Among the key features of the area, its ability to generate critical analysis of the current schools of thought of the present society must be highlighted. This Global Area works on the provision of answers to the great ideological and ethical problems raising in today's world. Its essential contribution to the preservation and interpretation of cultural and intellectual heritage in all its manifestations is also remarkable.
Within the Social Sciences sub-area, topics of great social and scientific interest, from diverse perspectives (demographic, economic, geographic, sociological, political and multidisciplinary) and from theoretical and empirical approaches are investigated. Among them, social welfare global change, sustainable territorial development, political and public economy, aging, innovation and the production of scientific knowledge in various fields - culture, environment, industry, health, etc. - or citizen participation in politics.
The Humanities sub-area focuses its attention on issues related to the way in which humanity has organized and organizes its social, political and economic relations. The historical perspective and the changes produced over time in these relationships, the cultural and artistic manifestations they generate, languages and their written expression as mechanisms of communication and transmission of culture and knowledge, ideas and thoughts that regulate those relationships between people and with our environment, are some of those issues. The research groups stand out for the research lines they develop in Archeology, Egyptology, Hebrew Studies and Arabic and Islamic studies, Medieval Studies, Latin and Greek Philologies, History of America, Art History, History of Science, Justice and citizenship, Languages and Cultures of the Ancient Near East, Language and cognition, Literature, Historical Memory, Musicology and International Relations in the configuration of the modern and contemporary world, among others.