BGU | Fundraising Handbook

3.4 ACADEMIC PROGRAMS Interdisciplinary programs as growth engine

The Need An academic program is a combination of courses and related activities aimed at achieving specific learning outcomes as defined by the University. Usually, academic programs are interdisciplinary and broader than a specific department. BGU’s strategic plan addressed some of the issues arising from the existing structure of the University, with the aim of implementing changes, which among other things, promote interdisciplinary studies and research. In such research, various aspects (e.g., data, techniques, concepts) of two or more disciplines are integrated. Employing a more comprehensive approach to the exploration of a research problem in this way can be beneficial, particularly in terms of the potential solutions emerging from research, and the strategic plan highlighted the need to facilitate the movement of graduate students across disciplines, allowing their research to benefit from the integration of diverse perspectives.

BGU aims to become a talent magnet, attracting the best and brightest students, faculty members and researchers. Novel academic programs are an excellent means of attracting graduate students, and interdisciplinary programs are particularly attractive as they combine multiple topics of potential interest to students, expand a student’s knowledge in multiple domains, and offer the inherent advantages of interdisciplinary research. This was demonstrated in recent years with the launch of a new master’s degree program in African Studies. The African Sustainable Communities MA program has been extremely successful, attracting students from around the world to BGU to participate in a unique program that looks back, taking history into account, while looking forward and contributing to the current and future

ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

47

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS