Course credits: 5 ECTS (40 h)                                       Endorsed by EDUAM

Program overview

Today, we have professors, scientists, artists, and engineers and other professionals who dedicate their individual work to reviving a civic mission beyond academia. Recognizing, promoting and uniting these works is an important step in pursuing a collective consciousness that will inaugurate a new and urgent renaissance, Renaissance 4.0, that will strive to solve society’s “wicked problems”.

As these problems are researched and analyzed, current transformations in society and technology are key elements to be considered. By promoting a dialogue between the sciences/technology and humanities, ethical future results can be guaranteed. Defining and understanding the scope of these transformations and their implications for creating challenges as well contributing robust solutions for society, are crucial tasks. The complexity they present requires interdisciplinary commitments.

This symposium invites you to become part of the solution, the Renaissance 4.0.
Participants from diverse backgrounds will have the opportunity to participate in
sophisticated debates with experts on how to address the problems created and faced by society, and work in groups to formulate ideas on how to help resolve them. Sessions are aligned with four of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), # 3 - Health and Well-being, # 4 -Quality Education, # 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, and # 16- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

Objectives
The objective of the course is to foster the essential interdisciplinary collaboration
between the sciences/technology and humanities that is needed to address these
“wicked problems”, that are, by definition, impossible to solve from within a single
discipline. It is hoped that participants will use their acquired knowledge, new ideas and broadened perspectives to implement and execute, in their future professional work, interventions that achieve successful results. These results will, in turn, fuel inspiration for the development of an international movement of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Participants
The symposium is aimed at doctoral students, professor, researchers, and
professionals of any discipline and branch of knowledge from the Doctoral School of the Autonomous University of Madrid (EDUAM), various Latin American universities affiliated with the International Academic Program, and CIVIS partner universities. The maximum number of participants will be 30.

Methodology and Structure
The approach will be practical. In each of the four 4-hour moderated sessions, a topic will be presented and debated by a panel of three experts. Participants will be encouraged to comment and ask questions. Participants will then work in groups (created by IAP) to further discuss the topic debated, and together, write conclusions.

After the four sessions in May, each group will choose one of the four topics presented in the symposium to present to all symposium participants in July. In June, groups will be welcome to (but not required to) meet independently online to continue making improvements to their written case and prepare for their presentation. The final case of each group will be published in a monograph of the course.

As with all IAP symposia, course materials will be provided in advance to strengthen the debates and discussions. The course will be taught in English. Spanish may be used at times.

*OPTIONAL – PHASE 2: Mentoring Program (August – November 2021)
For details click here