This course introduces participants to this comprehensive approach and to the toolkit Utrecht University has developed to make it operational across our large institution.
Utrecht University has adopted a comprehensive approach to broadening and deepening its interdisciplinary teaching & learning portfolio on all levels of education (bachelor’s, master’s, PhD and continuing education). We combine theory and experiments in the governance of interdisciplinary higher education (IHE) with educational development and teacher professionalization for IHE and with research of IHE. We provide this introduction via lectures, experiential learning and time for reflection. The aim is for participants to reflect on and improve interdisciplinary endeavors at their own institution by learning from the course’s lecturers and fellow participants.
Higher education is changing rapidly in response to the growing complexity of academic and societal challenges. One of these responses concerns interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinary education prepares university and college students for interdisciplinary research and collaboration more broadly, for the burgeoning profession of ‘integration experts’ and enriches the study experience of students in disciplinary or specialized programmes. The urgency of these intended learning outcomes implies that interdisciplinary higher education should not be taken lightly: it must be governed, designed, delivered, evaluated and researched well. This course introduces participants to the latest insights in and tools for interdisciplinary higher education and provides ample space for exchange among participants. The goal is transfer of insights and best practices to other institutions.
The international interdisciplinary education community, of with Utrecht University is a member, has transgressed to a new phase, expanding in recent years both qualitatively in expertise and quantitatively in the number of people engaged. With updated terminology and tools, designers and educators can now work more effectively. Utrecht University’s comprehensive approach, which integrates governance for working across disciplinary boundaries, educational innovation and research of education, was widely praised at the ITD24 conference “Inter- and Transdisciplinarity Beyond Buzzwords: Educational Pathways for Sustainable Research Collaborations” (Nov. 4-8, 2024). This course aims at continuing the discussion with educational leaders, designers of and teachers in interdisciplinary higher education. We will do this based on the forthcoming book Key Texts on Interdisciplinary Higher Education, a reader edited by Iris van der Tuin and forthcoming with Bristol University Press, as well as on a toolkit for interdisciplinary teaching and learning that has been published Open Access on the platform Edusources. Two such research-informed tools are the Didactical Design Tool and the Organizational Guide, both for interdisciplinary higher education.
Lecturers include Utrecht University’s Dean for Interdisciplinary Education Prof. Dr. Iris van der Tuin and Utrecht University’s Dean for Continuing Education Prof. Dr. Wieger Bakker; researchers of and seasoned teachers in IHE such as Dr. Rianne van Lambalgen, Dr. Annemarie Horn and Dr. Jessica Oudenampsen; educational developers such as Dr. Esther Slot; policy advisors such as Timothy Bland and Caspar Schoevaars; and students such as Chiara Stam, Douwe van der Maden and Tijmen Steg. Diverse lecture formats range from frontal teaching to workshops and individual reflective assignments.
This course has been designed for educational leaders and policy advisors in higher education and for designers of and teachers in interdisciplinary higher education.
One week, Oct 27-31, 2025.
Please contact us for a fee waiver, if necessary.
For this course you are required to upload the following documents when applying: