Who are we?
The Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) is a research center in Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Navarra that develops interdisciplinary and Christian-inspired projects to understand the human being and respond to the global challenges of society.
What is our goal?
Through the generation of knowledge and its application in society, we aspire to become a center of international reference letter to participate in the main forums of discussion on the great challenges of human beings and to influence decision making for the common good.
We do research to understand
the human being and contribute
to a better society
We draw our inspiration from society to orient our research towards issues that are close to reality. Organized in eight groups of research, our researchers aspire to generate spaces of coexistence and equality in a pluralistic and globalized world; to value our legacies in order to build the future; to care for the individual, especially the weakest and most vulnerable; to foster links to favor the development of people, institutions and societies; and to understand the role of creativity and technology as tools at the service of people.
What are our values?
multidisciplinarity
Given the complexity of the issues addressed in the ICS, a dialogue between knowledge is required to advance the knowledge. which is manifested transversally in the teams, the activity and the research of the center.
international outreach
It helps to bring together people from different scientific cultures. This plurality of approaches allows the answers given to the problems raised to have universal validity.
Social impact
The ICS is inspired by society to enrich its research and, in turn, aspires that the results of the projects contribute to improving it through dialogue with various social agents.
Who are the ICS members?
In the 2024-2025 academic year, the ICS is made up of 83 researchers from 17 disciplines and 19 nationalities.
In addition, we have 181 international collaborators.
We live in an increasingly global, complex and changing world. To meet the challenges of today's society, universities play a decisive role as institutions genuinely dedicated to the search for Truth. Seeking to broaden the understanding of the world and the human being, the Institute for Culture and Society develops an international, interdisciplinary, scientifically rigorous and socially impactfulresearch to respond to the great challenges of the human being with universal proposals."
Jaime García del Barrio
Director from Institute for Culture and Society
Our history
-
1998
Benedict XVI
When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) visit the University to receive the doctorate Honoris Causa, he was impressed by the interdisciplinary vocation of the University. On his return to Rome, he wrote a letter to Office of the Executive Council to thank him for his welcome in Pamplona. In it, he proposed that the University should become a platform for promote open dialogue through the Humanities, with the goal aim of seeking the truth and transcending relativism. In it, he is committed to placing the focus on the dignity of the person in the face of cultural and political conditioning and on concerns of great social significance.
