[ISEA2017] Panel: Paz Tornero — Interdisciplinary Innovation, Collaboration and Learning Processes in Academia

Panel Statement

Panel: Training Methods for Transdisciplinary Collaboration

Keywords: Learning, Academia, Transdisciplinary, “Hybrid” Laboratories, Collaboration, Creation, Innovation, Knowledge

This article describes a transdisciplinary and educational experience at the San Francisco de Quito University in Quito, Ecuador. I was a member of the faculty and a researcher from 2014 to 2016. I was also a visiting artist at the Microbiology Institute of the University. As a researcher, my projects require of an intense collaboration with other scientists and the close relationships I developed with many of them allowed me to create a new subject, which was taught for the first time in Ecuador. The subject was called “Transdisciplinary Research Lab”. This new course, which was 18 weeks long and was carried out during the second semester of the 2015-2016 academic year, was available to all students, regardless of their level or career.
On this paper, I will explain the work done during this experimental course and the conclusions obtained from it. I am also looking to highlight the importance of implementing transdisciplinary education as an enhancer of the creation of new knowledge, not only in the academic sphere, but in cultural and research centers too. Setting up new “hybrid” labs for experimentation, that work as a venue for two “opposite” fields like arts and science, enables the creation of bolder, contemporary, innovative and creative proposals which would better connected to the social demands of the XXI century.

  • Paz Tornero (Spain) has a PhD from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, her dissertation was a research into the fields of arts, science and technology. She has a B.A in Fine Arts from Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. M.A in Digital Arts from Universidad Pompeu Fabra. She was a visiting researcher at Harvard University at the school of Engineering and Applied Sciences and at MIT’s Media Lab. She held positions as a visiting professor at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, full time professor at Universidad Técnica De Loja and Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. She is an Associate Professor and Researcher at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Murcia. Her projects have been showed in international festivals and galleries. She wants to continue collaboration with laboratories and Scientific professionals.

Full text (PDF) p. 692-695