The Image as a Form of Knowledge, by Cristina de Middel
Presentation of the inaugural lecture
Dear all,
The role of universities goes way beyond details such as financial results or graduate numbers. While the figures do hold some importance, a notable example being the UOC having nearly 50,000 students enrolled for the first time, we must remember what is most important is what happens on a daily basis in each and every one of our classrooms, where learning processes prepare our students for the careers ahead of them, where we give fresh impetus to the wealth of people's experiences, and lay foundations for future development. In a nutshell: holding true to our past roots, we are working in the present to prepare for tomorrow.
Drew Gilpin Faust, President of Harvard until just a few weeks ago, elucidated this point, saying “Universities make commitments to the timeless. [...] We strive to understand who we are, where we came from, where we are going and why.” Hence the need to furnish ourselves with tools for learning to learn, for critical thinking and for lifelong learning, elements essential to any society that is to be democratic, informed and free.
Indeed, in this year's absorbing inaugural lecture, the famed photographer Cristina de Middel stresses the importance of taking a critical and informed perspective when interpreting the avalanche of images and information we now receive, so we can take rational positions and understand grounds and motives. In our fully interconnected world, our society with its unlimited access to data, and our public arena in which truths, falsehoods and uncertainties swim side by side, it is imperative we have the communicative competencies needed to be active and critical participants.
We need to educate ourselves as consumers, as spectators, and as citizens, but also as senders of messages. To paraphrase de Middel, one of our obligations as a university – and one of our objectives at the UOC – is to teach our students to communicate and share their thoughts, knowledge and creations. Today more than ever, to communicate means giving your point of view – respectfully, critically, and with courage.
Have an excellent academic year 2018/2019!
Josep A. Planell
UOC President