Susana Torres Prieto
I have always been passionate about language and culture. My experience living in a variety of countries has shaped my unique global perspective—after growing up in northern Spain, I lived in Oman, Slovakia, Germany, France, the US and the UK. I consider myself very lucky because my hobby is also my profession. I enjoy researching, writing and teaching, so I feel like I’m practicing my hobbies while I work. I also love cooking, swimming, sailing, tennis, and walking, preferably with my dog. I’ve recently taken up fencing, which I really enjoy. Over the years, I’ve also grown keener on gardening.
"The Bachelor in Humanities is a learning journey, but also a personal one—and one for which each student is fully equipped with their own unique human capacities."
Empowering young people to change the world through the humanities
Her passion for research and learning inspired Susana Torres Prieto to complete a PhD in Philology, the study of language. With an impressive array of degrees under her belt, Susana established herself as the go-to expert in medieval Slavic language, literature and culture. But she hadn’t always planned on becoming a professor herself.
She likes to say that teaching chose her, rather than the other way around. After earning the highest academic qualifications in her field and building a distinguished career as an academic researcher, her husband—an educator himself—encouraged Susana to step into the classroom. “Transmitting knowledge and enthusiasm in what one does or knows is a magical moment, every single time; and I have been doing it now for almost twenty years of my life. It is a privilege,” she says.
This desire to share her knowledge with the next generation led Susana to IE University, where she recently joined the teaching faculty of the new Bachelor in Humanities. The program, designed at the intersection of technology and the humanities, seemed like the perfect fit for her specialized abilities. More than just being an expert in the humanities, she believes it is a vital and precious part of our identities.
Climate change, globalization, immigration, radicalism and the misuse of artificial intelligence are all modern-day challenges that students and future leaders can only address adequately with the holistic skill set they develop from studying the humanities. “This is what the Bachelor in Humanities is going to give them: enough knowledge and skills to learn from the past, to analyze the present and to change the future,” Susana explains.
According to this inspiring professor, the Bachelor in Humanities is especially important in today’s context, where we’re finding new ways to navigate our relationship with emerging technologies like AI. Graduates of the program can look forward to a versatile career in a broad range of industries, particularly those that involve the promotion of cultural and artistic endeavors. They can also excel in consulting roles that require a knack for analysis and problem-solving. As Susana says, the program prepares students “not to be spectators of the world, but changers of it.”
Check out in detail Susana Torres Prieto's academic and corporate experience
