1. What brought you to INTED and interdisciplinary education?
My interest in interdisciplinarity started early in my studies and career. From the beginning, I have been fascinated by the interaction between people, technology, and organizations. This is a field that cannot be fully understood through any single discipline alone, which naturally requires an interdisciplinary way of thinking.
Later, I completed my PhD within an interdisciplinary programme at NTNU. I now work in a research group with a remarkably broad range of expertise, including traffic engineers, priests, psychologists, architects, and an ethicist. Working in such a diverse environment has reinforced the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and strengthened my commitment to this approach.
2. What inspires or drives your interest in interdisciplinarity?
I consider myself a practically oriented person. I am interested in issues that arise in workplaces and in working life more generally. In that context, interdisciplinarity is a natural approach. My experience is that interdisciplinarity serves as an effective bridge-builder when working with professionals from different backgrounds. It creates opportunities for meaningful dialogue and helps bring together perspectives that might otherwise remain disconnected.
3. What do you see as the potential of interdisciplinary education?
The potential is significant, but at the same time interdisciplinarity should be viewed as a natural part of the knowledge and skills students acquire during their education. On one hand, it is an important tool for applying knowledge in practice. On the other, it acknowledges the complexity of most real-world challenges.
Its potential also lies in encouraging students to use interdisciplinarity as a way of stimulating their own curiosity and desire to learn more. At the same time, it helps them become confident representatives of their own discipline and areas of expertise. Interdisciplinary learning is not about abandoning one's disciplinary identity, but about understanding how it connects with and complements other forms of knowledge.
4. Why is INTED important?
INTED is important because we need knowledge about how to transform the recognition of interdisciplinarity into concrete educational activities and learning formats that genuinely foster interdisciplinary collaboration and learning.
If we believe that interdisciplinarity matters, we must also understand how universities can support it in practice. This means developing engaging and effective educational approaches that help students build the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to work across disciplinary boundaries.
5. With interdisciplinarity on the rise, what do you see as the future of higher education?
Universities and higher education institutions play a unique role in society as both creators of knowledge and environments for learning. We are constantly challenged by developments in society, including new technologies, changing ideas about what society should be, political conflicts, and climate-related challenges.
We must remain committed to addressing these challenges while staying relevant in a rapidly changing world. This requires adapting to new realities and finding new ways of working, while at the same time preserving the core values and identity of the university. Interdisciplinarity will be an important part of this process, helping higher education respond to complex challenges in thoughtful and meaningful ways.