WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 Picture a typical university campus for a second. 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:08.839 What comes to mind? Probably a quiet, almost 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.179 idyllic bubble, right? Yeah, exactly. If you're 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:13.419 like most people, you're picturing students lounging 00:00:13.419 --> 00:00:16.699 on these immaculate green quads. Or, you know, 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:19.179 professors giving lectures and echoing halls. 00:00:19.379 --> 00:00:21.660 Right, and libraries packed with people doing 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:24.370 late -night studying. It is generally a place 00:00:24.370 --> 00:00:27.309 designed to observe society from a safe, comfortable 00:00:27.309 --> 00:00:29.629 distance. Which is the standard model. You go 00:00:29.629 --> 00:00:32.469 there, you learn, you leave. Yeah, exactly. But 00:00:32.469 --> 00:00:34.369 I want you to hold on to that image for a second 00:00:34.369 --> 00:00:37.149 and then flip it entirely on its head. What happens 00:00:37.149 --> 00:00:39.710 when a university decides its core mission isn't 00:00:39.710 --> 00:00:42.509 just to study the world, but to actively change 00:00:42.509 --> 00:00:45.170 it. Right. And not just in some theoretical academic 00:00:45.170 --> 00:00:48.130 sense. No, not at all. We are talking about doing 00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:50.950 this during a brutal, localized civil war. It 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:53.289 completely redefines what higher education is 00:00:53.289 --> 00:00:55.450 meant to be. I mean, it strips away that safe, 00:00:55.530 --> 00:00:57.270 comfortable distance you just mentioned. It really 00:00:57.270 --> 00:01:00.039 does. When a university intertwines its academic 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:02.539 goals with active social transformation in the 00:01:02.539 --> 00:01:05.060 middle of an armed conflict, the stakes change 00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:07.719 rapidly. You are no longer just worrying about 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:11.359 passing exams or publishing papers. Education 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:14.640 becomes a literal matter of life and death. Welcome 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:17.540 to this deep dive. I am your host, and today 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:20.480 our mission is to explore an institution that 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:24.180 embodies that exact extreme reality. And I'm 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:26.500 your expert guide for today's topic. I've got 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:28.879 a massive stack of historical notes and source 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:31.640 material right here. Perfect, because today we 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:33.799 are looking at the José Simeón Cáñez Central 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:36.319 American University. Much better known as UCA 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:39.040 El Salvador. Yes, UCA El Salvador. We're going 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:40.599 to use our sources to examine this place from 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:42.579 top to bottom. We'll look at its highly unique 00:01:42.579 --> 00:01:45.120 founding, its dramatic and deeply tragic role 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:47.780 in Salvadoran history, and how it manages to 00:01:47.780 --> 00:01:50.500 function today as this massive, vibrant academic 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:53.700 hub, despite its scars. To set a baseline for 00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:55.379 you, let's look at the basic parameters of the 00:01:55.379 --> 00:01:59.079 institution. UCA El Salvador is a private, non 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.079 -profit Catholic university. It is operated by 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:05.159 the Society of Jesus, meaning it's a Jesuit institution. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.319 Physically, it is located in Antigo Cuscatlan, 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:12.349 El Salvador. But we have to look past those basic 00:02:12.349 --> 00:02:14.870 categorizations, don't we? Absolutely. Calling 00:02:14.870 --> 00:02:18.129 UCA a private Catholic college only scratches 00:02:18.129 --> 00:02:20.909 the thinnest surface of what this place actually 00:02:20.909 --> 00:02:23.610 represents in Latin American history. Okay, let's 00:02:23.610 --> 00:02:25.550 unpack this from the very beginning. Let's rewind 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:29.530 to the year 1965. September 15th, 1965, to be 00:02:29.530 --> 00:02:32.030 exact. Right, thank you. This is the origin story 00:02:32.030 --> 00:02:34.270 of UCA, and it didn't just pop up out of nowhere. 00:02:34.449 --> 00:02:37.449 It was born out of a very specific request. Yeah, 00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:39.169 according to the history, a group of Catholic 00:02:39.169 --> 00:02:41.699 families actually lobbied the Salvadoran government. 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:44.379 And the Society of Jesus, right? Yes, both of 00:02:44.379 --> 00:02:46.539 them. They lobbied to create a new university. 