A Postdoctoral Journey
DASP seminar with Manuel "Saga" Sánchez García, PoliTO DASP PhD and "Ramón y Cajal" researcher at ETSAM-UPM Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain)
In the age of digital reproducibility and infinite multiverses, PhD candidates no longer exist in a single space-time coordinate. Every doctoral student, may they be in Europe or beyond, cohabitates with their past and future selves in a shifting relationship of potential growth but equally possible toxicity. Past achievements and scars influenced their scholarly vocation, their intellectual interests, their research skills, and the merits that brought them to the privileged position of pursuing a PhD. At the same time, they cohabitate with the projected image of their future, an ever-changing but also ever-present as a critical element in any research project deemed to be successful.
The same three selves - past, present, and future - are the key agents involved in academic career planning. As the past defines us, the future provides purpose, ambition, goals, anxieties, and challenges to overcome. The present is thus a vessel travelling between them: the space-time for decision and action. This lecture, heavily informed by experiences lived at Universidad de los Andes, Politecnico di Torino, Universidad de Granada, Harvard University, and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, is targeted at doctoral candidates looking for insights to chart the course of their careers.
The speaker:
Dr. Manuel Sánchez García (PhD PoliTo DASP XXXIV cicle) is the first "Ramón y Cajal" fellow ever appointed at ETSAM-UPM. He previously held two other postdocs positions at ETSAM-UPM (2024-25) and Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University, 2022-23), and received the HORIZON-MSCA Seal of Excellence (2024). Manuel teaches undergraduate courses on architectural composition, architectural history, and urban history, while mentoring graduate researchers and PhD candidates around the world. Between 2021 and 2024 he served as the Associate Editor of Architectural Histories, the Open Access journal of the European Architectural History Network. Since 2016 he has served as guest critic at institutions in Spain, Colombia, Chile, and the US; including Yale University's MED and MIT's SMArchS, SMBT, and BSAD programs.
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