The Institute for Culture and Thought (CIP) of UIC Barcelona has organised two interdisciplinary critical thought seminars with the participation of Marcelo López, director of Humanistic Education at the Francisco de Vitoria University. These seminars were aimed at both students and teachers and addressed fundamental issues on the need for meaning and transcendence, as well as teaching as a service.

The students had the opportunity to participate in the seminar "Thirst for Infinity: God, Meaning and Spirituality", held on 12 March at the Sant Cugat campus and 13 March at the Barcelona campus. This session explored the human desire for transcendence and its relationship with the meaning of life and spiritual pursuit.

Teaching staff then attended the seminar "Teaching as a Service", which took place on 13 March at the Barcelona campus. This session provided an opportunity to reflect on the teacher's role in the holistic education of students. López insisted on the need for a humanistic vision in university education, stressing that "you cannot separate professional development from personal development; to train good professionals, you need to help them find meaning in their lives." He also invited reflection on the anthropological premises underlying each particular discipline: “Behind a subject like macroeconomics or genetics, there is also a vision of the individual,” he said. “Therefore, teachers must be able to think about the epistemological framework on which they base their subjects.”

These seminars are part of the CIP academic programme and seek to foster reflection and interaction between different fields of knowledge. With this type of initiative, UIC Barcelona reaffirms its commitment to a humanistic education that not only prepares students for professional life but also contributes to the personal and intellectual growth of its students and teachers.