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:48.939 They were specifically looking for an alternative 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:51.259 to the public university of El Salvador. And 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:54.000 by successfully lobbying for this, UCA became 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:56.400 the very first private institution of higher 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:58.819 education in the entire country. Which is a huge 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:01.680 milestone. It is. But here's my question. Why 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:03.979 did these families want an alternative so badly? 00:03:04.460 --> 00:03:06.560 What was the driving force behind this lobby? 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:09.060 Well, there was a growing desire for an educational 00:03:09.060 --> 00:03:11.319 environment that offered a different philosophical 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:14.500 approach than the state run system. But what's 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:17.240 fascinating here is the ideological pivot that 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:19.460 happens next. Right. Because things take a turn. 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:22.039 They do. You have these families essentially 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:25.479 demanding a new educational avenue and the Jesuits 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:28.780 step up to help create it. But the Jesuits don't 00:03:28.780 --> 00:03:31.620 just build a standard conservative college to 00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:34.099 churn out elite businessmen. No. They definitely 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:36.379 don't. They build an institution with a very 00:03:36.379 --> 00:03:39.960 specific, undeniable, and honestly, quite radical 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:42.860 ethos. Which brings us to the university's official 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:46.960 motto. In Spanish, it's Universidad para el Cambio 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:49.300 Social. Translated to English, that means University 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:52.150 for Social Change. But wait. Naming yourself 00:03:52.150 --> 00:03:55.389 the University for Social Change in 1965 El Salvador 00:03:55.389 --> 00:03:57.669 sounds like putting a massive target on your 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:00.310 back from day one. I mean, did they face immediate 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:02.930 pushback for being so aggressively proactive? 00:04:03.250 --> 00:04:04.990 They absolutely knew the weight of those words. 00:04:05.110 --> 00:04:07.370 Think about how bold that is for a moment. They 00:04:07.370 --> 00:04:09.509 didn't choose a Latin phrase about seeking universal 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:11.990 truth. Or striving for excellence, yeah. Like 00:04:11.990 --> 00:04:14.449 you see on almost every other university crest 00:04:14.449 --> 00:04:18.089 in the world, they explicitly stated their goal. 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:22.180 social change. Very direct. Very. And this matters 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:24.920 immensely because it immediately set a precedent 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:27.579 for every single thing the university would do 00:04:27.579 --> 00:04:30.839 from that day forward. They explicitly focused 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:33.279 on playing a decisive role in transforming what 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:35.639 they define as an unjust Salvadoran society. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.019 That is a massive paradigm shift. They aren't 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:41.480 just observing society. They're diagnosing it 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:44.000 as unjust and assigning themselves the task of 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.259 curing it. Exactly. But how did that mission 00:04:46.259 --> 00:04:48.839 actually translate into academics? Because, you 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:50.500 know, it's one thing to put a catchy revolutionary 00:04:50.500 --> 00:04:53.240 slogan on a brochure. It's another to actually 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:55.790 structure an entire university around it. It 00:04:55.790 --> 00:04:57.769 dictated their priorities from the ground up. 00:04:57.930 --> 00:05:00.709 First, they placed a heavy priority on undergraduate 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:03.310 degrees. So getting to the students early. Right. 00:05:03.370 --> 00:05:05.509 They wanted to educate the incoming generation 00:05:05.509 --> 00:05:08.170 on the ground level, shaping the minds that would 00:05:08.170 --> 00:05:11.290 soon inherit the country. Second, they prioritized 00:05:11.290 --> 00:05:13.550 rigorous research, particularly within the social 00:05:13.550 --> 00:05:15.430 sciences. Okay, that makes sense. And third, 00:05:15.649 --> 00:05:17.829 they developed this core foundational concept 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:20.709 called social projection. Okay, let's unpack 00:05:20.709 --> 00:05:24.329 this term, social projection. Because in a traditional 00:05:24.329 --> 00:05:27.170 academic setting, research almost always stays 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:29.829 within the ivory tower. Oh, definitely. Professors 00:05:29.829 --> 00:05:32.329 write