Reimagining the University: Reflections for a more just, inclusive and conscious education

Abstract

This article addresses the importance of the university in shaping a citizenry committed to democracy, sustainable development, and the integration of the self at a time of civilizational crisis that seems to demand new imaginaries that shape university pedagogies. In this context, the modern, enlightened worldview—which has led to a rationalist ontology and a positivist epistemology—could give way to a plurality of knowledge where integrative archetypes give new meaning to practices aimed at building a more just world. Within this framework, this work proposes to start from an innovative paradigm that incorporates three analytical processes which, although divergent in theory, arrive at extremely similar conclusions: i) scientific postulates derived mainly from quantum physics and neuroscience; ii) philosophical doctrines for eco-social transitions; and iii) the main contributions of contemplative doctrines. Based on these visions, a biocentric ontology is constructed that corresponds to an epistemology aware of its limits and biases, which must be oriented towards transdisciplinarity. The article thus proposes processes, dynamics, and reflections on new paths for innovative pedagogy in university education that embraces the multidimensionality of being, the interrelatedness of all things, and the need to transform people and the worlds we build.