Today’s world calls for people with innovative and creative solutions. The problems and needs we face as a society can no longer be solved by traditional, unidimensional ways of reasoning.
At Advantere, we know the importance of re-thinking education and re-learning how we learn. That’s why we created our re-solutionary method, to empower the leaders of tomorrow. Because new times require new approaches, we believe in learning by doing, learning by living and learning by designing, with an interdisciplinary approach at the core of everything.
A holistic approach to learning
Interdisciplinarity is defined as ‘the involvement of two or more academic, scientific, or artistic disciplines’. Applied to learning, this would mean taking a holistic approach, combining multiple disciplines to achieve one common purpose.
Based on Plato’s ideal of unity as the highest good in all things, interdisciplinarity draws methods from different disciplines and merges them to produce cognitive advancement, that is, examining or solving a theme, problem, issue or experience.
Unlike multidisciplinarity, where no connections are made between the subjects of study, interdisciplinarity focuses on integration, comparing different concepts and insights across subjects to gain new knowledge.
The benefits of an interdisciplinary approach
There are many advantages to choosing an interdisciplinary education, not only when it comes to your career, but also to your personal development.
Critical thinking
By engaging in an interdisciplinary approach, you learn how to carefully dissect, process and compare information across subject boundaries.
In this way, you develop and strengthen critical thinking skills, resulting in a deeper understanding and assimilation of knowledge. All these abilities are transferable to future learning experiences, regardless of whether they are related to each other or not.
Creativity and innovation
An interdisciplinary approach involves considering different points of view, comparing and contrasting them. Apart from self-cultivation and critical thinking, evaluating perspectives and topics along diverse subject areas can be a great motivation to explore new interests.
Being constantly exposed to new frameworks and ideas heightens creativity, which in turn will nurture your capacity to come up with innovative solutions to modern issues.
Long-term learning
The contents included in an interdisciplinary curricula are rooted in real-life experiences and applicable to an actual context. This way, you can gain a deeper understanding of the world you live in and your place in it, connecting your learnings to a meaningful and authentic purpose.
These experiences are not only relevant to many different areas but also long-lasting, meaning you will continue to apply this knowledge throughout your whole life.
Why we need interdisciplinarity in today’s world
In the uncertainty of ever-changing panoramas, we need people who understand the bridges between different disciplines and their relationship to the modern context. Today’s real-world issues are mostly interdisciplinary, and therefore, require interdisciplinary solutions.
Approaching learning through the study and integration of multiple subjects, you can acquire important life skills such as collaboration, critical analysis and problem-solving, while also being able to apply these abilities to different backgrounds.
This way, you can face challenges with an innovative mindset that efficiently adapts to current demands, encouraging and creating new solutions to current needs.
In consequence, interdisciplinary education proves to be an important part of today’s scenario, holding the key to forming the re-solutionaries that will help build a better tomorrow.
If you are a re-solutionary, take a look at our Master's degree in International Management, in Finance and in Talent Management, we're looking for you.