Bridging Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Study Programmes in Higher Education

Bridging Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Study Programmes in Higher Education

Abstrakt

This paper aims to examine the increasing role of interdisciplinarity in contemporary higher education, with a particular focus on study programmes offered at Czech universities. In accordance with established theoretical frameworks—especially Klein’s typologies of multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity—the conceptual, methodological, and institutional dimensions of cross-disciplinary collaboration is outlined, along with current developments within broader international context. The research in this field so far indicates the increasing role of interdisciplinarity, which is in line with the changes that our society, technology and education has been undergoing in the recent years. With this in mind, we analysed existing interdisciplinary programmes in the Czech Republic, focusing particularly on those bridging traditionally distant fields such as engineering and natural sciences on the one hand and humanities and social sciences on the other. Unlike those connecting the “related” fields, these are rather rare and present a specific challenge, which may hopefully become less demanding as more information and instances of good practice are identified and shared. The results therefore reflect emerging interdisciplinary efforts even in areas where various constraints remain significant.

This paper aims to examine the increasing role of interdisciplinarity in contemporary higher education, with a particular focus on study programmes offered at Czech universities. In accordance with established theoretical frameworks—especially Klein’s typologies of multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity—the conceptual, methodological, and institutional dimensions of cross-disciplinary collaboration is outlined, along with current developments within broader international context. The research in this field so far indicates the increasing role of interdisciplinarity, which is in line with the changes that our society, technology and education has been undergoing in the recent years. With this in mind, we analysed existing interdisciplinary programmes in the Czech Republic, focusing particularly on those bridging traditionally distant fields such as engineering and natural sciences on the one hand and humanities and social sciences on the other. Unlike those connecting the “related” fields, these are rather rare and present a specific challenge, which may hopefully become less demanding as more information and instances of good practice are identified and shared. The results therefore reflect emerging interdisciplinary efforts even in areas where various constraints remain significant.

21.01.2026