Cultivating The Cognitive-Toolkit Online: Emerging Digital Technologies for Interdisciplinary Studies

Abstract

Interdisciplinarity now saturates all corners of academia, yet what it is, how it is done, and how it is taught remain open questions. Where some degree of consensus has arisen is that the increasing complexity of the contemporary era is driving interdisciplinarity and addressing complexity demands an epistemological shift from a reductionist examination of isolated parts to the systemic examination of the integrated whole. Such a shift compels an approach to knowledge that is one of engagement thus requiring a cognitive toolkit that includes such things as empathy, open-mindedness, tolerance of ambiguity, and intellectual courage. Acquiring such skills typically requires human interaction, and the inadequacy of current educational tools has become very apparent in the amplified online environment prompted by the global pandemic. This paper outlines the epistemological demands of Interdisciplinary Studies and the challenges of current technology. It then proposes the application of the emerging digital technologies to address these challenges.