The Origin of Values
The moon and the sea meet in the Balearic Islands beyond their natural setting: they are both part of a mediaeval family crest that is reflected today in the institutional branding of the University of the Balearic Islands.
For a 21st-century university, with its five centuries of history and 40 years of modern-day instruction, to honour the figure of Ramon Llull this way (whose family crest is the inspiration behind the artwork) is no small matter.
A modern university like our own is a reflection of the values put forward by Ramon Llull in the 13th century: an interest beyond the everyday; prioritising learning with a clear focus on enhancing the common good; and constant mobility on travels around the Holy Lands, Anatolia and the Maghreb, as well as much of what we know today as Europe.
Llull was born in Majorca in 1232 and died travelling back to the island in 1315 or 1316 after leading a life without limits, where he used reason as a tool to convince and foster dialogue in society at the time—an unusual approach back then.
Dialogue is an inherent value at our university. We use it to study and better connect through different learning and research processes, and not just in our immediate surroundings but with the entire planet too.
Just like Ramon Llull, through our work in the UIB academic community we seek out the largest audience, considering each and every one of them and, like Llull, use narrative styles and methods that adapt to educational and research requirements at all times, across generations.
Llull is a benchmark figure for the University of the Balearic Islands. Far beyond the important symbols of the moon and the sea, he still has lots to teach us eight centuries later.
Here at the university, we continue to learn from him thanks to the Ramon Llull Chair, as well as from shared values that we strive towards, beyond the great man's life and work.
The Ramon Llull Chair was reinstated thanks to an agreement with the Institut d’Estudis Baleàrics, an organisation currently under the Office of the President, Culture and Equality at the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands. The agreement was ratified by the Governing Council of the University of the Balearic Islands on 25th July 2019.
References:
- News article about the restoration of the Ramon Llull Chair in 2019
- Ramon Llull, a documentary series from IB3
- Ramon Llull, an animated children's series produced by LADAT (the Animation and Audiovisual Technologies Unit at the UIB)
- Ramon Llull. El viatger de la paraula, by Dr Maribel Ripoll
- Who was Ramon Llull?