Ricardo Iglesias Segura is a Chilean historian and academic whose research focuses on nineteenth-century Chilean history, particularly the formation of the nation-state, nationalism, citizenship, and the role of education in the construction of national identity. He is an academic at the Institute of History of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV), which he directed from 2017 to 2026.
Iglesias is the author of ¿Cómo construimos una nación? El proyecto educativo común y la tarea de intelectuales, políticos, profesoras y profesores en el Chile del siglo XIX (2019), a study of education and nation-building in nineteenth-century Chile.
Education Iglesias studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, graduating in 1994 with a degree in history and qualifying as a teacher of history and geography. He subsequently obtained a master's degree in history from the same university.
He later pursued postgraduate studies in Spain, completing a master's degree in contemporary Latin American studies through the Ortega y Gasset University Institute and the University of Alcalá.
In 2017, Iglesias received a doctorate in history from the University of Valladolid. His dissertation, La conformación del Estado Nacional chileno durante el siglo XIX: educación, nación y ciudadanía, was supervised by Guillermo A. Pérez Sánchez and Adolfo Carrasco Martínez and examined the relationship between education, citizenship and the formation of the Chilean nation-state. He defended the dissertation on 21 July 2017 at the University of Valladolid, receiving the distinction sobresaliente cum laude.
Scholar career Iglesias joined the academic staff of the Institute of History at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso on a full-time basis in 1998. His teaching and research have concentrated on nineteenth-century Chilean history, independence and state formation, nationalism, historical methodology, and the relationship between education and national identity.
Before becoming director, he served as academic secretary of the Institute. In 2017, Iglesias became director of the Institute of History, succeeding Mauricio Molina. He remained in office until 2026.
During his directorship, the Institute marked its seventieth anniversary in 2022. Iglesias has also served as director of Andamio, a journal devoted to research on the teaching of history and social sciences.
Following the end of his tenure as director of the Institute in 2026, he became Vice-Rector for Research, Creation and Innovation at PUCV.
Research Iglesias's research deals primarily with the political and intellectual history of nineteenth-century Chile. His work has examined the relationship between education, citizenship and national identity in the consolidation of the Chilean state after independence.
These subjects formed the basis of his 2019 monograph ¿Cómo construimos una nación? El proyecto educativo común y la tarea de intelectuales, políticos, profesoras y profesores en el Chile del siglo XIX, published by Ediciones Universitarias de Valparaíso. The book examines the role played by education and by intellectuals, politicians and teachers in the construction of a common national project during the nineteenth century.
Iglesias has also worked on historiography and historical methodology. In 2019, together with David Aceituno, he published "¿El retorno de la larga duración?: reflexiones desde Latinoamérica a partir del 'History Manifesto of Cambridge'", examining the renewed debate surrounding the longue durée following the publication of The History Manifesto by Jo Guldi and David Armitage.
His research has additionally addressed civic and electoral education. In 2021, Iglesias and Aceituno published a study on political and electoral education in Chile, analysing the preparation of young people for electoral participation.
Selected works Iglesias Segura, Ricardo (2017). La conformación del Estado Nacional chileno durante el siglo XIX: educación, nación y ciudadanía. Doctoral dissertation, University of Valladolid. Iglesias Segura, Ricardo (2019). ¿Cómo construimos una nación? El proyecto educativo común y la tarea de intelectuales, políticos, profesoras y profesores en el Chile del siglo XIX. Valparaíso: Ediciones Universitarias de Valparaíso. ISBN 978-956-17-0816-7. Aceituno Silva, David; Iglesias Segura, Ricardo (2019). "¿El retorno de la larga duración?: reflexiones desde Latinoamérica a partir del 'History Manifesto of Cambridge'". Historiografías. 17: 4–26. Aceituno Silva, David; Iglesias Segura, Ricardo (2021). "Educación política y electoral en Chile: análisis y propuesta para formar jóvenes votantes". Clío.
References
External links ORCID profile