Transdisciplinary Master-Insert | Curriculum

Programme Overview

The curriculum of the 'Shaping Responsible Futures' programme is designed for master students from all academic disciplines and is based on four pillars: real-world challenges, transdisciplinarity, personal and professional development, and self-directed learning. It consists of three challenge packages (10 EC each) built on six modules (5 EC each). Note: if you have any question regarding the Master-Insert programme please do not hesitate to send an email to master-insert@utwente.nl (do not forget to check our Contact & FAQ page).

Overview of challenge packages and their respective modules

The Challenge Packages

Transdisciplinary and Creative Ways of Working: You will learn how to truly collaborate with other disciplines and external stakeholders through developing and implementing new creativity methods and tools.

Shaping Society and Responsible Futures: You will learn to take the lead in changing society by critically analyzing complex societal challenges, engaging stakeholders, and designing prototypes of responsible futures.

Leading Systemic Change: You will learn to analyze and change complex systems and develop yourself as a transdisciplinary agent.

Transdisciplinary and Creative Ways of Working (10 EC)EC
- Transdisciplinary Working5
- Creative Intelligence5
Shaping Society and Responsible Futures (10 EC)EC
- Societal Leadership5
- Futurism5
Leading Systemic Change (10 EC)EC
- Change Making5
- Systems Thinking5

Educational Approach & Learning Goals

To address the complex-real world challenges you are trained in workshop settings, using activating and engaging work-forms such as case analyses, role-play simulations, open discussion sessions, design studios, and debates. Furthermore, to develop the required knowledge base, you are provided with academic literature and (guest-)lectures and seminars of academics and professional experts.

Overall, the 'Shaping Responsible Futures' programme combines social science, design and engineering perspectives: Societal Leadership and Change Making start from the social sciences, Creative Intelligence and Systems Thinking from design and engineering, and Transdisciplinary Working and Futurism transcend these boundaries. All in all, collaborating with students, stakeholders, and academics from a wide range of disciplines, you, after completing the full Master-Insert:

are competent in approaching complex societal challenges as a transdisciplinary innovation project
are competent in applying relevant disciplinary insights to the analysis of societal challenges in a multidisciplinary team
are competent in transcending disciplinary perspectives in creative, systemic and responsible designs
have a constructive attitude towards societal challenges, disciplinary perspectives, and integrated designs
are competent in collaborating and communicating across disciplinary and social boundaries
have a leader's attitude and aim for societal impact

ASSESSMENT

The assessment philosophy of the Transdisciplinary Master-Insert is to focus on feedback in order to enable professional and personal growth. Instead of receiving a grade, you receive a pass (or fail) for the modules, together with extensive feedback related to the quality of your work and the process.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN & SELF-EVALUATION REPORT

To stimulate you to actively engage in the programme and to integrate your learning in a personal, professional, and academic sense, you write a Personal Development Plan at the start of the 'Shaping Responsible Futures' programme. You define personal goals you want to reach during the programme. You monitor your progress by building a portfolio with achievements in the modules and teacher feedback. Finally, you reflect on your growth in a Self-Evaluation Report.