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Honoris Causa » Amparo Moreno Sardà » Laudatio
Dr. Amparo Moreno-Sardà is a prominent researcher in History and Communication from a feminist perspective. She studied Philosophy and Literature at the University of Zaragoza and graduated from the University of Valencia in 1969 with a degree in Geography and History. In 1973, she graduated in Journalism from the Official School of Journalism of Barcelona. In 1984, she earned her doctorate in History from the University of Barcelona with a thesis on The Historical Roots of the Current Problems of Social Communication: Elements for a Non-Androcentric History of Social Communication.
From the 1973-1974 academic year, she worked as a professor and researcher at the Faculty of Information Sciences at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where she achieved the rank of Full Professor in 1986, then Professor of History of Communication in the Department of Journalism in 1994, and, upon her retirement in 2009, Professor Emeritus.
In 1971-1972, Amparo Moreno-Sardà decided to look for work as a journalist. But at that time, women weren't considered suitable for the few newsrooms at general information newspapers. She began working at El Noticiero Universal, in the local news section, as a "street reporter"; and later at El Correo Catalán. They told her they wanted a woman, but they soon saw that she wasn't that woman.
Moreno Sardà was active in the Democratic Group of Journalists, a clandestine organization founded in 1966. Her critical articles, her participation in a strike demanding a pay raise related to the increase in newspaper prices, and her ties to the feminist movement led to her being fired when she graduated in March 1973, rather than being placed on staff like other colleagues. At the time, she was also pregnant with her daughter, a situation many colleagues considered inappropriate for her participating in press conferences. Although she filed a complaint and won, she was never rehired.
At the same time, her feminist consciousness grew. She participated in the First Women's Liberation Days, held in Madrid a few days after Franco's death, while still in hiding. She collaborated in the organization of the Catalan Women's Days, held at the University of Barcelona Auditorium from May 27 to 30, 1976, with an attendance of some 4,000 people and a major impact on public opinion. In fact, her first book was "Women in Struggle: The Feminist Movement in Spain," published in 1977.
Dr. Amparo Moreno-Sardá has always stood out for her defense of feminist ideas with a democratic and political commitment, even during the Franco dictatorship, when such a stance was considered dangerous and could have serious consequences for a person's life. In fact, her militant stance caused the media to close its doors to her, so she decided to continue her struggle and work through the University, where she began teaching in the 1973-1974 academic year and achieved the highest recognition.
Between 2003 and 2007, she served as a councilor for the Independents per l'Ebre (IPE) party on the Tortosa City Council. Until November 2006, she served as deputy mayor, responsible for the Information Society, Citizen Participation, Citizen Service, and University Studies.
As a teacher, it is worth highlighting her fight against the androcentric approach to history, which she felt made it difficult to understand mass media that represented a greater diversity of women and men in settings not only central and public but also private and marginal.
I don't quite know how to summarize everything this woman has done throughout her life. She has been a feminist activist, a class activist, and has worked to promote social participation and accountability in local institutions. Her entire personal (she is the mother of a daughter and a son and is now a grandmother) and professional life has been connected to advancing knowledge and giving a voice to those who normally don't have one.
At the University of La Laguna, we were fortunate to have met her because she included a large portion of the Journalism and Audiovisual Communication faculty in two projects: In 2013-2015, "Communication and Journalism for Citizen Participation in the Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Government Management," funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; and in 2016-2018, "Methodologies and Information Models for Monitoring the Actions of Local Government Leaders and Accountability."
Today we can honor that collaboration with this exemplary woman with the recognition of her Doctor Honoris Causa.
Lara Carrascosa Puertas
