Emergent Interdisciplines

What: This one day summer school is an opportunity to gain vital skills in how to carry out social research on a series of key emerging areas, including animal studies, critical AI, social studies of pollution and chemicals, and environmental justice. It builds on the three-day summer school on interdisciplinary approaches to health organised by two UCL faculties, but expands to include a wider range of interdisciplinary topics and emerging interdisciplines. It considers the challenges, importance and skills necessary to study topics that are involve nonhumans and materials and are necessarily interdisciplinary. 

Why: Interdisciplinary approaches to environment, AI and health are increasingly valued by research funding agencies and seen as essential for those seeking careers in industry, government, academia and civil society organisations. This reflects the wider real-world context where professionals have to address complex environmental, health and political problems, that often cut across the boundaries of the creative arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

Who should apply: If you are an ECR (MRes student, PhD or Post-Doc) embarking on or planning interdisciplinary research now or in the future, this summer school is for you. It is open both to students who have taken the SHS/A&H summer school on interdisciplinary approaches to health, and want to build on the understanding they have gained, and develop their understanding of a range of other related fields. It will provide the necessary understanding of what interdisciplinary research is and its value, how researchers can think strategically about what interdisciplinary problems are important, and the insight to critically engage with what it means to do interdisciplinary research. You may be trained in social sciences or arts and humanities and seeking to know more about how you can develop interdisciplinary research, or you may be trained in the natural sciences and want to develop an understanding of the value of interdisciplinary research. Numbers attending the summer school are intended to be small, and feedback on individual research project ideas will be provided by the course leaders. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. 

How to apply: If you would like to apply please fill in the form and for further information please contact Catherine Stokes c.stokes@ucl.ac.uk or Andrew Barry a.barry@ucl.ac.uk at UCL Anthropocene. Please submit your applications by 31 May at the latest and we will inform all of those accepted as soon as possible after then.

Image credit: Lucy Sabin