BAMC2026 Overview

Join us in Barcelona for BAMC2026!

November 05-09, 2026 | Held in Barcelona, Spain (and online)

International, Intercultural, Interdisciplinary

The Barcelona Conference on Arts, Media & Culture (BAMC2026) will be held alongside The Barcelona Conference on Education (BCE2026) as a part of the IAFOR European City Conference Series, and many of the sessions will concentrate on areas at the intersection of education and the arts and humanities. In keeping with IAFOR’s commitment to interdisciplinary study, delegates at either conference are encouraged to attend sessions in other disciplines. Registration for either conference will allow delegates to attend sessions in the other. We expect the resultant professional and personal collaborations to endure for many years, and we look forward to seeing you in Barcelona and online!

Introduction

The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) and the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at The University of Osaka, Japan, invite you to join The 7th Barcelona Conference on Arts, Media, and Culture, running alongside The 7th Barcelona Conference on Education. With an open call for papers, this event offers an engaging exploration of Education, Arts, Media, and Culture's latest advancements, inspired by diverse global ideas. Rooted in international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary foundations, BCE/BAMC2026 provides exceptional networking, professional development, and opportunities to present and publish contemporary ideas for academics at all career stages.

Throughout its history, Spain has served as a bridge connecting European and Arabic thought, having been conquered by both Romans and Arabs. This historical intersection became the cradle from which Arab intellectualism spread into Europe, showcasing the potential for different cultures to thrive and mutually influence one another within the same geographical space. Situated at the crossroads of Europe and North Africa, with the magnificent Mediterranean Sea as its backdrop, Barcelona has long been a focal point for intercultural communication and exchange and a harmonious coexistence of various cultures and ideas.

Today, this legacy continues to thrive in the city. Barcelona not only boasts its status as an international hub, seamlessly blending tradition and modernity, but it also serves as a hub of political and cultural uniqueness. As the epicenter of Catalonian separatism, Barcelona is a living testament to a politically active civil society composed of a distinct cultural and linguistic minority that ardently fights for its rights. Barcelona is where the realms of multiculturalism, linguistic diversity, political activism, technology, and global communication intersect, making it an ideal setting to explore interdisciplinary themes and collaborate with scholars from around the world.

In this dynamic and globally connected city, our conference, with a thematic focus encompassing Education, Arts, Media, and Culture, provides an opportunity to engage with a rich tapestry of ideas, cultures, and perspectives. Barcelona is where the realms of multiculturalism, linguistic diversity, political activism, technology, and global communication intersect, making it an ideal setting to explore interdisciplinary themes and collaborate with scholars from around the world.

– The BAMC2026 Programme Committee

Key Information
  • Venue & Location: Held in Barcelona, Spain (and online)
  • Dates: Thursday, November 05, 2026 ​to Monday, November 09, 2026
  • Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: May 14, 2026*
  • Final Abstract Submission Deadline: July 23, 2026
  • Registration Deadline for Presenters: September 03, 2026

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

Download Conference Brochure
Register for the Conference
Submit an Abstract

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Plenary Speakers

To Be announced

  • Brian Aycock
    Brian Aycock
    Chuo University, Japan
  • Anne Boddington
    Anne Boddington
    IAFOR, Japan
  • Donald E. Hall
    Donald E. Hall
    Binghamton University, United States
  • Andrés Pedreño
    Andrés Pedreño
    Torre Juana IA Hub, Spain
  • Alex Seago
    Alex Seago
    Richmond American University London, United Kingdom

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Programme

To Be announced

  • Creative Education in Times of Crisis
    Creative Education in Times of Crisis
    Panel Presentation: Alex Seago
  • Design Education in an Accelerated World: How Are We Keeping Up?
    Design Education in an Accelerated World: How Are We Keeping Up?
    Workshop Session: Heitor Alvelos, Susana Barreto
  • The Forum
    The Forum
    Come share your thoughts and experiences as global educators and researchers.
  • A Journey Through the History of the Catalan Rumba
    A Journey Through the History of the Catalan Rumba
    Rumba Catalana Performance and Workshop: Joan Delgado, Agustín Gálvez

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Conference Committees

The International Academic Board (IAB)

Professor Anne Boddington, IAFOR, Japan (IAB Chair)
Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR & The University of Osaka, Japan
Professor Jun Arima, IAFOR & The University of Tokyo, Japan
Professor Virgil Hawkins, IAFOR Research Centre & The University of Osaka, Japan
Mr Lowell Sheppard, IAFOR & Never Too Late Academy, Japan

