Today, humanistic knowledge has become devalued: in parallel, governments are promoting the natural sciences and technology as the best way to emerge from the financial crisis and increase the wealth of nations. To dispense with humanistic knowledge is to leave societies without reference points, values or signposts by which to recognize themselves. Our universities and their counterparts around the world are suffering from this contagious illness. Like our colleagues at the other Catalan universities, we at Universitat Rovira i Virgili have responded to budget cuts by overhauling our educational offering to regain competitiveness, maintain our academic quality and give our students the pluridisciplinary knowledge they need for the labour market as well as critical thinking skills to address society’s challenges.