About Us Óscar Loureda

Óscar Loureda was a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and has been a professor at Heidelberg University since 2008, first at the Institute for Translation and Interpreting until 2020 and at the HCIAS thereafter. Since 2016, he has also been a visiting professor at the University of Granada in Spain. In 2017, the Universidad del Pacífico de Lima awarded him an honorary professorship. At Heidelberg University, he has led the establishment of degree programs such as the Bachelor-Plus program in Spanish Translation Studies (since 2010) and the double-degree master’s program in Specialized Translation and Cultural Mediation (since 2018, in cooperation with the University of Salamanca, Spain). Since 2015, Óscar Loureda has been a member of the selection committee for the Princess of Asturias Award. He is a member of the Círculo Cívico de Opinión, a Spanish panel of experts for political council. From 2011 to 2015, Óscar Loureda was vice-chairman and, from 2015 to 2019, president of the German Hispanic Association. From 2010 to 2013, he was executive director of the Institute for Translation and Interpreting. Óscar Loureda has been Director of the Center for Galician Studies at Heidelberg University since 2012.

From 2013 to 2019, Óscar Loureda was Vice-Rector for Quality Development at Heidelberg University, and since 2018, he has been a member of the Accreditation Council Foundation within the group of representative university professors. As a consultant in quality assurance programs, he has been a member of international advisory boards in both Spain (ANECA) and Chile (CNA) as well as a consultant for several universities across Latinamerica.

At Heidelberg University, he has led the establishment of international degree programs such as the Bachelor-Plus program in Spanish Translation Studies (since 2010) and the DAAD-funded double-degree master’s programs in Specialized Translation and Cultural Mediation (since 2018, in cooperation with the University of Salamanca, Spain) and in Specialized Translation and Translation Technologies (since 2022, in cooperation with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile).

• El español en Europa: This project deals with the demography of Spanish-speaking communities in Europe. It focuses on the social, cultural, and educational spaces that Spanish speakers (native speakers, speakers with non-native competence, and foreign language learners) are inhabiting and creating across Europe. Project Leads: Prof. Dr. Francisco Moreno-Fernández, Prof. Dr. Óscar Loureda, Prof. Dr. Johannes Kabatek (University of Zurich).

• Pragmatics and Sociolinguistics of Galician (new): The focus of the project at the Centro de Estudos Galegos (CEG) lies in the analysis of discourse in specific communication contexts and the study of pragmatic or sociolinguistic phenomena that arise as a result of contact between languages.

• HERESPA – El español como lengua de herencia en Europa. Políticas lingüísticas familiares, transmisión intergeneracional y prácticas multilingües: This research project is dedicated to the study of Spanish as a heritage language in Europe. Its aim is to understand the linguistic reality of children and young people growing up in multilingual European contexts who maintain Spanish as one of their family languages. From a demolinguistic, sociolinguistic, and educational perspective, the project examines who Spanish heritage speakers in Europe are, how they use and transmit the language within their families, which factors support its maintenance, and what opportunities they have to learn and develop Spanish within and beyond the education system.

• PCG - Interacting Actors in Polycentric Climate Governance: Supported by the Heidelberg Center for the Environment. The goal of this project is to understand how transnational forums established in recent years to address climate change affect the discussion, selection, and convergence of climate change policies. To achieve this, we will examine the policy preferences and perceptions of different groups of actors (bureaucrats, civil society actors, and business actors) in Argentina, Chile, and Mexico, determine the impact of cross-level learning on policy convergence, and examine the representation of included and excluded actors.