The speech-making seminar and competition, which formed part of the university’s Culture Week activities and was attended by around 20 students from a range of different faculties, drew to a close on Thursday, 23 April 2015. The guest of honour was the academic Lola Josa from the Universitat de Barcelona, who gave the talk, "Humanities in Western Culture in the 21st Century". Prizes for the Cultural Job Game app were also awarded during the event.
With this seminar, which was open to all students with an interest in the subject, the Faculty of Humanities aimed to offer an insight into the art of speech-making. The proposed theme for this year’s edition of the event focused on the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established by the United Nations in 2000.
During the seminar, students had to choose one of the four objectives proposed and compete against one another to give the best speech. Several days earlier, on Sunday, 17 April 2015, they had the opportunity to attend a practical session and prepare for Thursday’s contest.
This event would not have been possible without the collaboration of the Santillana publishing house and the help of the two judges, the lecturers Fernando Carrera and Elena Santa María, both of whom praised the high quality of the speeches.
First prize was awarded to Law student Pedro Pèrez-Cuesta, while second prize went to Anna Viñals, who is studying a double degree in Humanities and Law. Third prize was given to Carolina Hayes from the Faculty of Humanities, with a special mention for Albert Grandes and Javier Rodríguez-Alsina, who are studying Humanities and Law. Also on the receiving end of a prize was double-degree student (Humanities and Law) Pablo Romero, who beat around 100 other students to win the Cultural Job Game competition.
For her part, the guest speaker, Dr. Lola Josa, used a series of metaphors to underline her argument that reading the classics is like a pilgrimage, in which the pilgrims' lives and very selves are transformed. “There’s no time to lose! Being alive is too important”, she urged.