Professor Umberto Ansaldo, VinUniversity, Vietnam
Dr Susana Barreto, University of Porto, Portugal
Professor Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Dr Evangelia Chrysikou, The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, United Kingdom
Professor Donald E. Hall, Binghamton University, United States
Professor Brendan Howe, Ewha Womans University, South Korea & The Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA)
Dr James W. McNally, University of Michigan, United States & NACDA Program on Aging

Conference Programme Committee

Professor Heitor Alvelos, University of Porto, Portugal
Dr Sue Ballyn, University of Barcelona, Spain (Conference Co-chair)
Professor Anne Boddington, Executive Vice-President and Provost, IAFOR, Japan
Professor Susana Barreto, University of Porto, Portugal
Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR and The University of Osaka, Japan, & University College London, United Kingdom (Conference Co-chair)
Professor Raul Fortes Guerrero, University of Valencia, Spain
Dr Mattia Mantellato, University of Udine, Italy
Gloria Montero, Novelist, Playwright and Poet, Spain
Professor John McLeod, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Dr Dolors Ortega Arévalo, University of Barcelona, Spain
Professor Antonella Riem, University of Udine, Italy
Professor Catalina Ribas Segura, Comillas Pontifical University, Spain

Conference Programme Committees (CPC) are formed as generative bodies, reflecting upon the academic themes identified by the International Academic Board (IAB) and generating the academic programme for the conference(s) they are assigned to, by applying the IAFOR Themes to a given location.

To join the BAMC Conference Programme Committee, send your CV and a brief Letter of Motivation, describing why the committee should consider your application, via the below application form:

Apply to Join the Conference Programme Committee
Download Conference Programme Committee Guidelines

The International Academic College (IAC)