dense papers that are read by other professors, 00:05:32.449 --> 00:05:35.009 and they get published in expensive paywall journals 00:05:35.009 --> 00:05:37.189 that the general public will never, ever see. 00:05:37.670 --> 00:05:40.470 What does social projection look like in contrast 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:43.220 to that? Social projection is the deliberate 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:46.100 act of taking academic research and pushing it 00:05:46.100 --> 00:05:49.439 out to the public. UCAs philosophy was that knowledge 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:52.000 hoarding is fundamentally useless if your goal 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:54.579 is societal transformation. So they didn't just 00:05:54.579 --> 00:05:57.350 lock the data away. Never. They actively worked 00:05:57.350 --> 00:05:59.970 to present their findings popularly. They used 00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:02.470 local peer -reviewed journals, public forums, 00:06:02.569 --> 00:06:04.790 and media to ensure the knowledge actually reached 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:07.209 the society they were trying to change. So practically 00:06:07.209 --> 00:06:09.709 speaking, if I'm a sociology professor at UCA, 00:06:09.750 --> 00:06:11.949 I'm not just handing my peer -reviewed paper 00:06:11.949 --> 00:06:14.970 to a panel of academics. I am translating that 00:06:14.970 --> 00:06:19.170 data into accessible formats so the average Salvadoran 00:06:19.170 --> 00:06:23.040 citizen can understand. the systemic issues affecting 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:25.160 their own neighborhood. Precisely. They were 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:26.879 essentially making sure their homework had real 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.600 -world impact. They were integrating the university 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.160 into the daily life of the nation. That makes 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:35.040 perfect sense in peacetime. But as we move into 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.439 the 1970s and 1980s, the environment in El Salvador 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:41.120 shifted drastically. It did. The country plunged 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:43.519 into the Salvadoran Civil War. And during this 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:47.259 deeply unstable, violent period, you would expect 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:50.120 an academic institution to hunker down. You'd 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:52.220 expect them to protect their students and faculty 00:06:52.220 --> 00:06:54.579 by staying quiet and staying out of the crossfire. 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:57.480 But that is not what happened. Instead, UCA became 00:06:57.480 --> 00:06:59.759 a home base for some of the most internationally 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:02.579 recognized Jesuit scholars and intellectuals 00:07:02.579 --> 00:07:05.360 of the entire era. Wow. The caliber of minds 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:07.339 gathered at this university during the Civil 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:10.319 War is genuinely remarkable. We are talking about 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:12.759 absolute heavyweights in their respective fields. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:15.300 The source material specifically names a few 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:17.819 key figures that we have to discuss. Joan Sobrino, 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:24.870 Ignacio de la Cueva. Yes. These scholars weren't 00:07:24.870 --> 00:07:27.350 retreating to the library while a war raged outside. 00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:30.879 The extreme social conditions in El Salvador 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.680 provided what the source describes as a very 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:37.040 rich empirical basis for their research. Meaning 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:40.860 they used the war itself as data. Exactly. This 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:43.019 is where the concept of applied knowledge becomes 00:07:43.019 --> 00:07:46.480 incredibly tangible. If you are a social psychologist 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:49.600 like Ignacio Martin Baró or a sociologist or 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:52.500 a philosopher, the conflict happening right outside 00:07:52.500 --> 00:07:55.439 your university doors is your data set. You aren't 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:57.220 studying poverty or warfare in the abstract. 00:07:57.420 --> 00:07:59.560 Right, from a safe campus thousands of miles 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:01.959 away in another country. You are experiencing 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:05.300 it, documenting it, and analyzing its real -time 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:07.600 effects on human beings. But I have to push back 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.860 on the logistics of that. How do you collect 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:12.300 data in a war zone without becoming a target? 