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UZH wants to further promote interdisciplinary study and has recently set up a School for Transdisciplinary Studies (STS) for this purpose. The initial portfolio currently comprises five courses. We present the individual modules and highlight the appeal and benefits of transdisciplinary thinking, learning and collaboration.
By Alice Werner
English translation by Gemma Brown
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“Interdisciplinary cooperation has long been common in research at UZH, for example in the University Research Priority Programs. I believe it is right and important to promote it in teaching, too. That said, cross-faculty formats in teaching are more complex to organize than in research. Working out how to fit transdisciplinary modules into existing study programs is far from simple. There is a large number of Bachelor’s and Master’s programs at UZH. They all work according to their own curricula, and in some cases with packed timetables. The associated modules build on each other and lead to certain program outcomes and qualifications. How do you free up time slots for the supplementary transdisciplinary formats? And how should the modules be credited? I’m delighted that the newly-founded School for Transdisciplinary Studies is helping the faculties answer these questions.”
Vice Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics
“Those who are able to build bridges between different disciplinary standpoints possess a key skill in today’s knowledge society. This includes, for example, the ability to see things from other perspectives and to collaborate constructively with experts from other disciplines. It also includes a willingness to engage with critical questions from people who are not experts in the field, and to reflect on and put into perspective your own disciplinary viewpoint. All of these skills need to be learned and practiced. The courses under the aegis of the new School for Transdisciplinary Studies allow students to engage with representatives of other ways of thinking and learning and therefore to broaden their horizons. UZH is Switzerland’s largest comprehensive university. With its wide-ranging academic program and diverse research landscape, it is ideally placed to put together an outstanding range of transdisciplinary courses.”
Thierry Hennet, Vice Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Science
“There’s a subtle difference between transdisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity – while interdisciplinary collaboration deals with issues that each discipline could in principle address on its own, transdisciplinarity looks at problems outside of disciplinary boundaries that can only be resolved when several disciplines team up. Many of the biggest challenges facing our society require a transdisciplinary approach. It is therefore a very welcome development that UZH is promoting courses of study that teach students about cooperating across subject boundaries. But these courses should remain voluntary for now, as otherwise there is a risk that we overload the content of our existing study programs. What I would like to see in future is not only individual interdisciplinary and cross-faculty modules, but also entire transdisciplinary minor study programs.”
Daniel Müller-Nielaba, Vice Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
At UZH a number of – organizationally very different – initiatives, teams and departments have emerged in recent years, dealing with interdisciplinary questions, topics and challenges, and developing transdisciplinary courses. These initiatives now have a shared hub in the new School for Transdisciplinary Studies, which is located at the Office of the Vice President Education and Student Affairs, via which students from all faculties can attend transdisciplinary courses. The STS provides the initiatives with administrative and organizational support, while the initiatives offering the courses are responsible for content and funding.
More information on the STS and current courses: www.sts.uzh.ch
