Dr Paola A. Raffaelli, Professor with the IQS Department of Ethics and Christian Thought

What do you like most about your job?

The possibility of guiding students interested in challenging traditional mental models and being a witness to these changes. Once a mental framework has broken, there’s no going back. And I think this is a critical step in building a fairer society.

What would you like to spend more time doing?

Sharing activities with society in general so it’s not only students who change mental frameworks.

What do you feel proudest of?

Of having done things that I initially thought I couldn’t do: studying a doctorate in a foreign language when I didn’t even speak it a few years beforehand, having migrated and lived in five different countries, and my family.

What value do you most appreciate in people?

The capacity for (self-) reflection to be able to analyse our ideas and actions constantly, and the humility to accept and give value to others, even when they think or do things very differently from what we think is the right way.

Where’s a place you’d like to visit?

Any traditional market in any city. Thinking that hundreds or thousands of years ago people went to the same place to do exactly what we’re doing seems to me an exercise in critical reflection, perhaps even more so now with Amazon and other online forms of socialization that limit our connections with others.

What’s a dream you’d like to pursue?

Being able to contribute to expanding the portfolio of courses that reflect the economic diversity of society, and being the professor. Continuing to teach classes that are aligned with my values. I couldn’t do it any other way.

What do you have left to learn?

A ton! I can be a better professional and a better person. How boring life would be if there weren’t things to learn all the time!