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:14.879 It's incredibly difficult. Because impartial 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:16.839 reporting on a civil conflict through academic 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:20.139 work isn't exactly a safe desk job. They were 00:08:20.139 --> 00:08:22.620 using sociology, social anthropology, philosophy, 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.259 social psychology, and theology to demonstrate 00:08:25.259 --> 00:08:28.360 the cold, hard effects of the war and the crushing 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.300 poverty in the country. It wasn't safe. But they 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:34.559 were driven by a profound philosophical and theological 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.500 commitment. They were proving what was happening 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:40.750 with strict academic rigor. And numbers don't 00:08:40.750 --> 00:08:43.769 lie. Exactly. And that level of rigor applied 00:08:43.769 --> 00:08:46.990 to a living, breathing conflict leads to groundbreaking 00:08:46.990 --> 00:08:50.029 research. These scholars made lasting contributions 00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:52.929 to their fields precisely because they were stress 00:08:52.929 --> 00:08:55.570 testing their theories in the crucible of a civil 00:08:55.570 --> 00:08:58.309 war. They were showing with empirical data how 00:08:58.309 --> 00:09:01.049 trauma affects communities. How poverty is systemic 00:09:01.049 --> 00:09:03.870 and how philosophical and theological frameworks 00:09:03.870 --> 00:09:06.690 can be applied to liberation and social justice. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.019 And as we examine this, we have to look at how 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:10.980 their findings intersected with the political 00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:13.259 reality of El Salvador at the time. Right. The 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:15.639 political climate was incredibly tense. Maintaining 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:18.279 a neutral, factual look at our sources, it is 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:20.740 well documented that these scholars became highly 00:09:20.740 --> 00:09:23.000 outspoken against the abuses being committed 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:25.200 by the Salvadoran military and the government. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:27.960 Yes. Their research was not flattering to the 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:30.080 people in power. They were impartially reporting 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.580 on the conflict, and the data pointed directly 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:35.559 towards systemic abuses. Which raises a critical 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:39.039 question about the nature of power. What happens 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:41.519 when your empirical research directly challenges 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:43.960 the narrative of an armed military during a civil 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:47.000 war? A very dangerous situation. And what happens 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.559 when you use your platform to push that research 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:52.039 out to the public through social projection? 00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:55.220 It stops being seen as academic research and 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:58.179 starts being seen as a direct threat. The data 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:01.629 itself becomes dangerous to the state. Yes. Which 00:10:01.629 --> 00:10:03.990 brings us to the climax of this story, and honestly, 00:10:04.049 --> 00:10:06.370 one of the most profoundly solemn moments in 00:10:06.370 --> 00:10:08.990 modern academic history. It really is. The danger 00:10:08.990 --> 00:10:10.750 of their work caught up with them in the most 00:10:10.750 --> 00:10:14.009 horrific way imaginable. On November 16, 1989, 00:10:14.570 --> 00:10:17.250 the Salvadoran armed forces breached the UCA 00:10:17.250 --> 00:10:19.450 campus. That terrible day. They murdered six 00:10:19.450 --> 00:10:22.830 Jesuit professors. This included Ignacio Alacuria, 00:10:23.070 --> 00:10:26.470 Ignacio Martin Buró, and Segundo Montes. They 00:10:26.470 --> 00:10:28.889 also murdered the Jesuits' housekeeper and her 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:31.059 daughter. If we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:33.419 the weight of this event is staggering. This 00:10:33.419 --> 00:10:35.419 is one of the notorious episodes of the entire 00:10:35.419 --> 00:10:38.240 Salvadoran Civil War, often referred to as the 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:40.539 murder of the UCA scholars. The international 00:10:40.539 --> 00:10:43.000 community was shocked. Beyond shocked. These 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:45.539 were individuals who had made and were actively 00:10:45.539 --> 00:10:48.759 making lasting contributions to the global understanding 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.240 of the social sciences and theology. Their deaths 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.279 violently underscore the extreme ultimate stakes 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:58.580 of UCA's founding mission. Education and research 00:10:58.580 --> 00:11:01.620 here were not abstract concepts. It wasn't about 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:03.620 getting a piece of paper to hang on a wall. No. 