A new school year marked by interdisciplinarity
To train experts capable of meeting the new challenges facing our societies, the University of Montpellier is focusing on interdisciplinarity. Here we take a closer look at three innovative new courses launched this year.
Breaking down barriers between disciplines to provide students with all the skills required in an ever-changing job market is the formidable challenge facing interdisciplinary education. The University is fully committed to this approach, as evidenced by the three new programs launched by the institution at the start of this academic year.
Open the windows
At the Faculty of Law and Political Science, "we are opening the windows," says Catherine Ribot. The co-director of the master's program in food law and agroecology law is convinced: "We need to question the relationships between disciplines and avoid sticking to the rules." Food and agroecology are European and global issues that go far beyond the essential questions of compliance or food safety. "Traditionally, we asked ourselves whether food was healthy in the sense of being good for our health. Now we also ask ourselves whether it is healthy for the environment, whether it allows for a fair distribution of wealth among the various professionals, and whether it contributes to the harmonious development of territories," explains Malo Depincé, co-director of the master's program.
And to train experts capable of understanding all these dimensions, we need to break down barriers. "This transdisciplinarity occurs on two levels, "explains Catherine Ribot. "On the one hand, by opening up to non-legal areas of practice such as food and agriculture, and on the other hand, within the legal disciplines themselves, because students will need elements of private and public law," emphasizes the environmental law specialist. The challenge is to train experts who are competent in the field of food and agroecology from A to Z. "A single point of contact capable of dialoguing with all stakeholders in the sector, from producers to distributors," explains Malo Depincé, himself a specialist in market law.
With a law degree under their belts, future experts are starting their first year of master's studies this year. After two years of training with a team of law professors as well as external contributors such as lawyers, corporate lawyers, and members of associations, future specialists in food law and agroecology can look forward to a wide range of career opportunities: "specialized lawyers, magistrates specializing in food law cases, legal advisors in companies, local authorities, and ministries—the needs are varied," lists Catherine Ribot, who points out that this is the first program of its kind in France.
Meeting the demands of new professions
This educational innovation is also evident in the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Law and Political Science. Another "national first" made in UM is the dual degree in "Economics and Political Science," unique in France, led by Thomas Cortade in the Faculty of Economics and Eric Savarese in the Faculty of Law and Political Science.
Resolutely multidisciplinary, this dual degree program aims to meet the demands of promising new professions, particularly in the fields of the environment, energy, decision support, development projects, transnational governance, and the regulation of complex societies.
The challenge? To train executives who will be able to take on positions of responsibility in the public and private sectors, both in France and internationally. These career opportunities require skills in economics, political science, and more generally in the social sciences and national and international institutions.
To this end, students enrolled in this dual degree program take the core courses of both the economics and political science degree programs, which they will validate by passing a comprehensive oral exam covering both disciplines. This exam will allow them to demonstrate how both disciplines contribute to the analysis of the contemporary world... and prepare them for the jobs of the future.
Meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow
At UM, transdisciplinarity also takes on an international dimension with the CHARM-EU master's program launched this fall. Innovative, transdisciplinary, and resolutely focused on major environmental and societal challenges, this master's program, unique in Europe, is the result of collaboration between UM and its four partners in theCHARM-EU alliance and represents a true revolution in education.
Bringing together students from around the world and from fields as diverse as law, biology, humanities and social sciences, sports, and management, the CHARM-EU master's program allows students to pool their skills to better understand the environmental and social issues facing our societies, such as water management, global health (both human and environmental), and food. "We don't want to compete with existing master's programs,"says Gilles Subra."We won't be training economists or hydrologists, but rather new cross-disciplinary profiles for European careers, cross-functional project managers."
To meet these challenges of today—and tomorrow—students will benefit from innovative teaching based on active learning. "It can be summed up in two words: challenge-based . Our goal is for students to acquire useful skills to meet the challenges related to the major themes proposed,"explains Patricia Cucchi, professor and researcher in organism biology at the University of Montpellier and member of the working group on teaching and learning strategies withinCHARM-EU. These challengescome from civil society, the business world, or research, with scientific approach and rigor always at the core. The exam methods are just as innovative, with progressive assessment centered on the student and adapted to their pace, using a range of methods from simple quizzes to portfolios, instead of traditional midterms.