Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

The future of interdisciplinarity in higher education: experiences of medical universities in Iran

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

M. Hoseini Moghadam 1
M. Hamidi 2

1 Associate Professor of Futures Studies, Foresight Department, Institute for Social & Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zanjān University of Medical Sciences, Zanjān, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22035/isih.2022.4642.4586
Abstract
With the growing complexity of current and future world issues, the interconnectedness and, interdependence of thematic areas has become one of the shared norms and practices today. This also has led to the development of interdisciplinary studies in scientific and technological institutions and has become one of the universal trends of policy-making in science, technology and, innovation domains. Climate change, environmental pollution, the steady increase in longevity and aging of societies, global poverty, international financial crises, global diseases, terrorism, addiction and injustice are some of the topics whose foresight is beyond the power of individual and requires thinking, dialogue and cooperation in different specialized fields. The main question is: Which future scenarios can lead to the development of interdisciplinary studies in Iran’s medical universities? Documentary studies, expert panels and brainstorming are some of the methods applied in this research. The findings include: first, interdisciplinary knowledge is identified in response to complex social issues rooted in the present and the future; second, the development of interdisciplinarity in medical sciences requires a process of simultaneous top-down and bottom-up development; third, building a preferable future for the development of interdisciplinary knowledge in Iran's medical sciences involves attention to the facts that shape the subject at different levels from objective to subjective, and, therefore, a range of short-term to long-term approaches, plans and actions to build objectivity and related mindsets.