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:06.080 It was quite literally a matter of life and death. 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:09.500 The Salvadoran military saw the power of their 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:11.980 applaud knowledge, the threat of their social 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:14.860 projection, and responded with ultimate violence 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:17.919 to silence it. It's a stark, brutal reminder 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:20.919 that knowledge is a form of power. Those who 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:23.539 hold systemic armed power are often terrified 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:25.820 by institutions that distribute knowledge freely 00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:28.059 and critically to the public. Because they can't 00:11:28.059 --> 00:11:30.399 control it. Exactly. The UCA scholars didn't 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.000 hold weapons. They held demographic data, philosophical 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.620 arguments, and theological convictions. And that 00:11:35.620 --> 00:11:37.700 was deemed dangerous enough to warrant assassination. 00:11:38.220 --> 00:11:40.779 But their voices weren't truly silenced. Not 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:43.539 in the long run. The global impact of their work 00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:46.279 and their incredible sacrifice resonated far 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:49.210 beyond the borders of... El Salvador. It sent 00:11:49.210 --> 00:11:52.230 ripples across the entire academic world. To 00:11:52.230 --> 00:11:54.009 give you an idea of the international recognition 00:11:54.009 --> 00:11:56.889 UCA received for its mission, we have to look 00:11:56.889 --> 00:12:00.070 at the year 1990, just months after the tragedy. 00:12:01.009 --> 00:12:03.190 UCA was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award 00:12:03.190 --> 00:12:06.309 for Communication and Humanities. That is a tremendously 00:12:06.309 --> 00:12:09.169 prestigious honor. It's an award given in Spain 00:12:09.169 --> 00:12:12.309 to individuals or institutions that have made 00:12:12.309 --> 00:12:15.049 significant contributions to the humanities worldwide. 00:12:15.529 --> 00:12:17.590 Just to put the caliber of this award into perspective 00:12:17.590 --> 00:12:19.970 for you, consider who else has won it over the 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:24.139 years. Google. National Geographic, and Nelson 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:26.340 Mandela's Foundation. That is elite company. 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:28.940 It places the university's dedication to communication 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:32.279 and humanity on a global historical stage. They 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:34.179 were recognized internationally for paying the 00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:36.139 ultimate price for telling the truth through 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:38.240 their research. It honors the fact that they 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:41.720 completely fulfilled their 1965 motto. They were 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:44.279 the university for social change, and they didn't 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:46.620 back down from that even when the cost was absolute. 00:12:46.980 --> 00:12:49.980 This is where the story could easily end. An 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:52.580 institution suffers a devastating blow to its 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:55.320 faculty right on its own grounds. You would expect 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:58.440 them to fade away or retreat into a much quieter, 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.700 safer version of themselves. It would be entirely 00:13:00.700 --> 00:13:03.039 understandable if they did. How do you even begin 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.539 to rebuild when the core intellectual heart of 00:13:06.539 --> 00:13:09.120 your university is ripped out? You rebuild by 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.480 doubling down on the mission that cost those 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:14.580 scholars their lives. The resilience of UCA is 00:13:14.580 --> 00:13:17.200 arguably as remarkable as its intellectual bravery. 00:13:17.870 --> 00:13:19.970 Here's where it gets really interesting. That 00:13:19.970 --> 00:13:23.149 resilience brings us to the present day. UCA 00:13:23.149 --> 00:13:26.070 El Salvador today is a modern academic phoenix 00:13:26.070 --> 00:13:28.529 rising from its own history. The campus today 00:13:28.529 --> 00:13:30.929 is incredible. It is. Looking at the campus now, 00:13:31.090 --> 00:13:34.690 it is a sprawling 38 -acre urban campus. We're 00:13:34.690 --> 00:13:37.250 talking about 33 different buildings, massive 00:13:37.250 --> 00:13:40.009 auditoriums, clinics, museums, and an entire 00:13:40.009 --> 00:13:42.129 documentation center. Plus a professional soccer 00:13:42.129 --> 00:13:45.320 field. basketball courts, four cafeterias, a 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:47.960 mini market. It is a bustling, vibrant mini city 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:50.759 supported by over 400 academic staff and home 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:53.720 to nearly 9 ,000 students. The scale of it proves 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:56.100 that they didn't just survive. They expanded. 