MGIS Opens the 2026–2027 Academic Year with Orientation Week and International Events
The M.A. in Global and International Studies (MGIS) at the University of Salamanca marked the beginning of the 2026–2027 academic year with a programme that brought together orientation activities, academic exchange, international perspectives and opportunities for students and faculty to connect in Salamanca.
The programme unfolded between September 14 and 22, beginning with a series of orientation sessions for incoming students and concluding with two days of official opening events at the Faculty of Law.
Welcoming a New Cohort to Salamanca
Orientation Week provided new MGIS students with an introduction to both the academic programme and their new surroundings.
The activities began with an orientation session led by Prof. Fernando López-Alves, Program Director, at the Faculty of Law. The following sessions addressed different aspects of beginning academic life in Salamanca, combining institutional guidance with practical information for students.
Martín Orloff led a session on “Life in Salamanca and the USAL,” introducing students to life in the city and at the University of Salamanca. This was followed by an online session with Prof. Javier Sierra, the Program’s Institutional Relations Representative.
The programme also included “Visa Process and Registration in Spain,” presented by Andrea Paola Escalera, providing students with practical guidance on some of the administrative aspects of living and studying in Spain.
Orientation Week concluded outside the classroom with a sightseeing tour of Salamanca, led by Carmen Ingelmo and beginning at the historic Casa de las Conchas. The activity gave students another opportunity to become acquainted with the city that will form the setting for their academic experience.
An International Opening to the Academic Year
The official opening of the academic year continued the programme’s international focus.
On September 21, political scientist and international relations scholar Dr. Mikhail A. Molchanov delivered the opening conference:
“Geopolitics Resurrected: Rivalry and Reach”
The conference took place in the Salón de Grados of the Faculty of Law and was followed by a welcome reception in the Faculty of Law’s Garden.
Dr. Molchanov’s career spans both academia and public policy. He currently works as a Senior Policy Advisor with the Government of British Columbia, Canada, and has previously served as a professor of political science at several Canadian universities and as a senior policy analyst for the Government of Canada.
His research focuses particularly on the international relations of Eurasia and the international political economy of regional integration. His international academic experience has included appointments at institutions in Japan, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and Europe, as well as at United Nations University and the University of Salamanca.
Film, Politics and International Perspectives
The opening programme continued on September 22 with a screening of “Lebanon the Darkest Hour” and a discussion with filmmaker and journalist Daizy Gedeon.
The symposium, held in the Salón de Grados, was moderated by Prof. Sergio Jalil.
The film examines Lebanon’s political and social crisis through the experience of the Beirut Port explosion of August 4, 2020, while placing those events within a broader history of civil conflict, regional instability and systemic corruption.
Gedeon’s work also explores the historical and psychological forces behind Lebanon’s contemporary situation and addresses the revolution and international social-justice movement that emerged in 2019, including the involvement of the Lebanese diaspora.
Daizy Gedeon is a multi-award-winning filmmaker, journalist and entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of GDR Media Group and Dream Creations International and has produced, written and directed two multi-award-winning films.
A Shared Beginning
Taken together, Orientation Week and the Official Opening created a broad introduction to the new MGIS academic year: from the practical realities of studying and living in Salamanca to discussions of geopolitics, international relations, political change and contemporary global challenges.
The programme also reflected a central dimension of MGIS: bringing together students, scholars and practitioners from different backgrounds and connecting academic study with the political, social and international questions shaping the world beyond the classroom.
With these activities, the 2026–2027 MGIS academic year was formally underway at the University of Salamanca.
