Relationship as a space "in between". A transcultural and transdisciplinary approach to academic teaching mediated by dialogue

This study aims to propose a transcultural and transdisciplinary approach to academic teaching mediated by dialogue. It focuses on a transcultural and transdisciplinary perspective, rather than on the two as separate, thus on the approach to cultures and disciplines together. In particular, it presents the approach to academic teaching on the basis of the relationship among cultures and disciplines, moreover, among, across and beyond cultures and disciplines. They are the meanings of the Latin prefix trans, of “transcultural” and “transdisciplinary”, according the perspective of transdisciplinarity, proposed by Basarab Nicolescu, contemporary Romanian physicist and philosopher, to which this study refers. Furthermore, this research is focused on the relationship in terms of “a space of relationship” among, across and beyond cultures and disciplines. This space is provided by dialogue, according the perspective of the philosophy of dialogue, a branch of contemporary Anglo-European philosophy founded by Martin Buber. This study describes the application of the transdisciplinary perspective to academic teaching mediated by the philosophy of dialogue. This implies the investigation of dialogue as a space of relationship, rather than for relationship among, across and beyond cultures and disciplines. In this perspective, dialogue and relationship may become the same, as they are linked to each other, thus, this proposed approach to teaching aims to explore also the reciprocity between dialogue and relationship. The proposal of a transcultural and transdisciplinary approach mediated by dialogue at the basis of this study is investigated mainly through academic teaching. In particular, during this doctoral program, thus between 2014 and 2016, I documented teaching experiences with this approach in two contexts: courses on transcultural dialogue with undergraduates drawn from different cultures while on an Italian philosophical-theological faculty (the “St. Peter's Philosophical-Theological Institute” of Viterbo, Italy), and courses on the communication of scientific research (CSR) for young scientists drawn from different disciplines and cultures at invitation of Italian (the universities of Brescia, Milan and Viterbo) and Czech (the University of West Bohemia of Pilsen) universities. This approach to teaching seems rarely investigated, as I did not find indications in prior literature of a similar perspective, with the exception of a few notes on teaching materials for a transcultural approach or for a transdisciplinary one, but these perspectives are not explored together. A trace of the need for applying a transdisciplinary and transcultural approach to knowledge, according to the vision suggested by Nicolescu appeared recently, but not in relation to academic education, nor referring to the possible reciprocity between them. Therefore, this approach to teaching is presented in detail: the study describes each course of the two contexts (chapter 2) and the findings (chapter 3) drawn from the students’ feedback and their contributions to this proposal. The analysis of the findings may provide evidence of this approach, and suggests its possible implications in teaching (chapter 4), and also beyond the academic context. The additional aim of this study, in fact, is to consider dialogue as a space of relationship among, across and beyond cultures and disciplines which may be applied, far more broadly, to everyday life.