International Transdisciplinary Conference 2024

By Mieke Bal (respondent: Frédéric Darbellay)

The differences between cultures and media, which I take for granted, are less important to me than the way they connect – let’s say, inter-connect. This is why I use the preposition “inter-” rather than “trans-“. I have coined the generalizing term “inter-ship” as an encountering way of merging that never leaves the items involved as they were before. Hence, transformation is key to all inter-ships. But I keep the preposition “trans-” in mind for the idea of transgression: overstepping boundaries. For, all forms of inter-ship involve transgressions of boundaries. The result of this combination of encountering and transgressing can become clear in many interdisciplinary analyses and practices, whether done by scholars or by artists. An instructive artistic example is the Indian artist Nalini Malani, one of the most productive creators of politically powerful, activating art. She makes her viewers think, animated as they are by the experience of her work. And the thinking propels advances, ameliorations; hence, progress. Activating, thus, is the best result of such interships. Between Asia and Europe, Malani blends culturally specific items, such as myths, painting styles, stories, and traditions. None of these remain the same. One intership will always impact on the previous situation. This also holds for more practical work.

I will argue for interdisciplinarity in scholarship and skills in particular in order to advocate the recognition of the importance, academic and otherwise, of leaving dogmatic methodologies behind, not necessarily rejecting them but making them less dominant, in favour of the enriching potential of inter-ships that enable the participation of creativity in what we already know, or think we know.

Mieke Bal is a cultural theorist, critic, video artist, and curator. She has published over 40 books. Her view of interdisciplinary analysis in the Humanities and Social Sciences is expressed in what she has termed “cultural analysis” and through “travelling concepts”.

Frédéric Darbellay is professor in Inter- and Transdisciplinary Studies at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Head of the Inter- and Transdisciplinarity Unit at the Center for Children’s Rights Studies (CIDE) and the CIDE Deputy Director.

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Panel with Rick Szostak (chair), Bianca Vienni-Baptista, Frédéric Darbellay and Iris van der Tuin

A global network of scholars of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity has strengthened in recent decades. The purpose of this plenary is to take stock of areas of emerging consensus around the nature of inter/transdisciplinarity and how best to perform inter/transdisciplinary research and teaching, and areas in which important differences in point of view can still be identified. Special attention will be paid to regional differences in these topics.

The panelists have each been longtime contributors to both the literature and global networking.

Rick Szostak joined the Department of Economics at the University of Alberta in 1985. He served as Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts from 2002 to 2005, was President of the Association of Academic Staff at the University of Alberta from 1995 to 1996, and President of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations from 1996 to 1998. His B.A. is from McGill and his PhD from Northwestern University. He was Chair of the Department from July 1, 2017 to 2022. Szostak’s research interests span the fields of economic history, world history, methodology, history of technology, ethics, study of science, knowledge organization, future studies, and especially the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity.

PD Dr. Bianca Vienni Baptista is Privatdozent at the Department of Environmental Systems Science of ETH Zürich. Her research is focused around Inter- and transdisciplinary methods, theories and knowledge cultures, Transdisciplinary research for energy transitions, participatory modelling, Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary institutionlising processes, Research policy and evaluation of inter- and transdisciplinary research, Qualitative research methodology, and Integrative teaching and learning.

Frédéric Darbellay is professor in Inter- and Transdisciplinary Studies at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Head of the Inter- and Transdisciplinarity Unit at the Center for Children’s Rights Studies (CIDE) and the CIDE Deputy Director.

Iris van der Tuin is professor in Theory of Cultural Inquiry at Utrecht University (Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies). She is also Utrecht University’s Dean of Interdisciplinary Education

Video replay

Panel with Theron Schmidt (chair), Bagele Chilisa, Lily Mengesha & Rolando Vázquez

Inter- and trans-disciplinarity tends to take as its point of departure the disciplinary structures of the Euro-American university. But what if we began elsewhere? This panel introduces Indigenous and non-European contexts and epistemologies where inter/trans-disciplinarity takes different forms, and where approaches to learning and what counts as knowledge are not necessarily shaped by the parameters of the research university. In what ways can Indigenous ways of knowing and acting in the world be integrated in culturally responsive research? How can attention to embodied practice reveal undisciplinary possibilities? What challenges to cultural and educational institutions might be posed by a decolonial commitment? And how can such a commitment avoid the risk of “decolonization” becoming yet another buzzword?

Bagele Chilisa is Professor of the Post Graduate Research and Evaluation program at the University of Botswana. Her research interests include context and culturally responsive research and evaluation methodologies, Indigenous knowledge systems, and the design and evaluation of context and culturally responsive interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries. Her book, Indigenous Research Methodologies (Sage 2012/2020) is now in its second edition and offers a crucial foundation in Indigenous methods, methodologies, and epistemologies. Professor Chilisa also contributes to the Responsive Research Collective, one of the initiating members of the ITD Alliance.

Lily Mengesha is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Her research and teaching live at the intersection of critical Indigenous studies, gender and sexuality studies, and performance theory. Her forthcoming book, Critical Dreaming: Feminist Performances Across the Indigenous Americas (NYU Press 2025), argues for dreaming as a tool for transformative performance practice, particularly in the works of Indigenous-centered and feminist artists across North and Central America. In addition to researching and teaching, Dr Mengesha is a director and dramaturge.

Rolando Vázquez is Professor of Post/Decolonial Theories and Literatures, with a focus on the Global South, at the department of Literary and Cultural Analysis & the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (University of Amsterdam). Professor Vázquez’s work places the question of the possibility of an ethical life at the core of decolonial thought and advocates for the decolonial transformation of cultural and educational institutions. His most recent publication is Vistas of Modernity: Decolonial Aesthesis and the End of the Contemporary (Mondriaan Fund 2020).

Theron Schmidt (chair) is an assistant professor in the Department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University. He is committed to modes of research, learning, and making that are collaborative and experiential, alive in the thick of things and responsive to the complex and contested entanglements of diverse bodies, politics, histories, and alliances

Video Report

Panel chaired by BinBin Pearce

Our diverse panel, including researchers at different stages of their careers, discusses the realities of living out a professional life within an ITD field, highlighting the delicate balance between creativity and risk. The discussion will extend beyond academia, exploring pathways within and outside the traditional academic structure. Panellists will share unique experiences, offering a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted ITD career trajectory, and address crucial questions about fostering ITD curricula integration and creating more positions for researchers within academia and at the science-society interface.

Join the panel and gain valuable insights into the evolving landscape of ITD scholarship and contribute to shaping the future efforts to foster ITD curricula. Don’t miss this opportunity to understand the challenges and possibilities within the ITD career path and engage in a constructive conversation about its transformative potential. The audience, thus you, will be involved interactively, thus come and voice your perspective too.

BinBin Pearce is an assistant professor for policy analysis and design at Delft University of Technology, in the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, based in the Netherlands. Her transdisciplinary research interests include public participation processes and policy design for the energy transition, collaborative decision making for sustainable development, joint problem framing processes and developing curriculum based on integrated systems and design thinking. She the coordinator and PI of the Horizon 2020 EU-funded project ENCLUDE (Energy Citizens for Inclusive Decarbonization).

Video Report