The Hosts

The Spanish Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (SEESXVIII) was founded in 1990 and, from the start, has been interdisciplinary. Over the years, its membership has grown to more than three hundred. Among its foremost regular activities are the organization, every four years, of an international conference and every two of an early career scholars meeting. It oversees the publication of its conference proceedings, as well as the journal Cuadernos Dieciochistas and a book series Libros dieciochistas. It also awards annual prizes to the best article by early career researchers and to the best Spanish monograph on the eighteenth century. It has also established a distinction for Spanish “Masters” of eighteenth-century studies. It is very active in fostering research, through its close relationship with the two main research centers for eighteenth-century studies in Spain, located at the Universities of Cádiz and Oviedo.

The University of Zaragoza (UZ) is one of the oldest in Spain. Founded in 1474, it is currently made up of a number of research and teaching centres located in historic and modern buildings throughout the three provinces of the Autonomous Community of Aragón (Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel). It boasts advanced facilities and a wide range of accommodation options. It was recognized as a Campus of International Excellence in 2010. It has been a member of UNITA since 2020. There are over 4,000 teaching staff and some 30,000 students, as well as 170 current research groups covering all scholarly disciplines. The University has historically been renowned for its work in all branches of science and medicine, for which Santiago Ramón y Cajal won the Nobel Prize, but is also internationally recognised in the Social Sciences and Humanities fields. The Congress plenary and parallel sessions will be held in two buildings on the San Francisco Campus (Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and Faculty of Law). Other meetings and panels will be held in the Paraninfo, the historic assembly hall in the University Rectorate building, located about 600 metres from the San Francisco Campus. Both venues are in the city centre and can easily be reached on foot, by bus or by the tram that connects the San Francisco Campus and the Paraninfo, a journey of some five minutes.

Katia Fach Gómez is Associate Professor (accredited to Full Professor) at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). She holds a PhD in Law (European doctorate in German) and an LL.M. from Fordham University (New York, USA), where she received the Edward J. Hawk Award for Legal Excellence and graduated summa cum laude. Her research focuses on international litigation, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and cultural heritage. In the latter field, she is co-author of Arte secuestrado (Planeta, 2026), which examines, from the perspective of the Enlightenment onwards, the problem of the non-restitution of cultural objects by so-called ‘universal museums’. She is the author of numerous legal books, book chapters and academic articles published in English, Spanish and German by publishers including Oxford University Press, Springer, Kluwer, Brill, Edward Elgar, Routledge, Aranzadi, Tirant lo Blanch and Colex. She has served as a Seconded National Expert at the European Research Council (ERC) of the European Union in Brussels and as Area Director of the International Campus of Excellence Iberus at the University of Zaragoza.

 

Katia Fach Gómez es Profesora Titular (acreditada a Catedrática) de la Universidad de Zaragoza (España). Es Doctora en Derecho (doctorado europeo en idioma alemán) y ha cursado un Máster jurídico en la Universidad de Fordham (Nueva York-USA). En dicho máster obtuvo el premio jurídico Edward J. Hawk y la calificación summa cum laude. Su investigación se centra en litigación internacional, mecanismos alternativos de resolución de conflictos y patrimonio cultural. En este último ámbito es coautora del libro “Arte secuestrado” (editorial Planeta, 2026), en el que se analiza desde la etapa de la Ilustración el problema de la no restitución de obras de arte por parte de los “museos universales”. Es autora de múltiples libros jurídicos, capítulos de libros y artículos académicos publicados en inglés, español y alemán por editoriales como Oxford University Press, Springer, Kluwer, Brill, Edward Elgar, Routledge, Aranzadi, Tirant lo Blanch y Colex. Ha trabajado como experta nacional (Seconded National Expert) en el Consejo Europeo de Investigación (European Research Council – ERC) de la Unión Europea en Bruselas y ha sido Directora de Área del Campus de Excelencia Internacional Iberus de la Universidad de Zaragoza.

Fernando Durán López holds a PhD in Hispanic Philology and is Professor of Spanish Literature and a member of the Eighteenth-Century Studies Research Group at the University of Cádiz, where he has taught since 1997. His research is focused on Spanish autobiography; political literature, journalism, exile and intellectual life in and around the Cortes of Cádiz; eighteenth-century literary astrological almanacs; and government censorship of books during the same period. He has served as President of the Spanish Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies since 2022 and is co-editor-in-chief of the journal Cuadernos de Ilustración y Romanticismo. He is the author or editor of around fifty books, including José María Blanco White o la conciencia errante (2005); Vidas de sabios. El nacimiento de la autobiografía moderna en España (1733–1848) (2005); Versiones de un exilio. Los traductores españoles de la Casa Ackermann (Londres, 1823–1830) (2015); Juicio y chirinola de los astros. Panorama literario de los almanaques y pronósticos astrológicos españoles, 1700–1767 (2015); De las seriedades de Urania a las zumbas de Talía. Astrología frente a entretenimiento en la censura de los almanaques de la primera mitad del XVIII (2021); and Cándido María Trigueros, censor (2025, co-authored with C. Martínez Torres).