Keywords

Interdisciplinary
future research
complexity
medical sciences
participation
Subjects
Asante Antwi, H., Zhou, L., Xu, X., & Mustafa, T. (2021). Beyond COVID-19 Pandemic: An Integrative Review of Global Health Crisis Influencing the Evolution and Practice of Corporate Social Responsibility. Healthcare, 9(4), 453. doi:10.3390/healthcare9040453
Bruun, H., Hukkinen, J. I., Huutoniemi, K. I., & Thompson Klein, J. (2005). Promoting interdisciplinary research: The case of the Academy of Finland. Helsinki: Academy of Finland.
Davé, A., Hopkins, M., Hutton, J., Krcál, A., Kolarz, P., Martin, B., & Stirling, A. (2016). Landscape review of interdisciplinary research in the UK. Report to HEFCE and RCUK by Technopolis and the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex, 184. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.34848.79364
Deputy Minister of Education of the Ministry of Health (2015). Treatment and Medical Education. Transformation plan in medical education. Tehran: Deputy Minister of Education of the Ministry of Health. Rederived fromhttps://dme.behdasht.gov.ir
Farasatkhah, M. (2011). Interdisciplinarity and emerging frontiers in science: A study on origins, capabilities and requirements of interdisciplinarization. Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, 4(1), 1-24. doi: 10.7508/isih.2012.13.001
Galvini, G., Sessa, C., Wallace, D., Taylor-Wesselink, K., Ohlmeyer, J., Lyall, C., & Caro González, A. (2019). SHAPE-ID: Shaping Interdisciplinary Practices in Europe: Deliverable 3.1: Matrix for integration of learning cases and framework of analysis, 500,  3. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000516061
Gleed, A., & Marchant, D. (2016). Interdisciplinarity: Survey report for the Global Research Council 2016 annual meeting. Stockport, UK: DJS Research.
Harvard University (2020a). About Harvard University. Reterived from https://www.harvard.edu/about-harvard/harvard-glance/about-faculty/university-professorships
Harvard University (2020b). The François-Xavier Bagnold Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University (FXB Centre). Rederived fromhttps://fxb.harvard.edu/our-history/
Harvard University( 2020c). Bieenial Report, The Harvard FXB Center. Available at https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu
Harvard University (2020d). Harvard Ph.D. Program in Health Policy. Rederived fromhttps://healthpolicy.fas.harvard.edu
Harvard University(2020e). Learn more about the Harvard PhD program in Health Policy. Reterived from https://www.hks.harvard.edu
Harvard University (2020f). Division of women's health BIRCWH. Rederived from https://www.brighamandwomens.org/medicine/womens-health/building-interdisciplinary-research-careers-in-womens-health-bircwh
Harvard University (2020g). Harvard Global Health Institute. Rederived fromhttps://globalhealth.harvard.edu/about/our-work
Harvard University (2020h). The Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Reterived fromhttps://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/about-us
Inayatullah, S. (1998). Causal layered analysis: Poststructuralism as method. Futures, 30(8), 815-829. doi:10.1016/S0016-3287(98)00086-X
Inayatullah, S. (2004). Causal layered analysis: Theory, historical context, and case studies. In The causal layered analysis reader: Theory and case studies of an integrative and transformative methodology (pp. 1-52). University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
Iran Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (2015). Amending and supplementing the decree of policies and executive criteria for spacial pllaning of higher education in the field of health Approved in the 762nd session dated 2/8/2015, Retereived from https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/print_version/929276
Kopyto, M., Lechler, S., Heiko, A., & Hartmann, E. (2020). Potentials of blockchain technology in supply chain management: Long-term judgments of an international expert panel. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 161, 120330. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120330
Lyall, C., Bruce, A., Tait, J., & Meagher, L. (2021). Departure Point: Our approach to interdisciplinarity. In Interdisciplinary research journeys: Practical strategies for capturing creativity (Chapter 2; Pp. 7-24). London: Bloomsbury Academic. doi:10.5040/9781849661782.ch-002
Martin, C. M., & Sturmberg, J. P. (2005). General practice—chaos, complexity and innovation. Medical Journal of Australia, 183(2), 106-109. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06943.x
Miles, I., & Keenan, M. (2003). Practical guide to regional foresight in the UK. European Commision Available at www.researchgate.net
Morton, L., Eigenbrode, S., & Martin, T. (2015). Architectures of adaptive integration in large collaborative projects. Ecology and Society, 20(4).
Nasl Seraji, J., Jahandideh, A., Ojaqi, A., Jomeei, M. (2017). Spatial planning of education higher of health in Republic of Islamic of Iran. Journal of Medicine and Cultivation, 26(1), 21-32.
National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine (2005). Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/11153
Nikolova, B. (2014). The rise and promise of participatory foresight. European Journal of Futures Research, 2(1), 33. doi:10.1007/s40309-013-0033-2
Popp, R. (2013). Participatory futures research. Research or practice consulting? European Journal of Futures Research, 1(1), 1-10. doi:10.1007/s40309-013-0016-3
Saritas, O. (2013). Systemic foresight methodology. In Science, technology and innovation policy for the future (pp. 83-117). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-31827-6_6
Spaapen, J., Vienni Baptista, B., Buchner, A., & Pohl, C. E. (2019). SHAPE-ID: Shaping Interdisciplinary Practices in Europe: Deliverable 2.2 Report on Survey among interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary researchers and post-survey interviews with policy stakeholders, 500, p. 2. ETH Zurich. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000516056
Standford University (2020a). The Stanford University facts. Retrieved fromhttps://facts.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/02/StanfordFactBook-2020.pdf
Stanford University (2020b). Independent Laboratories, Centers, and Institutes. Retrieved fromhttps://interdisciplinary.stanford.edu/labs-centers-institutes
Urbano, V. M., Arena, M., & Azzone, G. (2021). Future-oriented technology analysis: A classification framework. In Digitalization (pp. 19-37). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-69380-0_2
Van Noorden, R. (2015). Interdisciplinary research by the numbers. Nature, 525(7569), 306-307. doi:10.1038/525306a
Vienni Baptista, B., Fletcher, I., Maryl, M., Wciślik, P., Buchner, A., Lyall, C., & Pohl, C. E. (2020). SHAPE-ID: Shaping Interdisciplinary Practices in Europe: Deliverable 2.3: Final Report on Understandings of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research and Factors of Success and Failure. 500. ETH Zurich. doi: 10.3929/ethz-b-000516065
Vienni Baptista, B., Maryl, M., Wciślik, P., Fletcher, I., Buchner, A., Wallace, D., & Pohl, C. E. (2019). SHAPE-ID: Shaping Interdisciplinary Practices in Europe: Deliverable 2.1: Preliminary Report of Literature Review on Understandings of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research. doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000516070
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.

  • Receive Date 25 December 2021
  • Revise Date 09 March 2022
  • Accept Date 05 May 2022

Home

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Reviewers

Submission

Contact Us