Interdisciplinarity is a theme within the Erasmus University strategy. In addition, an issue is never one-dimensional, which is why it is worthwhile to look at such an issue from an interdisciplinary perspective.
‘Interdisciplinarity’ is a buzzword at contemporary universities and the term is also used in the media when academic education is being discussed, particularly now that we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journalists and interviewed academics tend to reflect on the importance of educating generalists, or on finding the right balance between generalists and specialists, in order to tackle tomorrow’s challenges.
But what makes a course or a programme ‘interdisciplinary’? How to transcend the multidisciplinarity of the teaching team and to transfer interdiscipliny skills to students? These kinds of questions will be discussed during the meeting.
The approach is (self-)reflective and active. We will reflect on the questions mentioned above in order to formulate diverse answers to them. We will also work in an interdisciplinary key. What are the characteristics of our own disciplines and how can these be both used and transcended in our teaching practice? Why do student need interdisciplinary skills and what is involved in transferring such skills?
The meeting will be chaired by teachers and a student of the interdisciplinary bachelor programme Liberal Arts & Sciences at Utrecht University and has been designed according to the model of a ‘pressure cooker.’
The speakers of the workshop interdisciplinarity are:
- Iris van der Tuin, Professor of Theory of Cultural Studies and Director of Education of the School Liberal Arts at Utrecht University (photo)
- Siebren Teule, junior lecturer Liberal Arts & Sciences at Utrecht University
- Hanna van Veeren, student assistant Liberal Arts & Sciences at Utrecht University