 

Fernando Durán López es doctor en Filología Hispánica, catedrático de Literatura Española y miembro del Grupo de Estudios del Siglo XVIII de la Universidad de Cádiz, en la que enseña desde 1997. Sus investigaciones se han centrado en la autobiografía española; en literatura política, periodismo, exilio y vida intelectual alrededor de las Cortes de Cádiz; almanaques astrológicos literarios del XVIII; y censura gubernativa de libros en el mismo siglo. Es presidente de la Sociedad Española de Estudios del Siglo XVIII desde 2022 y codirector de la revista Cuadernos de Ilustración y Romanticismo. Es autor o editor de una cincuentena de libros, entre ellos: José María Blanco White o la conciencia errante (2005); Vidas de sabios. El nacimiento de la autobiografía moderna en España (1733-1848) (2005); Versiones de un exilio. Los traductores españoles de la Casa Ackermann (Londres, 1823-1830) (2015); Juicio y chirinola de los astros. Panorama literario de los almanaques y pronósticos astrológicos españoles, 1700-1767 (2015); De las seriedades de Urania a las zumbas de Talía. Astrología frente a entretenimiento en la censura de los almanaques de la primera mitad del XVIII (2021); Cándido María Trigueros, censor (2025, con C. Martínez Torres).

Javier Usoz is Associate Professor at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). He holds a degree in Law and a PhD in Economics. His research focuses on the history of economic thought, the international circulation of economic ideas during the Spanish and European Enlightenments, and the relationship between economic, political and social ideas. He has co-edited, among other works, L’Économie politique et la sphère publique dans les débats des Lumières (Casa de Velázquez, 2013), Bajo el velo del bien público (Institución Fernando el Católico, 2020), Voces económicas de la ‘Enciclopedia Moderna’ de José Joaquín de Mora (Instituto de Estudios Fiscales, 2022), and the economic works of Tomás de Anzano (Institución Fernando el Católico, 2023). He has published in leading journals in his field, including History of Political Economy, History of Economic Ideas, Revista de Historia Económica, Revista de Estudios Políticos, and Historia Agraria.

 

Javier Usoz es Profesor Titular en la Universidad de Zaragoza (España). Es Licenciado en Derecho y Doctor en Economía. Su investigación se centra en la Historia del pensamiento económico, la circulación internacional de las ideas económicas de la Ilustración española y europea, y la relación entre las ideas económicas, políticas y sociales. Es coeditor de libros como L´Économie politique et la sphère publique dans les débats des Lumières (Casa de Velázquez, 2013), Bajo el velo del bien público (Institución Fernando el Católico, 2020), Voces económicas de la ‘Enciclopedia Moderna’ de José Joaquín de Mora (Instituto de Estudios Fiscales, 2022) y la obra económica de Tomás de Anzano (Instituto Fernando el Católico, 2023). Ha publicado en las mejores revistas de su especialidad, entre otras, History of Political Economy, History of Economic Ideas, Revista de Historia Económica, Revista de Estudios Políticos e Historia Agraria.

Jesús Astigarraga is Professor of Economics at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). He holds a PhD in Economics and a PhD in History. His research focuses primarily on intellectual history, the history of economic thought, the international circulation of ideas, the institutionalisation of political economy, and the Spanish Enlightenment. He is the current Vicepresident of the Spanish Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Among his most recent books as author/co-author or editor/co-editor are: A Unifying Enlightenment. Institutions of Political Economy in Eighteenth-Century Spain, 1700–1808 (Brill, 2021); Adam Smith and the ‘Wealth of Nations’ in Spain. A History of Reception, Dissemination, Adaptation and Application, 1777–1840 (Routledge, 2022); The Economic Legacy of José Joaquín de Mora. Spreading Classical Political Economy in the Hispanic World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024); Gerónimo de Uztáriz and his Economic Work. New Politics and the Origins of the Science of Commerce in 18th Century Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025); and A History of Spanish Economic Thought: From Scholasticism to Keynesianism (Routledge, 2026).

Jesús Astigarraga es Catedrático de Economía en la Universidad de Zaragoza (España). Es Doctor en Economía y Doctor en Historia. Su labor investigadora se centra habitualmente en ámbitos como la historia intelectual, la historia del pensamiento económico, la circulación internacional de las ideas, la institucionalización de la economía política y la Ilustración española. Es el actual vicepresidente de la Sociedad Española de Estudios del Siglo XVIII. Algunos de sus últimos libros como autor/coautor o editor/coeditor son: A Unifying Enlightenment. Institutions of Political Economy in Eighteenth-Century Spain, 1700-1808 (Brill, 2021); Adam Smith and the ‘Wealth of Nations’ in Spain. A History of Reception, Dissemination, Adaptation and Application, 1777-1840 (Routledge, 2022); The Economic Legacy of José Joaquín de Mora. Spreading Classical Political Economy in the Hispanic World (Palgrave MacMillan, 2024); Gerónimo de Uztáriz and his Economic Work. New Politics and the Origins of the Science of Commerce in 18th Century Europe (Palgrave MacMillan, 2025); A History of Spanish Economic Thought: From Scholasticism to Keynesianism (Routledge, 2026).