“Atlantic Gap or Network of Opportunities?” Spanish-American Cultural Relations, Women, and Diplomacy (1959-1975)

The geopolitical context of what would later come to be called the “global village” made governments pay more attention to their external image and the public opinion of third-world countries. The previous emphasis on the development of military or economic alliances (hard power) was complemented with alternative views, other ways of connecting with different global societies (soft power). Relations between the United States and Spain did not escape this general dynamic. Here, we evaluate the extent to which this connection affected women’s access to higher education in Spain. With the Residencia de Señoritas, there was a narrowing of the educational and cultural exchange relations between the two countries. After the abrupt cessation of the civil war, the establishment of the Fulbright program in the 1959-60 academic year allowed Spain to recover and to intensify the exchanges that had taken place since the beginning of the century. We will see what the fields of study in this prestigious exchange program were, and analyze to what extent the training received on the other side of the Atlantic facilitated the professional careers of the Spanish Fulbrigthers upon their return.