Disciplinary, Multidisciplinary & Interdisciplinary Knowledge

Disciplinary knowledge refers to the specialisation and in-depth content knowledge of a certain type of curriculum or subject. Multidisciplinary knowledge refers to knowledge of a wide range of perspectives within a combination of subject areas. Interdiscipliary knowledge refers to the combination of two or more academic disciplines into one activity. Having disciplinary, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge helps to advance student's skill set and know-how, making them more valuable to employers. 

As part of the SMU-X curriculum, students are required to solve a real-world problem provided by the industry. Real-world issues are often multi-faceted which require students to draw on multiple disciplines involved in solving real-world problems. Each diverse team of students is assigned a project challenge. Very often, students from different SMU schools/majors form groups that allow them to leverage on each other's disciplinary knowledge and experience to solve the challenge.

Why is this important?

Having both disciplinary, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge helps students to become more adaptable -- to have the ability to think and acclimatise to different contexts and environments as students are able to switch and think critically from one subject to another. These knowledge can also be leveraged to tackle complex issues and allows the use of effective analytical (and creative) skills.

This also help students to remain competitive in this VUCA world, where employers are no longer looking for people with one specific specialisation. This is important as modern society increasingly demands application-oriented knowledge, and the usability of scientific knowledge generally requires the combination and integration of knowledge from various disciplines.

Multidisciplinary thinking also helps broaden the cognitive diversity as it allows students to view a challenge in multiple dimensions -- gaining a greater understanding of reality and identify the variables that affect the environment and situation.