Part of the team that attended the convention
The fifth convention took place in the University of the Andes, Santiago de Chile on 22nd to 24th October, 2014. Its purpose was to reflect on the presence and needs of humanities in university institutions for graduates in any area of studies. The participants exchanged ideas, experiences and challenges in their efforts to foster humanities and social sciences especially among students of non-humanistic careers, while sharing their best Practices.
The Rector (Vice-Chancellor) of the University of the Andes, Prof. Dr. José Antonio Guzmán discussed; the importance of humanities in the formation of university students, the clear tension between teaching and research, and the objectives of the university. With this regard, prof. Antonio advised participants on the fact that, a University is the vehicle in which knowledge and culture sail through time and from generation to generation. He added that failure to comply with these facts, future generations would be impoverished.
“It is very important to ask what the ideal of the University graduate is. In our case, we want to be good citizens, people and Christians. We are not satisfied with only forming excellent technicians. Because of this, the humanities, the social sciences and the arts have much to say”, he explained, adding that, “All of us are convinced that our students need a series of areas of humanistic knowledge that help answer fundamental questions about the world, society, culture and their own lives. Thanks to the General training that we offer, (Core Curriculum) our students will not only become better people, but also best professionals, who are able to deeply understand the keys issues that governs our society.”
The convention brought together heads of faculties and schools, authorities and scholars from eleven (11) universities, and corporate works of Opus Dei from nine different countries. These included;
- Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (Spain)
- University of Piura, 2 Campuses: Piura and Lima (Peru).
- Universidad Panamericana, 4 Campuses: Mexico DF, Aguascalientes, and Guadalajara, (Mexico)
- University of Navarra, 6 Campuses: Pamplona, San Sebastian, Madrid, Barcelona, New York and Munich (Spain)
- Strathmore University, Nairobi (Kenya)
- Universidad Austral –3 Campuses Buenos Aires, Pilar and Rosario (Argentina)
- University of la Sabana (Colombia)
- University of Montevideo (Uruguay)
- University of the hemispheres (Ecuador)
- Universidad de los Andes (Chile)
Nov 6, 2014
