April 24th, 2020

Dear friends and colleagues from the University and elsewhere,

At some point in the Persian Letters, Montesquieu has one of his characters say that if triangles had a god, they would give him three sides. Well, that is how I feel when talking solely about UPF, writing endless messages day after day, almost all of them about my three sides… Giving symmetrical responses to a world outside with the constraints of this world inside. I’m sure I’m not alone; that from your homes, from all your sides, with the same symmetry, you are doing everything possible to get through this situation. You have our thanks for your involvement in our institution, and also for your understanding in a situation that poses such exceptional and, until now, unexplored hurdles. I would like to assure you that we are doing our utmost to lighten the load and safeguard your Personal Wellbeing in the fullest sense of the word. 

A dear friend once told me a great anecdote. I can’t remember where it came from, or who it involved. I would ask him if it weren’t for the fact that this friend is, of course, at home, and I have to put up with not seeing him and not having enough time for the important things in life. The anecdote provides an answer to the question: “What can we do about the problem of the countryside?”. “Tarmac it!”, said the shameless scoundrel, whoever it was, with a nod to those who, many years ago now, had fretted over a toned-down, lacklustre version of environmentalism. I laughed, but in all likelihood, there wasn’t much about it that was funny. Now, certainly, there is nothing funny about it at all. It is with equal zeal, or indeed more, that our university is committed to everything to the contrary, in such difficult times and with steadfast determination. That is why we are talking ad nauseam about a cause and effect of Personal Wellbeing: Planetary Wellbeing. At a time when science and culture –knowledge– are beating in time more than ever in the interest of global comfort, this is our banner. I hope you can stand behind it without reservation.

Another one of those people who, with age and over time, you come to realise is a true friend, invited me a few days ago to write something (write!; as if, like I said, I haven’t been writing non-stop –albeit nonsensical gibberish perhaps–, day after day, at every minute, in all directions). He wanted me to offer my view on universities at this time. I come back to the Persian Letters, which you wouldn’t regret reading if you get the chance during these months of seclusion. In them, sometimes one letter is contained within another: Rica receives an amusing letter and sends it onto Usbek. A kind of 18th-century Twitter. In this case, like Montesquieu’s epistolary novel, I am also sending you a letter contained within a letter. It is the one my friend asked me to write a few days ago about my vision of the University. For all of you, with my warmest wishes:

My good friends from the Circle of Economy have invited me to put down in words my vision of universities during confinement, at the height of the coronavirus outbreak; to offer a pill that can be easily swallowed.

1. The first thing that comes to mind is “solidity”. Everyone knows their own university and a little about the others. I am convinced that the Catalan universities have offered a solid response to the confinement of hundreds of thousands of students and tens of thousands of staff members. With almost no time for preparation, face-to-face teaching and research has gone virtual. What’s been lost? Well, most of what we have always done; what we do best. But, once we have accepted that loss, what will remain? First of all, there will be a lot of noise, a lot of opinions bandied about carelessly, based largely on the anxiety of mandatory confinement and fear. Everyone is having to deal with the difficulties and strain of the seemingly drastic change of teaching method, struggling with their own particular issues that this entails. This is inevitable and to be expected. But, at the same time, I have been witness to an extraordinary phenomenon: a strong sense of appreciation for a common effort, for the chance to participate and for the satisfaction of getting good results in the face of such an adverse panorama and such an unclear time frame for a return to normality. The University has shown, through the good will and talent of its members (students, teachers and staff), great solidity, and will finish the academic year with great dignity (in terms of teaching, having done all the necessary assessments, research, innovation and knowledge transfer; in other words, in all areas of academic activity).

2. Then, we need to talk about the “change”, the “smart revolution” in managing the academic effects arising from this experience. At my University we have a far-reaching project, whose aim, in a nutshell, is the intensification of face-to-face activities. It is about learning, in our day and age, to value with greater rigour the meaning and virtues of face-to-face learning. And, naturally, to properly manage the results of this assessment. What is it that students and teachers working in direct contact with one another in a real room can offer today? This project we called, and still call, EDvolució, and ideas for improvements were tentatively beginning to emerge. Suddenly, EDvolució is up and running: and no one can stop this project centred on reappraising Pompeu Fabra University, right down to its very foundations. It is clear to me that this phase is pushing us faster towards making organisational and methodological improvements to how we teach science and culture. The speed with which it is taking place is not a comfortable one, but our only choice now is to fully adapt to it.

3. The last concept is the University’s “social mission” or “response”. Universities should always think from the outside first. What a wretched, useless monster, not to mention an expensive one to maintain, is the university that thinks only from the inside, with its internal bickering and the false intellectual emulation and hypocrisy that academic institutions have been dragging behind them since time immemorial! I’ll say it again: universities should always think from the outside first, and only afterwards from the inside. In these times, there is a clear obligation for universities to focus on those most affected in the university community and also those most affected in the world. They need to provide the necessary means to those who lack the resources needed for life and study; for the sake of their dignity and to avoid losing their talent. But this is not the only socially sensitive mission that we are tasked with. We cannot forget that people, with different levels of professional expertise, from students to highly prestigious scientists are providing society with a vital service at this time. As if a previously dark lighthouse has suddenly been lit up, it is now that we can clearly see the purpose universities serve, albeit a purpose that has always been there. Culture (which, of course, includes scientific culture) and science are the most useful elements that humankind has within its reach. I would never say that what is most important in life is social progress. But I believe in progress, I strongly believe in the principle that not everything goes, not everything is possible, and that events are not indifferent in their passage through our lives. All things are not equal; the phrase “what difference does it make?” should be banished to hell. So to make this point clear, which is no easy task, I would say that nothing more than science and culture has made the idea of progress in our lives so plausible. This is the job of a university.

Over the coming weeks we will continue together with the work of universities. And I suppose we will continue to write endless messages. I would perhaps rather talk to you about other things, that each day we make music at home, of all kinds, or that David Hockney is posting his paintings from Normandy to remind us, as if he had heard about Planetary Wellbeing, that we have been absurdly at odds for a long time now with an idea of nature that we are still strongly drawn to. Our art collection, or rather, our Art Track, also helps us to contemplate this absurdity. For some time now, we have offered the chance to take an online tour. Don’t forget: “Fabra” (as we should call it), “Pompeu” (as everyone calls it), is also an invitation for us to delve into these kinds of questions and, together, come up with some kind of comforting response… for the time being, from the three sides of our seclusion. 

My warmest wishes to you all,

Jaume Casals