Creating meaning in interdisciplinary dialogues within Global Health: reflections from postgraduate teaching

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research is often hailed as the way forward for research. Indeed, in a world where problems are increasingly complex, interdisciplinarity needs to be considered more so a necessity than a temporary trend. However, evidence shows that there are still considerable challenges in achieving true conversations between and across disciplines. Where old (disciplinary) habits may be deemed too deeply entrenched, new generations of scholars and students are a spark of hope for the future of interdisciplinary understandings. Yet, the question still begs - how do we do that? In this essay, I reflect on my experiences as a postgraduate teaching assistant and social scientist teaching Global Health to medical students. Inspired by dialogic pedagogy, I explain how I framed theory to be understood as the beginning of knowledge to encourage engaging and productive classroom dialogue. Facilitating such a dialogue required making space for two E’s – emotion and exploration – to guide and shape our discussions which each other, which enabled us to transcend the boundaries of discipline in order to have successful interdisciplinary dialogue that is meaningful in ways that go far beyond a tick box exercise, as well as promoting active learning and critical thinking.