Dr Hasan Al-Wadi, University of Bahrain, Bahrain
Dr Shamim Ali, Riphah International University, Pakistan
Professor Umberto Ansaldo, VinUniversity, Vietnam
Professor Shingo Ashizawa, Kansai University of International Studies, Japan
Dr Brian Aycock, International Christian University, Japan
Professor William Baber, Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, Japan
Professor Emeritus Sue Ballyn, University of Barcelona, Spain
Ms Keiko Bang, Bang Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore
Professor Geoff Beattie, Edge Hill University, United Kingdom
Professor Denis Binder, Chapman University, United States
Dr Sarah Louisa Birchley, Toyo Gakuen University, Japan
Dr Holger Briel, Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, China
Mr James Joseph Briganti, Michigan State University, United States
Professor Bruce Brown, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom
Lord Charles Bruce, Japan Society of Scotland, United Kingdom
Dr Eddie Bruce-Jones, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom
Professor Chung-Ying Cheng, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, United States
Distinguished Professor Tien-Hui Chiang, Zhengzhou University, China
Mr Marcus Chidgey, Founder & CEO at Loqiva, United Kingdom
Dr George D. Chryssides, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Dr Christine Coombe, Dubai Men’s College, United Arab Emirates
Professor Melinda Cowart, Texas Woman’s University, United States
Professor Georges Depeyrot, French National Center for Scientific Research, France
Professor Jean-Marc Dewaele, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom
Professor Tatiana Dobrosklonskaya, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Dr Richard Donovan, Kansai University, Japan
Dr Murielle El Hajj Nahas, Lusail University, Qatar
Professor John Nguyet Erni, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Professor Said M. Faiq, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Dr William C. Frick, University of Oklahoma, United States
Dr Alfonso J. García Osuna, Hofstra University & The City University of New York, United States
Professor Gerard Goggin, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Dr Fernando Darío González Grueso, Tamkang University, Taiwan
Professor Stephen J. Hall, Sunway University, Malaysia
Dr June Henton, Auburn University, United States
Mr Harry Hill, Japan United States Friendship Commission (JUSFC), Japan
Dr Rodney F. Hill, Hofstra University, United States
Dr Tamsin Hinton-Smith, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Professor Curtis Ho, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, United States
Dr Daniel Hoffman, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, United States
His Excellency Professor Toshiya Hoshino, UN Inspectorate General, Immediate Past President of IAFOR, and former Japanese Ambassador to the UN
Professor Tom Houghton, Curtin University, Australia
Professor Brendan Howe, Ewha Womans University & The Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA), South Korea
Professor Kay Irie, Gakushuin University, Japan
Professor Hiroshi Ishida, University of Tokyo, Japan
Dr Maxime Jaffré, United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates
Mr Matthew Kay, Nature Publishing, United Kingdom
Mr Michael Liam Kedzlie, Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, New Zealand
Mr Daniel Kjellsson, Future Talent Council, Sweden
Dr Yukinori Komine, Harvard University, United States
Dr Rachel Lam, Independent Consultant, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Dr Celia Lam, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China
Ms Fan Li, LePing Social Entrepreneur Foundation & Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), China
Dr Tzu-Bin Lin, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
Professor Robert Logie, Osaka Gakuin University, Japan
Dr Jacqueline Lottin, Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates
Professor Craig Mark, Kyoritsu Women's University, Japan
Professor Ljiljana Marković, European Centre for Peace and Development (ECPD), Serbia
Dr Yvonne Masters, Independent Researcher, Australia
Professor José McClanahan, Creighton University, United States
Professor Dennis McInerney, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
Professor David McLoughlin, Meiji University, Japan
Dr Michael Menchaca, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, United States
Professor Keith W. Miller, University of Missouri, United States
Dr Alyson Miller, Deakin University, Australia
Dr Yutaka Mino, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan
Professor Kuniko Miyanaga, Human Potential Institute, Japan
Professor Johannes Moenius, University of Redlands, United States
Professor Joshua Ka Ho Mok, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
Dr Bernard Montoneri, Independent Researcher, Taiwan
Professor Thomas Brian Mooney, Charles Darwin University, Australia
Dr Amanda Müller, Flinders University, Australia
Dr Jo Mynard, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan
Ms Karen Newby, Par les mots solidaires, France
Dr Cynthia Northington-Purdie, Hunter College (CUNY), United States
Dr Keiichi Ogawa, Kobe University, Japan
Professor Mark Pegrum, The University of Western Australia, Australia
Dr Anemona Peres, European Border and Coast Guard Agency,
Dr Alexandru I. Petrisor, Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Romania
Dr Elena Raevskikh, Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Dr Thanassis Rikakis, University of Southern California, United States
Professor Richard Roth, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, United States
Dr James Rowlins, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore
Dr Justin Sanders, Woven by Toyota, Japan
Dr Monty P. Satiadarma, Tarumanagara University, Indonesia
Dr Linda Schwartz, Ambrose University, Canada
Dr Shahrokh (Sharo) Shafaie, Southeast Missouri State University, United States
Dr Sharo Shafaie, Southeast Missouri State University, United States
Mr Lowell Sheppard, HOPE International Development Agency, Japan
Dr Jeffrey Sommers, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, United States
Dr Marcelo Staricoff, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Dr Pearl Subban, Monash University, Australia
Professor Gary E. Swanson, University of Northern Colorado (fmr.), United States
Dr Amy Szarkowski, Harvard Medical School, United States
Professor Svetlana Ter-Minasova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Dr Devayani Tirthali, Independent Researcher, India
Dr Brian Victoria, Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, United Kingdom
Dr Deborah G. Wooldridge, Bowling Green State University, United States
Dr Seiko Yasumoto, The University of Sydney, Australia
Dr Tingting Ying, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China

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Conference Review Committee


Dr Martyna Bieniek, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland
Dr Joana Braguez, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Portugal
Dr Matthew Brooks, University of Nebraska at Omaha, United States
Dr Alexander Ibni, Zamboanga Peninsula Polytechnic State University, Philippines
Dr Nur Atirah Kamaruzaman, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Dr Atouoto Kerker, Benue State University, Nigeria
Dr Malektaj Khosravi, Islamic Azad University, Iran
Professor Daniel Mckay, Independent Scholar, United Kingdom
Dr Catherine Phillips, Lakehead University, Canada
Dr Bharti Shandilya, University of Delhi, India
Dr Yu Yang, Zhengzhou University, China

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Brian Aycock
Chuo University, Japan

Biography

Dr Brian Aycock is an Associate Professor of Law at Chuo University, Japan) He is also a Senior Research Associate in the Refugee Law Initiative’s Internal Displacement Research Programme and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the RLI Working Paper Series.

His research focuses on state responsibility for climate-induced displacement and the development of international protection frameworks in response to environmental harm. His work examines the intersection of refugee law, subsidiary protection, and international legal obligation, with particular attention to comparative approaches in Japan and Europe.

