What do these “Hot College Majors” complied by U.S. News and World Report have in common?
Biomedical Engineering
Cyber Security
Public Health
Computer Game Design
Biometrics
All of them require the thinking of multiple traditional disciplines taught in schools.
(credit:craigbellamy.net)
Tyler Thigpen recently wrote in Education Week:
“An educational purpose that includes, but ultimately rises above, the disciplines and highlights the relationships between them is the unequivocal way forward.” He calls this approach relationship (between the disciplines) -centered rather than the subject-centered approach we use today.
Universities such as Brown University are specifically looking for an interdisciplinary approach when hiring new faculty members.
Anthony Wing Kosner wrote a piece in Forbes called “The Value of Interdisciplinary Thinking — Even When it’s Wrong” saying, “(the) ability to think about something familiar in an unfamiliar way is the strength of interdisciplinary thinking.”
Taking it a step further, the MIT Media Lab was created explicitly for this purpose: “Actively promoting a unique, antidisciplinary culture, the MIT Media Lab goes beyond known boundaries and disciplines, encouraging the most unconventional mixing and matching of seemingly disparate research areas.”
Does your school promote interdisciplinary thinking? Let us know your thoughts and experiences!
Trackbacks/Pingbacks