00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:58.620 But the physical footprint isn't the most impressive 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:01.559 part. The true depth is found in how they have 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:03.799 evolved their academic offerings to meet the 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:06.679 modern needs of El Salvador while perfectly maintaining 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:10.720 their core identity. How so? Well, UCA is organized 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:13.940 into three major faculties, economics and business 00:14:13.940 --> 00:14:17.639 sciences, human and social sciences, and engineering 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:19.740 and architecture. Looking at their departments 00:14:19.740 --> 00:14:23.500 today, you see a deliberate blueprint for rebuilding 00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:25.860 a nation. They aren't just teaching philosophy 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:28.639 and theology. They have deeply technical fields 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.519 like food engineering, public accounting, the 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:33.659 Department of Energy and Fluid Sciences. Structural 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:36.259 mechanics? Right, and spatial organization. They're 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:38.360 literally training the people needed to keep 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:40.340 the country's lights on, build its infrastructure, 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:43.519 and manage its economy. They balance the practical, 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:46.200 modern needs of a developing economy with their 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.600 historical commitment to the humanities. And 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:50.879 you see this beautifully reflected in their postgraduate 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.389 programs. Master's degrees, yeah. Yes. They offer 00:14:54.389 --> 00:14:56.429 master's degrees in Latin American theology, 00:14:56.769 --> 00:14:58.909 which obviously honors their roots, but also 00:14:58.909 --> 00:15:01.409 highly specific programs like criminal constitutional 00:15:01.409 --> 00:15:04.830 law, local development, environmental management, 00:15:05.029 --> 00:15:07.429 communitarian psychology, and public health. 00:15:07.610 --> 00:15:10.740 Those aren't just random degrees. A master's 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:13.539 in criminal constitutional law or local development 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:16.340 in a post -Civil War nation is highly strategic. 00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:19.200 It's vital. They are cultivating experts at the 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:21.759 absolute highest levels to address the legal 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:24.539 and infrastructural failings of the past. But 00:15:24.539 --> 00:15:26.100 I think the most important question we have to 00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:28.820 ask is, how are they honoring that original social 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:31.879 projection concept today? Do they still push 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:33.840 their knowledge out into the public? Exactly. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.320 Is it still a core part of what they do? That 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.539 is the crucial link between the past and the 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:41.299 present. The modern campus hasn't abandoned that 00:15:41.299 --> 00:15:43.360 original mission. They have institutionalized 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.700 it. Okay, tell me more about that. UCA's social 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:48.139 projection still actively exists and operates 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:50.820 through specific, highly influential on -campus 00:15:50.820 --> 00:15:55.179 institutions. For example, they run YSC 91 .7 00:15:55.179 --> 00:15:58.250 FM radio. Literally broadcasting their voices 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:00.470 and research directly onto the airwaves for anyone 00:16:00.470 --> 00:16:04.029 to hear. Exactly. They also have UCA Audiovisuals 00:16:04.029 --> 00:16:06.529 for media production and the Monsignor Romero 00:16:06.529 --> 00:16:09.309 Center, which continues the focus on social justice. 00:16:09.610 --> 00:16:11.929 But perhaps most critically, in terms of policy 00:16:11.929 --> 00:16:14.889 and society, they house the university's public 00:16:14.889 --> 00:16:18.269 opinion institute. Known as IUDOP. Right. And 00:16:18.269 --> 00:16:21.049 the Human Rights Institute, known as IDHUCA. 