He has conducted field research on planned relocation in Fiji and has presented his research internationally in Japan, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has also consulted with the Japanese Ministry of the Environment on legal responses to disaster displacement.

Dr Aycock earned a PhD in International Law from International Christian University, Japan, in 2023 and an MA (Distinction) in Refugee Protection from the University of London, United Kingdom, in 2019.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | TBA
Anne Boddington
IAFOR, Japan

Biography

Professor Anne Boddington is Executive Vice-President and Provost of IAFOR, and oversees the academic programs, research and policies of the forum.

Anne Boddington is Professor Emerita of Design Innovation and has held executive and senior leadership roles in Higher Education including as Dean of Arts & Humanities at the University of Brighton, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, Business & Innovation at Kingston and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at Middlesex University.

In 2022 she concluded chairing the Sub Panel (32) for Art & Design: History, Practice & Theory as part of the Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) and has extensive experience in the governance and conduct of peer review, research evaluation and assessment in REF2014 (Sub Panel Deputy Chair and Equality Diversity Advisory Panel [EDAP]) and RAE2008. A former member of AHRC’s Advisory Board, she is the current Chair of the Advisory Board for the UKRI’s National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) programme (£30M), Deputy Chair and a Trustee of the Design Council, the government’s strategic advisor for design, and a member of both the InnoHK Scientific Committee (Hong Kong) and the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ).

Since the 1990’s Anne has worked across the UK and internationally with a wide range of quality assurance, professional, statutory, and regulatory bodies in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Hong Kong, and India.

As an independent consultant she now works as a strategic advisor and mentor and is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in practice, developing effective governance, supporting career development, reducing bureaucracy, and improving organisational design, integrity, and productivity in the changing workplace.

Previous Presentations

Panel Presentation (2025) | Soft Power in Contested Spaces: Education, the Arts, Language, and Media for Peace
Donald E. Hall
Binghamton University, United States

Biography

Donald E. Hall is Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Binghamton University (SUNY), USA. He was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at the University of Rochester, USA, and held a previous position as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University, USA. Provost Hall has published widely in the fields of British Studies, Gender Theory, Cultural Studies, and Professional Studies. Over the course of his career, he served as Jackson Distinguished Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English (and previously Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages) at West Virginia University. Before that, he was Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at California State University, Northridge, where he taught for 13 years. He is a recipient of the University Distinguished Teaching Award at CSUN, was a visiting professor at the National University of Rwanda, was Lansdowne Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Victoria (Canada), was Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Cultural Studies at Karl Franzens University in Graz, Austria, and was Fulbright Specialist at the University of Helsinki. He has also taught in Sweden, Romania, Hungary, and China. He served on numerous panels and committees for the Modern Language Association (MLA), including the Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion, and the Convention Program Committee. In 2012, he served as national President of the Association of Departments of English. From 2013-2017, he served on the Executive Council of the MLA.

His current and forthcoming work examines issues such as professional responsibility and academic community-building, the dialogics of social change and activist intellectualism, and the Victorian (and our continuing) interest in the deployment of instrumental agency over our social, vocational, and sexual selves. Among his many books and editions are the influential faculty development guides, The Academic Self and The Academic Community, both published by Ohio State University Press. Subjectivities and Reading Sexualities: Hermeneutic Theory and the Future of Queer Studies were both published by Routledge Press. Most recently he and Annamarie Jagose, of the University of Auckland, co-edited a volume titled The Routledge Queer Studies Reader. Though he is a full-time administrator, he continues to lecture worldwide on the value of a liberal arts education and the need for nurturing global competencies in students and interdisciplinary dialogue in and beyond the classroom.

Professor Donald E. Hall is a Vice-President of IAFOR. He is Chair of the Arts, Humanities, Media & Culture division of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Previous Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2024): The Work of the University in Perilous Times
Keynote Presentation (2023): There Is No New Normal
Andrés Pedreño
Torre Juana IA Hub, Spain

Biography

TBA

Keynote Presentation (2026) | TBA
Alex Seago
Richmond American University London, United Kingdom

