About us

The Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) is a Humanities and Social Sciences research center at the University of Navarra. We advance projects of an interdisciplinary nature that are inspired by Christian thought with the aim of understanding the human person and of responding to society’s global challenges.

What is our goal?

Through the generation of knowledge and its application in society, we aspire to become a center of international acclaim and to participate in the main forums that address humanity’s greatest challenges and that influence decision-making aimed at the common good.

What are our values?

• Interdisciplinarity:
  Given the complexity of the issues addressed at ICS, dialogue across disciplines is required in order to advance knowledge. This interdisciplinarity is found in our researchers themselves, on our work teams, in the publications we produce, and in the activities and initiatives that we undertake.

• Internationality:
  This value helps bring together people from diverse scientific cultures. A plurality of approaches fosters answers to the problems raised that have universal validity. In addition to attracting international talent to our team, ICS also promotes internationality through participation in research networks in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia. 

• Social impact:
  ICS draws inspiration from society to enrich its research and, in turn, aims for its projects’ results to contribute to improving it at the local, national and international levels. To do so, we maintain dialogue with a variety of social agents, listen to them and share the knowledge we generate with them.  

• Sustainability: This implies ICS's commitment to the development of the people who work within the organisation, respect for people's dignity and the improvement of society. ICS projects seek to align with the goals of sustainable development such as the end of poverty, health and well-being, reduction of inequalities, peace, justice and strong institutions and gender equality.

• Equity: ICS is committed to achieving equality between men and women, offering opportunities to vulnerable groups, in order to contribute to a fairer society.

Who makes up the ICS?

In the 2022-2023 academic year, the ICS is made up of 84 researchers from 17 disciplines and 24 nationalities. In addition, we have 150 collaborators from 21 countries.