The Institut Ramon Llull ensures that the Catalan language and culture remain present throughout the world. The XarxaLlull, which is a university network that promotes Catalan studies internationally, plays a crucial role in achieving our mission by organising and promoting courses, chairs, academic, and cultural events across 135 universities worldwide. Catalan teachers, who play the leading role in the network, will meet from 16 to 19 July at the Jaume I University of Castelló de la Plana, where the 38th International Conferences for Catalan Teachers will be held. This event serves as a meeting place and venue for debates and reflections, where teaching projects and experiences are shared to enhance the quality and innovation of teaching and consolidate the presence of Catalan abroad. On this occasion, 82 teachers from 24 countries will participate.

The successful consolidation of the XarxaLlull allows us to take a step forward and commit to international research and specialisation in Catalan studies. The Language and Universities Area of the IRL is focused on four lines of action: expanding teaching points to prestigious universities like University College Dublin (Ireland), Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris (France) and Brown University in Providence (United States) and promoting specialisations such as the minor in Catalan studies that Columbia University has approved for the next academic year; promoting the creation of new visiting professorships, as is the recent case of the University of California-Berkeley (United States); preparing a new call for doctoral scholarships designed for international students interested in Catalan language and culture; and diversifying the type of aid to students and teachers. All these actions aim to strengthen the presence of Catalan studies in universities around the world and ensure the future of these studies by training new specialists.

The boost to research in Catalan studies is also a response to the renowned prestige of the universities currently teaching Catalan language and culture studies, according to the most relevant international rankings. Catalan is taught in 10 of the 25 most important universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 (including the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of California Berkeley, University of Chicago and University of California Los Angeles) and in 40 of the top 150 universities. On the other hand, Catalan studies are present in 34 of the 150 most important universities according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023 (ARWU, known as the Shanghai ranking).

In terms of academic specialisation, at present, the XarxaLull has three degrees in Catalan studies at the universities of Brno (Czechia), Bucharest (Romania) and Toulouse (France), and has 8 agreements with international universities to organise visiting professorships, which must grow in the future. They are:

• Joan Coromines Chair in Catalan Studies (University of Chicago)
• Josep Pla Chair in Catalan Studies (Stanford University)
• Rodoreda Chair (The Graduate Center, City University of New York)
• Chair of Catalan Culture (University of Havana)
• Marià Villangómez Chair (Universität Leipzig)
• Bonastruc de Porta - Nahmanides Chair of Catalan Studies (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) on pause
• Chair of Catalan Studies – New York University
• Chair of Catalan Studies – University of California at Berkeley

The emphasis on cultural activities

The XarxaLlull is a crucial platform for projecting Catalan culture abroad. In this sense, the IRL supports and promotes the organisation of a variety of academic and cultural activities at universities abroad such as conferences, seminars, concerts, film screenings, and forums. In the past year, notable figures from the Catalan cultural scene have participated in various events. These include a literary event featuring the writer Marta Pessarrodona at the City University of New York (CUNY), a keynote lecture by the philosopher Marina Garcés at the Fitzwilliam College of the University of Cambridge, and an online poetry recital by the poets Perejaume and Maria Callís to celebrate Saint George’s Day. Other prominent protagonists have been Eva Baltasar, Judit Neddermann, Enric Casasses, Joan Fontcuberta, Pol Guasch, Figa Flawas and The Tyets.

La XarxaLlull in figures

• 135 universities in 30 countries teach Catalan studies, of which 92 receive financial support from the Institut Ramon Llull.
• In the 2023-2024 academic year, 5 new universities joined the Network: Complutense University of Madrid, Alcalá de Henares University, University of the Basque Country, Federico II University of Naples and University of Lille.
• 4,027 students were enrolled in a Catalan subject in 30 countries in Europe, America and Asia.
• There are four Catalan Studies Centres with annual programmes that receive the support of the IRL; they are linked to these universities: Sorbonne University of Paris, Queen Mary University of London, Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan and University for Foreigners of Siena.
• Since 2002, 40 calls for faculty selection have been organised and a total of 436 positions called.
• From 2003 to the present, over 1,600 students have participated in language and cultural training programmes in Mallorca, Andorra and Catalonia.
• Since 2003, 39 calls for tests for the certification of knowledge of Catalan have been organised in 140 locations in 40 countries around the world. 19,689 people took the tests and 79% passed them.