The seminar on transdisciplinarity brought together researchers from different countries
On the 4th of December, 2024, Vytautas Kavolis Transdisciplinary Research Institute organised an international seminar, “Disciplines and their Boundaries”, where members of the academic community and guests explored the challenges and opportunities of transdisciplinarity in the social sciences and humanities. The seminar paid tribute to the legacy of Vytautas Martynas Kavolis (1930-1999), a prominent diaspora scholar, sociologist, and publicist, and discussed his methodological ideas on interdisciplinarity.
Vytautas Kavolis Institute: a centre of transdisciplinary excellence
The Director of the Vytautas Kavolis Transdisciplinary Research Institute, Associate Professor Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė, emphasised that the Institute, founded in 2022, has quickly become an important centre for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. The Institute fosters collaboration between different fields of science to address complex societal challenges through innovative methodologies. One of the Institute’s main objectives is to break traditional academic boundaries and create a platform where researchers from different disciplines can collaborate to find new insights.
The Institute is implementing several major projects, including national and international social science data infrastructure projects, highlighting its global competitiveness. A postdoctoral program and flexible research team models have also been developed.
International cooperation, including partnerships with researchers in Taiwan and Finland, has been highlighted as a cornerstone of the Institute’s success. In the future, the Institute will strive to deepen these partnerships further, introduce innovative research methods, and contribute to solving the world’s most pressing challenges.
Professor Gintautas Mažeikis also reflected on Vytautas Kavolis’s methodological ideas, which significantly contributed to the development of interdisciplinary research and were based on the principles of intellectual courage and transcending boundaries. Vytautas Kavolis rejected a linear understanding of history and proposed analysing culture as a dynamic and multidimensional phenomenon. His seven-step methodology for comparative cultural studies provided a framework for exploring symbolic dimensions, alternative texts, and cultural interactions.
Discussions on the challenges and opportunities of transdisciplinarity
The seminar discussion was led by scientists and experts: Prof. Hannu Nieminen, researcher at the University of Helsinki and the V. Kavolis Institute; Dr. Pekka Mäkelä, coordinator of the Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities; Prof. Gintaras Valinčius, chairman of the Lithuanian Research Council; and Prof. Saulius Keturakis, member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Committee of the Research Council of Lithuania.
The discussion focused on the challenges of interdisciplinary research in the academic system, especially in Lithuania. First, it was acknowledged that academic disciplines need to consider society’s broader needs, including social, political, and economic aspects. The discussion also touched on the difficulties in defining and evaluating interdisciplinary research, the development of professional identities, and the need to have scientifically rigorous and socially relevant research.
The second part of the discussion focused on the practical challenges of interdisciplinary cooperation, including the role of funding bodies such as the Research Council of Lithuania in assessing interdisciplinary projects. Researchers shared their views on how interdisciplinarity should be defined and practised: some stressed its importance as horizontal, others spoke of a problem-solving approach across disciplines, and others emphasised preserving the precision of individual fields. Experiences from Finnish and Lithuanian academic practices were shared, illustrating the complexity of building transdisciplinary cultures in universities. The discussion also covered the shift from traditional research evaluation criteria (such as publication rates and impact factors) towards a more comprehensive research impact assessment that reflects changing priorities in the research community.
Prof. Risto Kunelius: the evolution of academic disciplines and the prospects of the “post-disciplinary” period
In his presentation, Prof. Dr. Risto Kunelius, Director of the Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities, examined the evolution of the concept of academic disciplines and the possibility of a “post-disciplinary” period. Prof. Kunelius stressed that disciplines, although created to guide academic research, are deeply embedded in power structures with their own rules, methods, and practices that curate knowledge production. Prof. Kunelius questioned whether the traditional notion of disciplines is still relevant. He believes that we may be approaching a significant shift in how knowledge will be categorised and practised and that we can expect a new academic concept that will go beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Dr. Gediminas Urbonas: the power of art and interdisciplinary integration
In his presentation, Gediminas Urbonas, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, highlighted the transformative potential of art as a catalyst for interdisciplinary collaboration and social change. He introduced the concept of “pragmatic fiction” revealing how art can mediate complex problems and promote dialogue between different fields of knowledge. Dr. Urbonas discussed projects such as the Transaction Project and the Protest Lab, where art acts as a tool for social critique, the transformation of identities, and civic action. These projects combine disciplines ranging from psychology to gender studies and cultural history. Dr. Urbonas also presented Villa Lithuania, an innovative project symbolically reflecting the revitalisation of national identity through artistic diplomacy.
