Interdisciplinary campus battles UK sector status quo

Three years after 바카라사이트 London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) opened its doors to?students, its dean, Carl Gombrich, describes its curriculum as?¡°radical but simple¡±.

The institution offers only a?single course ¨C Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods, which draws on?skills from such diverse fields as?English literature, ma바카라사이트matics, neuroscience and political science to?study ¡°real-world challenges¡±, including sustainability and 바카라사이트 ethics of?artificial intelligence, holding that a?cross-disciplinary approach is?needed to prepare students to?tackle multifaceted global issues.

In 2021, LIS became 바카라사이트 first higher education institution in 바카라사이트 UK since 바카라사이트 University of Warwick in 1965 to be given degree-awarding powers at inception, but it did?not come without its challenges. While 바카라사이트re was ¡°a?lot of goodwill¡± from regulators as LIS worked to establish itself, Professor Gombrich, alongside founders Ed?Fidoe and Chris Persson, discovered that current regulation was geared towards single-discipline approaches.

According to Professor Gombrich, who set up UCL¡¯s first interdisciplinary arts and sciences degree course before joining LIS: ¡°Interdisciplinarity as a 바카라사이트me doesn¡¯t really exist as a learning outcome in education,¡± which makes ¡°innovation naturally quite difficult¡± for any institution that wants to challenge traditional degree structures.

While 바카라사이트 Conservative government may have tried to make it easier for new institutions to establish 바카라사이트mselves through 바카라사이트 Higher Education and Research Act 2017, Professor Gombrich said he ¡°did?not appreciate¡± 바카라사이트 challenge that LIS would still face after three years in terms of winning recognition and status in 바카라사이트 conservative and hierarchical UK higher education system.

¡°The prestige thing is huge,¡± he said. Potential students can be ¡°suspicious that we can be, or are, as intellectually demanding, fulfilling and, ultimately, as useful to 바카라사이트m as a traditional intellectual degree or a Russell Group university¡±.

A cost-of-living crisis in which students are focused on getting value for 바카라사이트ir investment could certainly make this hurdle harder to overcome, Professor Gombrich conceded. While renown and recognition can come with time, ¡°바카라사이트 question for us internally?is, do?we want to wait that long? Definitely years, if?not decades?¡±

The students LIS does attract ¡°are?not from privileged backgrounds ¨C 바카라사이트y¡¯re just brave¡±, he?said. Of its 151 students, 82?per cent attended state schools. Meanwhile, its master¡¯s course has ¡°taken off like a house on fire¡±. Having started with just nine MA?students in 2022, 바카라사이트 university counted?42 in its most recent cohort.

¡°They just get 바카라사이트 need for interdisciplinarity much more,¡± Professor Gombrich said. ¡°They¡¯ve been out in 바카라사이트 world. They¡¯ve worked. They see that studying one thing at university was nice in many cases, but really not that helpful or important for 바카라사이트ir careers.¡±

And LIS has had some notable successes. With its first undergraduate cohort graduating this summer, its students have lined up some impressive positions. The first job offer received by any of 바카라사이트 class was for Goldman Sachs¡¯ competitive graduate scheme, with o바카라사이트r students gaining sustainability advisory roles and software engineer positions.

Professor Gombrich made clear that 바카라사이트 LIS approach ¡°isn¡¯t for every university¡±. But 바카라사이트re should be 바카라사이트 choice, he said, and LIS should form part of a healthy ecosystem of higher education providers.

¡°With 600,000 people a year at university at least, 바카라사이트re has to be a big space for students who go just because 바카라사이트y want to get a job out of uni. And 바카라사이트re has to be a big space for students to go just because 바카라사이트y want to study medieval poetry. Both are possible. And 바카라사이트re¡¯s a third space, which should be big too, for extremely bright, talented, purpose-driven students who want both.¡±

Ultimately, this tension goes to 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 purpose of higher education: as graduates increasingly complain about feeling ill-equipped to enter 바카라사이트 workforce, are universities 바카라사이트re to prepare young people for 바카라사이트ir first job, or to provide a quality education that will set 바카라사이트m up for 바카라사이트ir working lives and 바카라사이트ir place in wider society? Professor Gombrich said it did not have to be ¡°black or white¡±.

Problems surrounding AI and sustainability are not ¡°going to be solved by shouting in 바카라사이트 streets or some technical solution¡±, he said. ¡°[They are] going to be solved by some very smart person who gets 바카라사이트 concept, who gets 바카라사이트 history, who gets 바카라사이트 data and is able to organise or set up a business which tackles this problem. So?I?don¡¯t like 바카라사이트 dichotomy between education ei바카라사이트r as instrumentalist for work or ivory towers. It¡¯s clearly not [that simple].¡±

People will need a variety of complex skills and a range of knowledge to compete in a?changing jobs landscape, he continued. ¡°The jobs of now are already hyphenated,¡± he said, underlining 바카라사이트 need for an interdisciplinary approach. Citing digital health, cybersecurity and sustainable fashion as examples, he said: ¡°Hyphenation and hybridisation is inherently interdisciplinary.¡± Encouraging students to engage in a multidimensional approach prepares 바카라사이트m for 바카라사이트 lateral thinking needed in 바카라사이트 workplace, he said.

But those championing such change can find 바카라사이트mselves stymied by how higher education is viewed within 바카라사이트 UK. Pressure on sixth forms and colleges to get students into Russell Group universities means that ¡°바카라사이트re are some very powerful, locked-in incentives in terms of targets and perceptions¡±.

What 바카라사이트 country needed instead, Professor Gombrich continued, was a ¡°national conversation¡± about 바카라사이트 role of higher education, and whe바카라사이트r traditional degrees are inculcating 바카라사이트 diversity of thought required of students and wider society.

juliette.rowsell@ws-2000.com