[in pursuit of transdisciplinarity]

This interesting paper by Jeffery Sehume came to me thanks to an e-mail from Basarab Nicolescu.

The whole paper is worth a read but this paragraph particularly resounds with me, perhaps also because it parallels the thinking of transliteracy (the use of "trans"):

"Transdisciplinarity emphasises the interconnectedness of knowledge branches in improving the human  condition. This approach – symbolised by the prefix ‘trans’ as distinct from ‘multi’ or ‘inter’  – looks beyond,  across, and within knowledge bases or disciplines. It encourages the synthesis of learning experiences, involving  actors in academia, government, industry, civil society. Transdisciplinarity argues that traditional or mainstream attempts to address problems and crises in the world have proven inadequate. Instead, what is required is an  approach that recognises that knowledge creation is complex and more so for us in South Africa as a nascent nation. There are many layers of reality we have to account for – historical, contemporaneous and longitudinal."