College of Transdisciplinarity, Woodbury U

Dr. Doug Cremer, dean of the College of Transdisciplinarity at Woodbury University, is featured in this spotlight article of PUPN Magazine.

Though the College of Transdisciplinarity at Woodbury University is newly christened, the collaboration and holistic course designs at the heart of transdisciplinarity—and the efforts that bridge various practices and multiple perspectives—is certainly not new to the campus. Dr. Doug Cremer of Woodbury University is a living embodiment of the four pillars that form the core of student experiences at the university: Transdisciplinarity, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship, and Civic Engagement.

From the article:

Cremer acknowledges that there are certainly challenges to creating transdisciplinary courses and programs. He recognizes a university would need faculty “willing to bend and explore.” He points out, however, that faculty members at any institution must be willing to update and revise every year to stay current, so the faculty members at leading universities are already “always adapting and always changing.” He suggests being unafraid of the change, as well, because—in addition to better serving the students—faculty are “empowered to explore and push and change,” while still requiring the highest quality of analysis, writing, and collaboration. ...

In 2006, the old School of Arts and Sciences was being evolved back into a General Education department, so they asked, “How do we reinvent ourselves?” They performed what Cremer calls “a little departmental jiu-jitsu” and discovered ways to move beyond interdisciplinarity (which they had already been doing a while) in order to tackle problems that could not be solved by disciplines alone— environmental damage, ethical lapses, conflict resolution. They wanted students to consider ethical stances of new technologies— for instance, looking at the ways an overreliance on machines can lead to a lack of humanity, when there is not enough incorporation of flexibility and compassion. 

They wanted course work that constantly reminded students in business and design that there was more to consider than profit or product alone—the “moral rules, ethical principles for every living thing on the planet.” Ultimately, though they recognized and satisfied their charge to accommodate General Education practices, they also used that opportunity to turn those practices transdisciplinary. 

Cremer adds that they aren’t “wedded to any conventional orthodoxy,” and faculty members are encouraged to directly challenge orthodoxies even in fields where they teach and thus model that academic resistance for their students. He adds, “Why do this if we aren’t willing to stick our necks out? That’s what you do in a university.” 

THE PRACTICALITY OF TRANSDISIPLINARITY 

Cremer admits that many educators might find the pragmatics of transdisciplinary course design to be daunting. However, he reminds us that our goals for students must go beyond preparing students for moving one step past graduation. He suggests that educators have to do both: prepare students to secure jobs—impressing potential employers with their academic training—and prepare students to excel in those jobs, using advanced cognitive and human-relation skills. Cremer explains, “Practical is not just giving people the basic skills these days—so from a practical nature, this approach still makes the most sense because the dual approach allows them to thrive”—preparing them fully for what happens after they get the “yes.” The transdisciplinary approach does that as a “commitment to a broader vision” where the “broader goal is the most pragmatic.” 

Read more about the College of Transdisciplinarity at Woodbury.