Woodbury University Establishes Groundbreaking College of Transdisciplinarity

LOS ANGELES - Oct. 8, 2014 - PRLog -- LOS ANGELES (October 6, 2014) – Elevating a long-time institute to a new status, Woodbury University (http://www.woodbury.edu)  today announced it has established the College of Transdisciplinarity, complementing the university’s Schools of Architecture, Business and Media, Culture and Design.

Almost a decade in the making, the College of Transdisciplinarity -- previously known as the Institute of Transdisciplinary Studies, or ITS -- is designed to provide a nexus where Woodbury’s core values — Community, Integrity, Professionalism, Aspiration, and Agility — can intersect with its four educational pillars: Transdisciplinarity, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship and Civic Engagement.

“At Woodbury, we define ‘transdisciplinarity’ as thinking and acting holistically by bridging multiple perspectives and practices,” said Douglas J. Cremer, Ph.D. and Dean of the College, who has headed the program since it was established as an Institute in 2006.  “As an Institute, our primary focus was to support the liberal arts enterprise of the university and function as a place for discussions, research and the application of transdisciplinarity.  Now, as a College, our objective is to continue to achieve the Institute’s mission while developing and adding a variety of new undergraduate and graduate degree programs that apply the principles and practices of a transdisciplinary education.”

According to Luis Maria R. Calingo, Ph.D., Woodbury president, “Our newly christened College of Transdisciplinarity continues to increase the value of a Woodbury education by providing students with the information, perspectives and critical thinking skills they need to address today’s complex, multi-faceted social problems — and the tools they will need to succeed in a rapidly changing global workplace.”

Coined by psychologist Jean Piaget in 1970, transdisciplinarity as it has been applied to higher education recognizes that traditional structures, which prescribe what students must study in order to earn a degree, no longer foster the kind of innovation that is needed today -- and will be required in the future.

Woodbury has been a thought leader in the application of transdisciplinarity to higher education.  “The first step was rethinking what ‘liberal arts’ meant at Woodbury and staking out a new vision and structure that reflected the input of all stakeholders,” Cremer said.  “We had a School of Arts and Sciences, a School of Architecture and Design, and a School of Business, but it was essential that they operate collaboratively.  We had to answer the question: ‘How do you create a cohesive, unified university out of disparate professional and liberal arts schools?’”

New degree offerings will be a byproduct of the evolution from “Institute” to “College,” Cremer noted.  Under consideration: a professional writing degree and a degree in Public Safety Administration, along with integrated degrees in environmental studies and urban studies, art history with curatorial studies and, in this era of “big data,” applied mathematics and statistics.

“Developing new programs over the next three or four years is really the ‘and’ part of what is going to transform the Institute into a College,” Cremer said. “What won’t change is that the College of Transdisciplinarity will continue to reflect the collective work of the entire Woodbury University community.”

About Woodbury University

Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California.  Woodbury offers bachelor's degrees from the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media, Culture & Design, and College of Transdisciplinarity, along with a Master of Arts (MA) in Media for Social Justice, Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Interior Architecture (MIA), Master of Science in Architecture (MSArch), and Master of Leadership.  The San Diego campus offers Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degrees, as well as an MSArch degree with concentrations in Real Estate Development and Landscape + Urbanism.  Woodbury ranks 15th among the nation’s “25 Colleges That Add the Most Value,” according to Money Magazine.  Visit www.woodbury.edu for more information.

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