Interdisciplinary Collaborative Teaching Program

Since 2015, Arts Alive SDSU has promoted the development of interdisciplinary curriculum by bringing faculty and students from the School of Art + Design, the School of Music & Dance, and the School of Theatre, Television, and Film together with faculty and students from academic departments in other fields of study. The Arts Alive SDSU Interdisciplinary Collaborative Teaching Program has expanded opportunities for students in any degree track to participate in artistic activities in classroom and laboratory settings while encouraging art students to situate their work within the analytic context of the humanities and sciences.

In these collaborative courses, two faculty members from different academic areas work together to redesign pre-existing courses, modifying their course structure or content with interdisciplinary goals in mind. The paired courses are offered at the same time, on the same day, and are each assigned their own location, allowing faculty to determine when to bring their students together for combined sessions. Faculty decide how often the classes will come together, which can be as few as four times per semester or as many as every class.

Students who enroll in these courses engage across disciplines to explore a topic from multiple perspectives and through various learning modalities, encouraging both students and faculty to consider familiar ideas in new ways. By focusing on the creative process as a means to identify, communicate, and solve problems, the Arts Alive SDSU Interdisciplinary Collaborative Teaching Program provides all participants with a transformative educational experience that fosters the understanding of art as a mode of critical inquiry.