Talking the language of borders at the University of Strasbourg

Local writer M. G. Sanchez recently took part in ‘Negotiating, Subverting, Reconfiguring Borders in the English-Speaking World’ – a two-day international conference held at the University of Strasbourg.

The conference was held at the Maison Interuniversitaire des Sciences de l’Homme d’Alsace, the University of Strasbourg’s main building for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Dr Sanchez delivered the first talk of the conference - a presentation entitled “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: a short (and very personal) history of the Gibraltar border.”

His talk focused on the problems we have seen at the border in the last few decades and explained how continuing border tensions have impacted on the lives of ordinary people on both the Spanish and Gibraltarian side.

Dr Sanchez said that his conference presentation had gone very well and that a number of academics had approached him wanting to know more about Gibraltar.

He added that he was very grateful to the Ministry of Culture – and in particular Seamus Byrne – for the support they had offered him in the run-up to the conference.

He also wanted to extend his thanks to the conference’s three main organisers – Dr Monica Manolescu, Dr Hélène Ibata and Dr Sandrine Baudry – for having invited him to Strasbourg and for having organised such a friendly and intellectually engaging event.

Dr Sanchez will now be heading to the University of Barcelona, where he is scheduled to give two lectures on October 22 and 23 at the behest of the Centre d'Estudis Australians i Transnacionals and the IAFOR (the International Academic Forum).