LABSeminar 2026
The purpose of this seminar is to reflect on the current state of Humanities in Chile and around the world, as well as the prospects and possibilities for these disciplines in the coming years, and to present various initiatives in humanities-based innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly in the fields of communications, heritage, technology, education, and interdisciplinary studies.
It is a free on-site activity held on Wednesdays during the last week of each month from May through September, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Humanities Lab, Campus Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad San Sebastián (Av. El Cóndor 796, 2nd Floor. Huechuraba).
If you want to participate in the next session (May), it is necessary to register using the following form. Spots are limited.
First session: May 8
Ignacio Chuecas
HUMANITIES AND INTERDISCIPLINARITY: Fresh air in a centuries-old building
Ignacio Chuecas addressed the current crisis of Humanities from a critical and self-critical perspective. He began with the recent political context in Chile, where the value of humanistic research has been questioned, reflecting a global trend toward delegitimizing critical thinking. Chuecas argued that the humanities themselves have contributed to this crisis through endogamous practices, lack of innovation, localist hyper-specialization, zero interdisciplinary collaboration, and academic vices such as clientelism, endogamous publishing, and empty performance at conferences. He proposed genuine interdisciplinarity as a way out—not as a sum of disciplines, but as a collaborative approach to complex problems. He exemplified this with his experience in the interdisciplinary doctoral program at Universidad Finis Terrae, which implemented team teaching, fostering independent thinking and new lines of research such as technologies, environmental Humanities, and artificial intelligence.