
A morning with Cesc Gelabert
Conferences for High School students
In a time when reality is more and more virtual and when communication frequently occurs at a distance, the renowned dancer Cesc Gelabert talks about the need to recover awareness of our bodies, the place where our hearts and minds reside.
A morning with Åsa Wikforss
Knowledge Resistance
Expert on the philosophical and psychological aspects of knowledge-resistance, Åsa Wikforss speaks about the mechanisms and types of reasoning that tend to protect one’s identity, and about the best way to counter this phenomenon that questions well-established facts and that has negative consequences for our society.
A morning with Sonia Fernández-Vidal
Quantum Physics: Reality or Fiction?
The physicist Sonia Fernández-Vidal reveals to us some of the scientific discoveries that can bring us closer to many dreams and fantasies (invisibility, teleportation, time travel, et cetera) while also helping us to understand the importance of scientific research for the evolution of humanity and observing the directions in which science is moving today.
A Morning with Rita Segato
Debates with Adolescents
In this session with secondary school students, Rita Laura Segato presents her thoughts about sexist violence against women, which she has studied and analysed in terms of its relationship with capitalism and the values on which it is constructed. Rita Laura Segato is professor of Anthropology ...
Judith Butler. Gender and sexuality for teenagers
Discussion with Miquel Missé and 300 students
A fundamental figure in contemporary thought, Judith Butler talks with sociologist Miquel Missé for an audience of 300 high school students. Butler and Missé discuss topics such as identity, gender, and sexuality in a lively debate with the students. This dialogue allows us to ...
Gaël Faye
A Conversation with Xavier Aldekoa
French-Burundian rapper and novelist Gaël Faye speaks with journalist Xavier Aldekoa, Africa correspondent for La Vanguardia. The search for the lost paradise of childhood is one of the central themes of Faye’s first novel Small Country (Hogarth, 2018), in which ...
Lydia Cacho
Trafficking and gender equality
Lydia Cacho is a journalist and writer, known for his activism as a human rights defender. Investigated and reported on human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women and children in Mexico and abroad. This work report, which involved representatives of the Mexican political class, ...