The "Freedom" discussion brought together the three-tiered community in the Patio de la Virgen.
December 10, 2025
On Tuesday, November 25, the third discussion in the Education, Democracy and Gender cycle, organized by the Patio de la Virgen, took place. Gender Sub-Directorate of the Faculty of Education UC, in conjunction with the Student Development SubdirectorateThrough the Network of Gender Violence Agents, an initiative made up of undergraduate students from the Faculty, the activity took place within the context of the international commemoration of the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It brought together the university community to reflect on the political and educational meaning of freedom in a year marked by intense public debates.
The panel consisted of Luciana Cadahia, academic at the UC Institute of Aesthetics; Andres Bernasconi, academic at the UC Faculty of Education and president of the National Accreditation Commission (CNA); and Ana Luisa Munoz, academic and Deputy Director of Gender at the Faculty of Education. The conversation was moderated by Valentina Errazuriz, academic at the same faculty.
During the event, the panelists addressed freedom from different perspectives—political, academic, and feminist—underscoring the need to reclaim its collective dimension in the face of discourses that seek to empty it of political content. From a philosophical-political perspective, Luciana Cadahia emphasized that freedom “It can only be fully understood when considered from the perspective of the common good and survival.”, warning about the risks of reducing it to an individualistic slogan.
In his address, Andrés Bernasconi reflected on academic freedom in a context strained by metrics, competitive funding, and external agendas. He affirmed that this freedom constitutes “a safeguard not only for researchers, but a fundamental pillar for democratic life”because it allows the production of critical and socially significant knowledge.
For her part, Ana Luisa Muñoz developed a feminist reading of the concept, highlighting the contribution of feminisms to thinking about freedom in universities in relation to autonomy, justice, conditions of participation and the right to live free from violence.
Intervention of the Patio de la Virgen: memory, care and student participation
Simultaneously with the discussion, the Network of Agents of Gender Violence, composed of students from the Faculty and coordinated by the Subdirectorate of Student Development, carried out an intervention in the space that marked the commemorative character of the day.
The students created informational markers with data on institutional support programs, resources, and guidelines for recognizing and preventing situations of violence. They also decorated the Patio de la Virgen with the names and footprints of women murdered for gender-related reasons in Chile, creating a gesture of remembrance and protest that directly addressed the significance of November 25th.
In addition, they invited the community to answer questions about everyday practices to prevent violence in university spaces, promoting active reflection on the role that each member plays in building safe, supportive and non-sexist educational environments.
