The IAFOR Online Forum moved beyond a simplistic definition of collaboration and interdisciplinarity to deeply explore its practical implementation, inherent challenges, and benefits. The key takeaways from the discussion are starting small, knowing your goals, building on mutual respect, self-awareness, focus and confidence building.

Following the successful Forum Discussion series IAFOR has held in several cities around the world, IAFOR hosted the first Online Forum Discussion as a part of its European Conference Series 2025 (ECE/ECAH/EGen2025) on July 14, 2025. The Online Forum Discussion was moderated by IAFOR Academic Coordinator Apipol Sae-Tung, with Professor Anne Boddington, Provost and Vice President of IAFOR, as the respondent. This online forum was specifically designed with online delegates in mind, but was also made accessible to IAFOR Members, in addition to their full access to all of our online content throughout their active membership.

Dr Joseph Haldane, Chairman and CEO of IAFOR, delivered a message to delegates joining in the Online Forum Discussion

Following the successful Forum Discussion series IAFOR has held in several cities around the world, IAFOR hosted the first Online Forum Discussion as a part of its European Conference Series 2025 (ECE/ECAH/EGen2025) on July 14, 2025. The Online Forum Discussion was moderated by IAFOR Academic Coordinator Apipol Sae-Tung, with Professor Anne Boddington, Provost and Vice President of IAFOR, as the respondent. This online forum was specifically designed with online delegates in mind, but was also made accessible to IAFOR Members, in addition to their full access to all of our online content throughout their active membership.

The Forum taps into IAFOR’s international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary network to discuss current issues affecting both the world at large and those locally-related to the communities in which IAFOR holds its conferences. It is not a standalone conference programme, but is a part of IAFOR’s core values in hosting conferences, offering delegates a space to learn from, connect to, and engage with IAFOR’s network. The overarching mission of the Forum is deeply rooted in promoting international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary engagement. A survey conducted among IAFOR Members in 2024 helped identify four key themes which now guide IAFOR’s conferences from 2025 to 2029: Technology and Artificial Intelligence, Humanity and Human Intelligence, Global Citizenship and Education for Peace, and Leadership. These themes are instrumental in shaping the programming of keynotes, panels, Forum session discussions, delegate presentations, and networking opportunities, all of which ultimately contribute to the advancement of academic knowledge, everyday understanding, and public policy.

Apipol Sae-Tung, Academic Coordinator of IAFOR (left) and Professor Anne Boddington, Provost and Vice President of IAFOR (right), during the Online Forum Session

The Forum serves as an open and inclusive platform for exploring a wide range of topics, specifically designed to integrate the voices of delegates into the broader conference series and to encourage engagement both with IAFOR and among participants themselves. This initiative, which has now been active for well over a year, consistently ensures that participant opinions are incorporated into IAFOR’s official Conference Reports and Intelligence Briefings, making delegates’ contributions a tangible part of IAFOR’s academic discourse. The Forum discussion has become an integral component of IAFOR’s global conference series. Over time, these discussions have covered diverse themes, including global citizenship, responsible tourism, environmental engagement, education, human intelligence and artificial intelligence, and cultivating a culture of peace, among others.

In this inaugural Online Forum Discussion, we continued the discussion on cooperation and interdisciplinarity from our 2025 Paris Conference on Education (PCE) and Arts and Humanities (PCAH). The discussion focused on Global Citizenship and Interdisciplinarity in Paris, and brought interesting insights from delegates around the world, which addressed the issue of interdisciplinary cooperation in academia and the challenges they faced. As it aligns with our missions, Conference Themes for 2025-2029, and our contribution, we continued the discussion on cooperation and interdisciplinarity, and focused on how to ‘make interdisciplinarity work’ in our London edition of the Forum.

Insights from ‘Cooperating in Difficult Times, Part I’

The initial segment of the discussion at the Paris Conference offered fundamental insights into how delegates perceive and experience interdisciplinarity. The results from polls conducted among delegates at the Paris Conference Series revealed several important findings that set the stage for subsequent discussions.

Regarding engagement in interdisciplinarity, 67 percent of the respondents reported that they actively engage in interdisciplinary work. While the other 33 percent responded with ‘no’, they indicated that they might be interested in engaging with interdisciplinary in the future. This suggests a broad awareness of interdisciplinarity and a general willingness to engage with such research, with no respondent expressing outright disinterest or a lack of understanding of the concept. When it came to institutional support for interdisciplinary research, 79 percent of the respondents indicated that they received some form of support, with more than 50 percent of this group reporting that their institutions provided formal support and actively encouraged and facilitated interdisciplinary research through established policies, dedicated funding, and specific study programs. A minority of about 13 percent of delegates reported that they received no institutional support whatsoever, while 8 percent were uncertain about their institution’s stance on the matter. Delegates were also asked about the integration and coexistence of methods across disciplines as a component of interdisciplinary work. About 20 percent of the respondents felt that it was fully possible for all disciplines to articulate their perspectives and adopt each other’s methods and language comprehensively, while 66 percent believed that such integration is possible with careful contextualisation.

At the Forum discussion in Paris, several practical and perceptual challenges to interdisciplinarity were identified. One significant challenge highlighted was the perception of failure; engaging in interdisciplinary work could sometimes lead to being seen as ‘not properly educated in anything,’ hinting at a persistent disciplinary bias within academic structures. Budgetary constraints were identified as a common practical hurdle, and the time commitment required for interdisciplinary research, often involving fields outside one’s primary expertise, was also frequently mentioned. A particularly interesting challenge revolved around audience communication, where the challenge is not only on the researchers or educators, but in the delivery of such research to their students or broader audience, as a delegate responded at the Forum session at our Paris conferences:

‘Who am I talking to? How do I present all this data to diverse audiences without being too technical or too superficial?’

This remark points directly to the difficulty of effectively engaging with interdisciplinarity within academia. Such insights from the Paris Conference laid the groundwork for the London Forum’s more in-depth exploration of ‘making interdisciplinarity work.’

Collaboration in action. Harshit Rathi, Unsplash

Making Interdisciplinarity Work

The London Forum session marked a transition from identifying challenges to actively exploring practical approaches and essential skills necessary for effective interdisciplinary collaboration. The session began with a round of self-introduction and disciplinary context, where participants were invited to share their discipline, what they study, and why it holds importance for them. This grounded the discussion in individual disciplinary strengths before moving into the broader realm of interdisciplinary connections.

Participants then shared their disciplinary contexts and research interests. For example, a delegate from Palestine who is an English teacher and PhD candidate in Curriculum and Instruction shared the significant challenges faced by students in Palestine, particularly the educational setbacks resulting from ongoing conflict and the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. She expressed her interest in merging her research in learning and teaching theories with artificial intelligence to boost student autonomy and address existing educational gaps.

Delegates from Palestine and Canada chime in on the discussion with their perspectives.

Similarly, a delegate from Italy, a professor of English, offered insights into her research on the relationship between media journalism and diplomacy, which involves analysing linguistic corpora from interviews with international diplomats. She noted a post-pandemic trend towards more aggressive language and a shift where individuals acted more as ‘patriots’ than ‘professionals’. This led her to articulate a desire for her linguistic research to evolve into a more interdisciplinary endeavour, aiming for synergy between linguistics, diplomacy, and media studies.

Adding another perspective, a delegate from Canada with an educational background shared his aspirations in academic journeys and plans to pursue a PhD. As someone currently working in social work, he specifically joined the Forum Discussion to connect with intellectuals from diverse fields and gain valuable insights for his future academic career.
Professor Boddington then offered a response on the essence of interdisciplinarity, emphasising that effective interdisciplinary work fundamentally begins with a strong grounding in one’s own discipline. ‘Interdiscipline starts with discipline,’ said Professor Boddington. Understanding one’s own strengths and ethical conduct within a specific discipline is paramount. Interdisciplinary work, she argued, is not about abandoning one’s field but rather about building upon its foundations. A core principle of successful interdisciplinary collaboration is the mutual respect for all disciplines involved. Interdisciplinarity, she explained, demands patience, tolerance, and what she termed ‘hard deep listening’. This involves a genuine effort to understand different forms of language and perspectives, especially when individuals are communicating from distinct disciplinary or in a language that is not their first. She further pointed out that education often inadvertently creates disciplinary silos, which can make it harder to engage in lateral thinking as individuals mature. In response to this phenomenon, IAFOR has created spaces that encourage alternative ways of thinking about disciplines and their respective languages.

In the interactive poll, we asked the delegates to share what they see as the successful criteria for an interdisciplinary project. The word cloud poll was heavily dominated by the terms ‘collaboration’ and ‘respect’. Other frequently appearing terms included ‘interconnectedness’, ‘listening’, ‘mutual understanding’, and ‘understanding the works of each other’.

One participant from Hong Kong further elaborated on the concept of mutual respect, emphasising the crucial need to understand each other’s methodologies, particularly when bridging the gap between quantitative and qualitative research. He stressed the importance of cultivating an open mind before critiquing or imposing boundaries on other fields, acknowledging that not all methods are necessarily transferable across disciplines. Another delegate who worked at one of London’s Youth Centres with children from different backgrounds, for example, the Palestinian and Jewish communities, highlighted the importance of creating a safe space for students to feel safe to enable students and educators to become more respectful.

Defining what ‘Collaboration’ Truly Entails

Professor Boddington challenged participants to move beyond the face value of the responses and to concretely define what ‘collaboration’ truly entails in practical terms. She urged participants, particularly those involved in teaching, to consider their set of ‘five key skills of collaboration’ and to think about the specific learning outcomes for effectively teaching this skill in a classroom setting.

The Forum then presented a hypothetical scenario for teaching interdisciplinarity: designing a 16-week interdisciplinary course that would culminate in a joint research project, while acknowledging the existing challenges. Participants were asked what and how they would teach in such a course. Responses included:

• • Introducing familiar concepts within unfamiliar disciplines.
  • Refocusing the curriculum on core methodologies.
  • Implementing cooperative learning activities.
  • Encouraging the exploration of different cultures among students and fostering sharing.
  • Identifying common points across disciplines and providing supporting bibliography.
  • Teaching essential soft skills such as teamwork, gamification, and project management.
  • Adopting content-based approaches, such as exploring ‘epistemological critique,’ which examines how different disciplines construct, validate, and limit knowledge.

Professor Boddington responded to the delegates’ inputs, reiterated the importance of self-reflection. To practice interdisciplinarity, we must ask ourselves ‘What do I bring to the party?’ and ‘What do I hope to get out of it?’ She highlighted that a clear understanding of oneself and the diverse skills within a group is crucial for identifying challenges and for collaboration. Effective interdisciplinary teams, she noted, require an awareness of the knowledge each member contributes and the knowledge that is collectively needed.

A delegate from Palestine shared her practical approach, which involved centering each unit of her class on real-world themes like identity or social justice, and then guiding students through projects that seamlessly blend language, science, technology, and social-emotional learning (SEL). She highlighted how student participation in planning and adapting materials based on their needs fostered emotional resilience through creative activities like painting emotions. Professor Boddington, in turn, gently challenged the delegate to reflect on what she had learned and heard from her students, emphasising the critical importance of listening and knowing when to step back in interdisciplinary work. A delegate from Hong Kong reinforced the value of teaching ‘familiar concepts in unfamiliar disciplines’ to ignite students’ interest and encourage an open mind, recognising that disciplinary methods may not always be directly transferable.

Promoting Interdisciplinarity both Within Institutions and Across Boundaries

TThe final question of the forum centred on promoting interdisciplinarity both within institutions and across boundaries. The resulting word cloud prominently featured ‘joint projects,’ ‘collaborative,’ and ‘understanding.’ Other responses included practical suggestions such as ‘making documentaries/videos,’ alongside broader concepts such as ‘inclusive’ and ‘transformative’ approaches.

A delegate from Italy articulated the necessity for ‘hard and soft sciences’ to collaborate more closely, lamenting what she described as ‘disciplinary capitalism’ that often entrenches departments and creates significant barriers to bridging gaps. She expressed her strong belief that connecting these two major academic fields would yield more productive and fruitful outcomes for the entire academic environment.

A delegate from Italy participates in the Online Forum Session.

Professor Boddington agreed with the sentiment, suggesting that while grand gestures are frequently discussed, ‘starting small’ often proves to be the most effective strategy for instigating real change. These small, incremental steps, involving the exchange of language and ideas between fields that typically do not interact, can lead to substantial differences. She also acknowledged that strong institutional leadership is vital in enabling such exchanges, as current university structures often do not inherently encourage this free flow of ideas and knowledge. IAFOR’s very inception, she noted, was partly driven by the desire to bridge these areas where crucial conversations are lacking. She concluded by highlighting the inherent power imbalance that often exists between disciplines, such as that of health/physical sciences and humanities/social sciences, which frequently manifests in terms of funding and the prominence given to different voices.

Conclusion: Start Small and Define Your Goal, with Mutual Respect

The IAFOR Online Forum moved beyond a simplistic definition of collaboration and interdisciplinarity to deeply explore its practical implementation, inherent challenges, and benefits. The key takeaways from the discussion are:

• • Start small: Significant impact often comes not from grand gestures, but from numerous small, consistent steps in fostering interdisciplinary work.
  • Define and know your goals: A clear sense of purpose is essential for the success of any interdisciplinary endeavour.
  • Build on mutual respect: This stands as the foundational principle, demanding deep listening, genuine tolerance, and a thorough understanding of diverse disciplinary languages and ethical approaches.
  • Self-awareness: It is crucial to understand what one brings to an interdisciplinary group, encompassing both one’s knowledge and personal attributes.
  • Focus and confidence building: Education should actively strive to build confidence in what individuals can contribute, fostering creativity and thoughtful engagement across fields.

The Online Forum collectively emphasised that while interdisciplinary work is undeniably challenging, it is also critically vital for effectively addressing the complex global issues of our time and for fostering meaningful connections across a wide array of fields and cultures. The discussion highlighted the ongoing and pressing need for platforms like IAFOR and The Forum to continue facilitating these conversations and to actively encourage practical strategies for making interdisciplinarity truly work in the real world.

Apipol Sae-Tung

Banner image: Kalei de Leon, Unsplash