The University of Barcelona

Where we are

The University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Geography and History has been considered a premier institution for teaching, studying and researching anthropology, archaeology, geography, history and art history since it was founded in 1975. As a member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), the UB is one of the few European universities that has the scientific expertise necessary to establish its own genuine research policy and to invest in the strategic value of training researchers with the aim of promoting international research.

Our Faculty is located in the Raval Building, situated in one of the most central areas of Barcelona.  Together with the Historic Building, in the nearby Plaça de la Universitat, it makes up the Humanities Campus. The Faculty hosts more than 4,500 students and 240 professors and lecturers every year. It offers four EHEA bachelor’s degree courses, four first- and second-cycle undergraduate degree courses, university master’s degree courses, UB-specific master’s and postgraduate degree courses and doctoral programmes.

What we do! Public Archaeology and Heritage Group

The GAPP (Grup d’Arqueologia Pública i Patrimoni/Public Archaeology and Heritage Group) is made up of researchers from the University of Barcelona. The initiative arose in 2014 out of an interest in addressing issues related to social archaeology, public archaeology and archaeological ethnography.

GAPP is an international team that looks at public archaeology and community heritage from different perspectives: cultural tourism, world heritage, citizen participation, dissonant and contested heritage, migration and the conservation of cultural assets. The group undertakes projects related to heritage from an inclusive and social perspective, addressing the problems of today’s society. The team’s priorities are to develop new methodologies in social heritage and to undertake participative projects that give voice to society and serve as a bridge between society, academia and the institutions dealing with archaeological heritage management. You can see its publications here.

We enjoy organising activities in which citizens can give voice to their own heritage, including time capsules and participatory walks (Figs. 3-4). Twice per semester we organise a series of “Heritage Dialogues” (that we call Converses Patrimonials) in which specialists from different disciplines can share their experiences in an open, reflective and critical way (Fig.5).