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:23.139 Let's dig into those because these aren't just 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:26.240 standard student clubs. No, they are vital organs 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.000 of Salvadoran civil society. The Public Opinion 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.419 Institute, IUDOP, regularly conducts rigorous 00:16:32.419 --> 00:16:34.879 surveys on the social, political, and economic 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.480 climate of El Salvador. They keep a constant 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:39.700 empirical pulse on the needs and opinions of 00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:41.840 the people. Why is conducting public opinion 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:44.759 polling such a radical or necessary act of social 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:47.809 projection? Because in a society recovering from 00:16:47.809 --> 00:16:50.149 conflict where democratic norms and trust in 00:16:50.149 --> 00:16:52.970 institutions might still be fragile, data is 00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:55.070 a form of accountability. Oh, that is a great 00:16:55.070 --> 00:16:58.629 point. When IUDOP publishes a rigorous, scientifically 00:16:58.629 --> 00:17:02.090 sound poll showing exactly what the Salvadoran 00:17:02.090 --> 00:17:04.670 people think about the economy, crime or government 00:17:04.670 --> 00:17:08.250 policies, it prevents those in power from controlling 00:17:08.250 --> 00:17:10.789 the narrative unchecked. It gives a mathematically 00:17:10.789 --> 00:17:13.849 undeniable voice to the population. Yes, it is 00:17:13.849 --> 00:17:15.940 the modern evolution. of the data collection 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:18.059 that Martin Burrow and his colleagues were doing 00:17:18.059 --> 00:17:20.720 in the 1980s. And I .D .U .C. Key, the Human 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.660 Rights Institute, continues the vital work of 00:17:23.660 --> 00:17:26.250 investigating and advocating for the vulnerable. 00:17:26.529 --> 00:17:29.450 They are still taking the data, taking the knowledge, 00:17:29.589 --> 00:17:31.650 and projecting it right back into the community 00:17:31.650 --> 00:17:34.549 to demand justice. They continue to be an active, 00:17:34.589 --> 00:17:37.609 breathing part of Salvadoran daily life. They 00:17:37.609 --> 00:17:40.130 aren't just observing the recovery of a nation, 00:17:40.230 --> 00:17:42.410 they are actively participating in it. They are 00:17:42.410 --> 00:17:45.650 living proof that an academic institution can 00:17:45.650 --> 00:17:47.869 be a permanent fixture of accountability and 00:17:47.869 --> 00:17:50.390 progress in a society, even as governments and 00:17:50.390 --> 00:17:52.930 eras change. They didn't retreat into the ivory 00:17:52.930 --> 00:17:56.150 tower, they fortified their place in the So what 00:17:56.150 --> 00:17:58.210 does this all mean? Let's zoom out and look at 00:17:58.210 --> 00:18:01.269 the big picture for you, the listener. The story 00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:04.289 of UCA El Salvador is the ultimate testament 00:18:04.289 --> 00:18:06.990 to the idea that knowledge is not meant to be 00:18:06.990 --> 00:18:09.289 hoarded in an exclusive bubble. Absolutely not. 00:18:09.410 --> 00:18:11.269 A university doesn't have to be just a waiting 00:18:11.269 --> 00:18:14.710 room for the workforce. UCA proves that an educational 00:18:14.710 --> 00:18:18.509 institution can be a wildly proactive force for 00:18:18.509 --> 00:18:21.440 societal transformation. It can bear witness 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:24.119 to history, it can challenge authority with data 00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:26.759 and truth, and it can shape a nation's future, 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:29.640 both through the students it educates and the 00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:32.900 societal norms it refuses to accept. It completely 00:18:32.900 --> 00:18:35.640 forces us to redefine the utility of education. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.740 We so often think of education as a purely personal 00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:41.279 asset. We do. We view it as a way to get a better 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:43.559 job, improve our own minds, or secure our own 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.299 financial future. But this story challenges that 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:48.480 completely. If you were challenged to apply the 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:50.380 concept of social projection to your own life 00:18:50.380 --> 00:18:52.559 and learning, How would you do it? That is a 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:55.039 heavy question. It is. How would you use your 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.900 current knowledge, your specific expertise, to 00:18:57.900 --> 00:18:59.819 document, challenge, or improve the realities 00:18:59.819 --> 00:19:01.920 of your own community? It's a profound shift 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:04.079 from asking, what can this knowledge do for me? 00:19:04.420 --> 00:19:07.000 To asking. What can this knowledge do for us? 00:19:07.380 --> 00:19:09.299 That is exactly the kind of question that sticks 00:19:09.299 --> 00:19:11.400 with you long after the facts and dates fade 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:13.599 away. Thank you so much for joining us on this 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.960 deep dive into UCA El Salvador, a true university 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.579 for social change. We highly encourage you to 00:19:19.579 --> 00:19:21.359 keep exploring, keep questioning the world around 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:23.759 you, and we warmly invite you back for our next 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:24.200 exploration.