Addressing global challenges with academic rigour

The University for the elderly at Comillas Pontifical University has launched the new programme “XXI century: outlook and global challenges” for the academic year 2023/24, a new degree that will be taught over the course of two years. As its name implies, it will deal with aspects and events of global interest, always taking the past as reference, analysing the present, and considering strategic plans and goals of the major international institutions.

This new degree is designed for a wide audience and enrolment is now open to anyone who wants to participate, no matter the age. For the director of the University for the elderly, Carlos Sánchez, this new programme seeks to “respond to the concerns of an important part of the population, who want to understand today’s world in more depth.”

As a novelty regarding other programmes of the University for the elderly, the syllabus, which will be taught by a group of renowned lecturers, will address topics beyond the humanities to delve into cutting-edge aspects of science and technology (biotechnology, modern physics, transhumanism…) and international politics (European Union, global leadership, strategic competition…).

The degree is divided into four modules: science and technology; international politics; executive, legislative and judicial systems; economics and tax system; which can be taken following the stablished syllabus or independently. The programme can also be adapted to the needs of the students and, although it is designed to do it in person, it can also be taken online or bimodal. The Lifelong Learning Graduate School is working to make the programmes more open and modular.