Biography

Professor Alex Seago received his BA in American Studies from the University of Birmingham, United States, his MA in American Studies from the University of Kansas, United States, and his PhD in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art, United Kingdom. During an academic career spanning almost 50 years, he has taught a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in sociology, cultural studies, popular culture, criminology, development studies, art, and design history for several British and American universities and colleges of art, including the Royal College of Art, where he was responsible for supervising MPhil and PhD students. During the mid 1990s, Professor Seago developed the Research Methods lecture series for MPhil and PhD students at the Royal College of Art. His publications include Burning the Box of Beautiful Things (Oxford University Press, 1995), a cultural historical study of changes in graphic design at the RCA in the 1950s and early 1960s and Pop Art and Design (Bloomsbury Press, 2017) with Dr Anne Massey.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | TBA
Creative Education in Times of Crisis
Panel Presentation: Alex Seago

This hour-long panel discussion explores the role creative education can play in generating moments of cultural intensity and social transformation. Taking Barcelona as a resonant setting, it brings Spanish and British examples into dialogue to ask how education, experimentation and collective creativity have helped turn periods of political change, urban reinvention, and social resistance into enduring cultural movements.

In Spain, the discussion will consider La Movida in Madrid in the late 1970s and 1980s, following Franco’s death in 1975, as a moment when punk rock, the films of Pedro Almodóvar, sartorial experimentation and new forms of everyday life expressed a wider democratic and cultural transformation. It will also reflect on Barcelona’s 1992 Olympic and Cultural Olympiad moment, when culture, design, and urban planning became inseparable from the city’s international reimagining.

In the United Kingdom, post-war educational reforms made art colleges more accessible to working- and lower-middle-class students. These institutions became spaces of experiment in music, sound, art and design, helping to generate Swinging London in the 1960s and 1970s and paving the way for later movements including Glam, Punk, and Cool Britannia. Across these examples, the panel asks whether creative education merely responds to social and political change, or whether it actively produces the languages, images, and practices through which such change becomes visible.

At a time when artificial intelligence, technological determinism, and renewed investment in national defence are reshaping the value placed on human creativity, this conversation invites reflection on the contemporary purpose of creative education. What forms of communication, imagination, and resistance can it still enable? How might it help us reframe everyday experience, social exchange and cultural expression in ways that remain distinctly human?

Read presenters' biographies
Design Education in an Accelerated World: How Are We Keeping Up?
Workshop Session: Heitor Alvelos, Susana Barreto

The workshop will address the challenges design educators are facing in a world that is changing faster than our curricula. It will touch on perplexing technologies, with AI at the forefront, shifting professional expectations, and how we have been managing to prepare students for futures we struggle to anticipate.

A contextual presentation will be followed by an open conversation and a hands-on activity mapping out testimonies and action plans for the following three fronts:

These topics will converge in a collective position paper/manifesto for design education in times of rapid change, co-authored by those present who wish to participate.

The action-based moments will alternate with a joint critical reflection towards future publications on the subject of design education in an accelerated world. Delegates will gain renewed insights into the current fast pace of design education and contribute to novel ways of acting upon the resulting issues of this speed.

Read presenters' biographies
The Forum
Come share your thoughts and experiences as global educators and researchers.

The Forum is a plenary session designed as a platform for international, intercultural, interdisciplinary – and inclusive – discussions, joining experts and practitioners alike in an open dialogue format. Come share your thoughts and experiences as global educators and researchers.

The Forum will take place in two separate formats.
The Forum (Onsite) will be held at the venue and is exclusively for Onsite participants

The Forum (Online) will take place on the Online Day and is open to all Conference participants and IAFOR Members.

Overviews of the ideas, conversations, and key takeaways generated from the discussion at these sessions are recorded and archived in the Conference Report and Intelligence Briefing (ISSN: 2759-4939)

A Journey Through the History of the Catalan Rumba
Rumba Catalana Performance and Workshop: Joan Delgado, Agustín Gálvez

In the 1950s, the rumba catalana or Catalan rumba developed within the gypsy community of Barcelona out of the fusion of flamenco and other international musical styles. Today, some 75 years later, UNESCO is being asked to declare this popular foot-stepping rhythm as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

As we prepare for the UNESCO declaration, key questions must be explored to truly understand the art form. Who really developed the Catalan rumba? In what neighbourhood of Barcelona did it develop? What are the basic elements that characterise it? What makes it different from the Cuban and Flamenco rumbas? What is the famous ventilador, an essential feature of the rumba catalana? Barcelona guitarist Joan Delgado and vocalist Agustín Gálvez address these questions as they lead the audience through the origin and history of the rumba catalana in a participatory musical exploration of this fascinating rhythm, ever present at any popular festival in the region.

With only a guitar and two palms to clap, you need nothing more to set up a great shindig like Peret himself might have done.

Read presenters' biographies