Interdisciplinary Foundations (IF)

Interdisciplinary Foundations (IF) is part of the core curriculum for all first-year students at UTokyo College of Design. IF serves as a gateway to the world of learning at the UTokyo Design, marking the first step toward addressing societal challenges. The IF course cluster is structured around the nine major academic fields of the University of Tokyo. The necessity of studying all nine fields, transcending the boundaries of arts and sciences, reflects UTokyo Design’s perspective on contemporary society and its transformation. Modern society has become increasingly complex, making it difficult to address social issues through a single topic, methodology, or set of values alone. It is only through collaboration across diverse academic disciplines that we can approach the realities of society and find pathways toward solutions. To this end, students are expected to engage with the IF course cluster to understand the thinking and language of specialists in various fields. While students may sometimes feel overwhelmed by its breadth and depth, UTokyo Design’s message to them is this: we want students to overcome these challenges alongside their peers and grow into individuals capable of engaging in dialogue with people from diverse backgrounds.

Beyond lectures, the IF course cluster employs interactive methods that raise questions sparking the beginning of social design thinking: How has scholarship in each field grasped the profound nature of human society, nature, and the Earth? How has the evolution of technology and social systems transformed the world? How can we frame the challenges facing contemporary society from an academic perspective? We encourage students to actively dive into these questions and begin their own proactive exploration of social design through dialogue between faculty and students, or among peers.

The IF and the Interdisciplinary Perspectives (IP) courses, taken from the second year onward, primarily focus on stimulating students' intellectual curiosity and creating a foundation for learning. This is achieved by experts from various academic fields presenting their perspectives on the world from a broad, overarching viewpoint. It is important to note that none of these courses aim to comprehensively and systematically teach each academic discipline in the traditional university education style. Instead, students will deepen their learning independently in academic fields or specific topics that interest them through these courses, potentially utilizing resources beyond UTokyo Design. UTokyo Design will encourage and actively introduce such learning resources.

IF forms a dual foundation with 8 Track Design Series, studied concurrently in the first year, and together they constitute the bedrock of all learning at UTokyo Design. The direct successor to IF is IP. Building on learnings from IF, students will broaden and deepen their perspectives by studying topics with a stronger focus on confronting social issues. Furthermore, the knowledge and insights gained through IF and IP, along with the design fundamentals learned in 8 Track Design Series, will provide the foundation for Change Maker Design Projects, which are project-based learning exercises that begin in the second year.