University organization and political provincialism

In the first chapter of Catalan nationality (1906), Enric Prat de la Riba warns against the danger of becoming a province, otherwise, there is a risk of losing one's own personality by submitting to the criteria and motto of others: "Chosen souls always preserved the memory of the past and maintained a passive protest against the present, but they passed silently, isolated, and in silence, and isolated, and in silence, isolated, and in silence; the reflective conscience of the community was erased, leaving only, with special accentuation, the same unconscious feeling of the masses."

This fragment of Prat de la Riba came to mind while reading the news about the new organization of degrees in Catalonia. In this news it is said that, this year, only one student has enrolled in Romance Philology. It also states: "In 2025, in the July pre-registration period, only 58% (27,927) of the students assigned a place got a seat at the degree and university they had chosen as their first preference." A diagnosis is made based on the variable imbalance between supply and demand, which is interpreted as an effect of the outdated regulations governing university programming. The Government will update them with a new decree. This makes the hopeful reader think that, at least, things will improve, everyone will have what they want: the solution is assured. But what solution? And above all, for what problem?

In this same newspaper and in another article, Jordi Llovet praised the interest in general studies of Romance philology and its history at the university, as well as the value of humanistic knowledge for the country and for universal culture. I took the opportunity to praise that unique student who decided to study Romance Philology in a clear gesture of exception. The exception, as everyone knows, never proves the rule, but it does point out the headaches.

It seems that in this matter there are, then, two possible directions: one would be to ensure the balance of supply and demand. This direction would imply leaving out other variables, such as prioritizing certain studies and their cultural interest for the country. In that case, in the words of Prat de la Riba, we would be guided by the unconscious sentiment of the masses (today, the market). A second direction would consist of evaluating what the country needs, what kind of university we want and for what cultural foundation, giving a symbolic purpose to university education, for a country that does not want to be provincial or the province of any other. This second direction, in the words of Prat de la Riba, would be the result of the work of the reflective conscience of the community, from which university policy would acquire real meaning.

But many years have passed since Prat de la Riba. Now, ideals are foreign to a hypermodern society in the midst of a climate crisis. Meanwhile, political provincialism spurs the issue with decrees and regulations. The passion for forgetting will do the rest.