Promoting Transdisciplinary Learning Among KU Leuven Students

The Enlightenment put humanity at the center of the universe, claiming that human cognition and technological innovation will be able to safeguard the existence of our species. This Enlightened belief is deeply ingrained into our education system. It is focused on bringing forward experts of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, when students finish their education, they are often unable to see the interconnectedness of their field of study with other sectors of society. More importantly, it has created a common conviction that scientific fields of study are more valuable than all others. The most important fields are those of the exact sciences, which can deliver quantifiable, objective results. Soft sciences, such as sociology, psychology or anthropology were deemed to be less important because of their qualitative research methods. At the start of the 20th century these sciences were not even deemed to be scientific, but non-science (or rather non-sense). Throughout the 20th century they have developed more exact approaches, adopting and translating the methods and enlightened ideology. This has resulted in a distortion of these fields of study, only for their ambition to be accepted as sciences. 

The scientific grasp on our education has helped humanity overcome disease, reach incredible heights, create new machines to help us travel large distances, build immense structures and overcome many different natural disasters in our world. However, our trust in science has also blinded us. We have not come to terms with the full scope of consequences that technological advancement brings forth. The consequences listed above are all positive. But science brings forth an at least equal number of negative consequences. Being able to travel further and building massive buildings, also means that we encounter a far greater amount of people. In the event of a virus outbreak, that means that we are more prone to the occurrence of worldwide pandemic events. Or by using antibiotics to protect ourselves from disease, we set in motion a process of mutation. The germs that used to make us sick, now develop a resistance to the point that our antibiotic remedies will soon no longer serve their purpose.