Beyond Gaudí: Barcelona's Narratives in Art, Lit, and Cinema

Undergraduate / Graduate

In this course we will embark on a virtual journey through the streets and hidden corners of contemporary Barcelona, treating the city itself as a living museum and a dynamic text. Using art, cinema, literature, and even street art as our guides, we will explore how Barcelona's urban landscape has become a canvas for cultural expression in the 21st century. Moving beyond the monumental works of the past, we will focus on the city as it has been reimagined since the 1992 Olympic Games. We will ask: How do modern artists, writers, and filmmakers map the soul of this metropolis? How is the city's identity negotiated in its public spaces, from the tourist-filled Gothic Quarter to the post-industrial workshops of Poblenou? Each week, we will "visit" a different neighborhood or explore a theme, using cultural works as our lens to understand the tensions between tradition and globalization, the impact of tourism, the voices of its diverse communities, and the politics of urban space in a cultural exploration of the living, breathing city of today.