INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULA: AN INTEGRATIVE MODEL FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH

Worldwide, most B.Sc. curricula are organized according to a tradicional disciplinary scheme. That is, engineering schools care about engineering programs, accounting schools offer exclusively business administration careers, and so on. The growing demands of a globalizad economy oblige the students not only to work in a multidisciplinary environment, but also to be able to face complex problems with a transdisciplinary mind, by which they must apreciate the standpoint of engineers, administrators, lawyers, chemists, philosophers, etc., if innovative solutions are to be offered.

Accordingly, we shall present an alternative model to offer innovative curricula, exemplified by a novel program in nanotechnology engineering, within a multidisciplinary environment, in which several “tradicional” schools (engineering, natural sciences, chemistry, etc.) participate with lecturers, laboratories, equipment and all the requiered resources, but without “owning” the program. Additionally, from the very beginning, the undergrads will be involved in transdisciplinary research, organized likewise, along with a business incubator, aimed to develop the enterprenurial attitude of the students. Details of the program, currently under way (as for august 2010), as well as some plans for future collaborations, will be explained during the presentation.