Rosalía Baena
Rosalía Baena is Professor of English at the University of Navarra. Her main research interests deal with narrative theory, contemporary life writing, narrative empathy, and the phenomenology of reading. Prof. Baena has worked on the topic of cultural identity in postcolonial literature and multicultural writing, and she has explored issues of Englishness and nostalgia both in colonial autobiographies as well as TV period dramas. She has published extensively on illness memoirs in journals such as Interdisciplinary Literary Studies (2013), Concentric (2016), Diegesis (2017), Medical Humanities (2017), Frontiers of Narrative Studies (2020), Prose Studies (2021), as well as a book chapter in the Routledge Companion to Death and Literature (2021). She has participated in many research projects over the years. Currently she is a member of the research project “Re-orienting Assemblage Theory in Anglophone Literature and Culture” (RELY) (2023-2026) directed by prof. Rosario Arias from the University of Malaga. Prof. Baena is also the PI of the Erasmus+ project: REMAP: Reading for Meaning and Purpose (2024-2027) which aims to promote meaningful reading among university students. Her publications in this field include “Reading for Pleasure: from Narrative Competence to Character Education” (Routledge 2021), and “El infinito en un libro. La lectura y sus peligros” (Eunsa 2024). She is currently vice president for Students and International Affairs at the University of Navarra.
Beatriz Gómez Baceiredo
Beatriz Gómez Baceiredo (Vitoria-Gasteiz, 1977) is an Associate Professor of Journalism and the Director of the Department of Journalism at the School of Communication at the University of Navarra. Her research initially focused on the origins of journalistic biography and literary journalism. Over time, her work has expanded to include narrative applications in palliative care communication, storytelling in institutional communication and teaching on writing and reading. Most recently, she has begun analyzing narratives from victims of ETA terrorism. Across these research areas, she explores socially significant themes such as death, storytelling, women’s lives, and caregiving, contributing to the study of life stories and the construction and analysis of effective narratives.
Her teaching at the School of Communication is centered on both the theoretical and practical aspects of writing and storytelling in corporate communication. She currently teaches Oral and Written Communication I and II, as well as Storytelling in the Master’s in Political and Corporate Communication. She has been involved in several educational innovation projects, including Design Thinking, Team-Based Learning (TBL), and strategies to enhance student engagement in the classroom.
For the past five years, she has co-directed the Reading Mentors project, which promotes reading among university students through peer teaching. This initiative is now part of the REMAP project.
Álvaro Sánchez Ostiz
Tania Santiago
Pedagogical Coordinator | Educator and Leader in Educational Innovation from the Basque Country, SPAIN.
Passionate about transforming education, I am a Pedagogical Coordinator at COAS Educational Group in SPAIN and a dedicated English teacher in Secondary and High School at Colegio Ayalde in Biscay . With a degree in English Philology, I bring over 28 years of experience in teaching, specializing in secondary and high school education.
I am deeply committed to educational innovation, currently leading initiatives that integrate Classical Education, Humanism, and Digitalization, including the transition to the International Baccalaureate (IB) and a Great Books Program. Additionally, I drive reading plans in primary education, fostering a love for literature from an early age.
As a Trainer and Coach in Thinking Based Learning (TBL), I aim to inspire critical thinking and empower students to face future challenges. I am also passionate about exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and education, continuously working to improve the learning experience and adapt to the evolving needs of students.
Lifelong learning is at the heart of my professional journey, and I constantly seek to evolve and adapt to new educational methodologies and technologies.
Samuel Abrahám
He is a Rector/President of Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts, Executive Board member of ECOLAS and Editor-in-Chief of Journal Kritika & Kontext.
Emigrated in 1980 from Czechoslovakia to Canada. Studied International relations at the University of Toronto (International relations and Economics minor) and at Carleton University in Ottawa where he obtained PhD in Comparative Politics and Political Philosophy in 2001. Between 1990 and 2003, he taught political science and theory at Comenius University in Bratislava. Since 1996, he is the publisher and editor-in-chief of journal Kritika & Kontext published in English and Slovak (www.kritika.sk).
In 2006, he founded Bratislava International School of Liberal Education (BISLA) where he serves as an Associate Professor and rector (www.bisla.sk). He is co-founder (2008) and a member of Executive Board of ECOLAS – European Consortium of Liberal Arts and Sciences which is a network of over twenty liberal arts colleges, schools and programs in Europe (www.ecolas.eu). As the President of BISLA, he has been part of Global Liberal Arts Alliance (GLAA).
He is author of three books: “An Attempt to Analyze Slovak Society” (2002), “A Crisis of European Identity” (2012) and “Slovakia: Pure Theory vs. Political Reality” (2012). Article Central Europe: Myth, Inspiration, or Premonition? (Rodopi, 2012). Recent articles dealing with liberal arts education are: BISLA and ECOLAS: Hubs of the Liberal Arts in Europe (AUC Press, 2017), Liberal Arts to Rescue Bachelor Degree in Europe (Rodopi Press, 2018) and The European Consortium of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Manifesto for the Reform of Undergraduate Education in Europe (Springer, 2023). There is a series of articles in Journal New Eastern Europe, published also in www.eurozine.eu: The Myth of Central Europe (2014), No Alternative to liberal democracy? (2917), The Intellectuals in Central Europe: Havel, Orbán, Walter (2019).
Dagmar Kusá
James Thomson
James Thomson has been a lecturer at BISLA for more than 10 years, teaching subjects ranging from 19th- and 20th-century history to news and information. A modern history graduate of Oxford University, he previously worked as a senior producer of news programmes for BBC World Service Radio and Radio New Zealand, and as editor-in-chief of Eurozine, a network of European cultural journals. He writes about Slovakia for local and international news sites.
Andrej Čierny
Emma Cohen de Lara
Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at Amsterdam University College, Netherlands; Research Fellow at VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Senior Research Fellow at the Civic Humanism Center for Character and Professional Ethics, University of Navarra, Spain. Her interests include political theory, virtue ethics, character education, and literature. Among her recent publications are two co-edited volumes on Rethinking Resilience in Character Education. Insights from Literature and Philosophy (Routledge, 2025 forthcoming) and Literature and Character Education in Universities. Theory, Method, and Text Analysis (Routledge, 2022).
Nieka van Lieshout
Humanities student at Amsterdam University College with a focus on philosophy and literature.
Laura van Leijen
Marketing officer at Amsterdam University College.
Sanita Baranova
Associated Partners
ACTC – The Association for Core Texts and Courses
ECOLAS – European Consortium of Liberal Arts and Sciences
UCANN – University Colleges Academics Network Netherlands
KNAW – Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences