In fields like medicine or engineering, gaining a professional education traditionally means years of specialization, during which students hold on to the hope that there will be an appropriately specialized job at the end of the tunnel. This kind of training can make you invaluable, yes, but can also mean that during an economic crunch (like, say, the last few years) you might be left with an unparalleled skill-set that nobody needs. Additionally, services such as Google and YouTube surround us on a daily basis with samples of knowledge that simply cannot be covered by a single area of study, and many industries are now demanding that new hires have an educational mix. Being able to receive this kind of global education and graduate within a decade is where interdisciplinary Master's and PhD programs come in.
Such diverse interests and demands might seem like a modern consequence of our data-saturated lifestyles, but the programs catering to it have existed for decades, from the University of British Columbia's (UBC) 40-year-old Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program (IGSp) to the Interdisciplinary PhD started at Dalhousie in 1984. The roots of several faculties now taken for granted, such as Women's/Gender Studies or International Development, lie in early forays into interdisciplinary programs, and it's these combinations of fields that often form the basis of innovative research in emerging areas like Biotechnology and Education.
As the oldest program in Canada for post-graduate interdisciplinary learning, the IGSp at UBC serves as an excellent model of the opportunities to be found for academics and at institutions alike. Students in our program take courses at 35 different departments across university, explains Hillel Goelman, chair of UBC's interdisciplinary program, [But] there are a couple of cluster areas of interest ' the medical and health sciences, students who cross between the sciences and social sciences [such as] environmental issues or aboriginal issues, or the area of medical inquiry, [covering topics like] neuroethics or neurology and addiction.
These represent just a small selection of hybrid research degrees offered by universities across Canada, and enrollment in interdisciplinary programs have increased every year as more institutions and students recognize the value of this kind of comprehensive approach to higher education. Perhaps the best way to summarize this trend in thinking is through the University of Toronto's stated mission for its new Master's of Global Affairs, one of several post-grad ÔÇÿCollaborative program' degrees that they offer: Today, to become global leaders, students need not only the core functional disciplines that professional schools offer, but also a deep understanding of the broader architecture of global society and the forces that shape it. In other words, looking beyond the scope of a single program or even a single faculty is the key to success in an increasingly global economy.
Heather kelly, the director of student services for U of T's School of Graduate studies, goes on to describe the increasingly mainstream nature of ÔÇÿinterdisciplinarity', and how it has become incorporated into even the most traditionally structured of programs since, as she says, without disciplinarity there's no interdisciplinarity. The ability to custom-tailor a post-graduate degree to individual needs and interests is garnering attention from more than just students and innovative educators, as well. Earlier this year, the Canadian government launched the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program. Designed to stimulate collaborative and integrative approaches as well as interdisciplinary research at the various intersections between the social and applied sciences, the $32 million investment is a sign of just how critical ' and valuable ' this approach to education can be.
Although the majority of students in these programs are doctoral candidates, most are returning to their studies from a range of backgrounds as diverse as the courses they choose. We attract a fair number of international students, adds Goelman, mentioning that some of UBC's students have worked for organizations such as the World Bank and UNICEF. They come back to school because their professional experience has led them to certain research questions. Whether freshly minted undergraduates or workers who've had years in the field, these students share a vision of an integrated approach to both studying and working ' a vision that seems to be in line with the emerging shape of the global economy by providing grads with knowledge that's, well, globally applicable. jp
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