On 10 December, the auditorium at CaixaForum Barcelona hosted the presentation of the latest report issued by the Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi), a network of more than 200 higher education experts from 80 different countries that is also supported by UNESCO and the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP). The document, entitled “Humanities and Higher Education: Synergies between Science, Technology and Humanities”, includes an article written by the dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Judith Urbano, and lecturers Xavier Escribano and Gabriel Fernández-Borsot. 

The case study presents the educational model that has been employed by UIC Barcelona, which, since its founding, has been firmly committed to incorporating humanistic content across all university degrees. The article takes a look at the various stages in which the model was implemented and points out that “after 22 years of trial and error, it is safe to say that we have managed to combine, in an original manner, classic humanistic content with the topics and main issues relevant to fields such as law, education, health and architecture”. As for future challenges, the article highlights the need to preserve and promote the richness and depth of this humanistic content and adapt it to the idiosyncrasies and professional profile that each discipline demands. 

Over 130 international authors contributed to the GUNi’s most recent report, which explores the relationship between the humanities, science and technology in societies around the world, with examples of synergies between different education systems.