About the Academy

The Virginia Tech Academy of Transdisciplinary Studies (ATS) fosters teaching, research, and service activities that aim to solve complex problems that challenge the boundaries of traditional disciplines.

The prefix trans denotes that transdisciplinary approaches are concerned with issues that are at the same time between disciplines, across different disciplines, and beyond disciplinary definitions.

A transdisciplinary approach does not cancel or replace individual disciplines, as it needs them to develop solutions for complex problems. Additionally, transdisciplinarity is not in conflict with multidisciplinarity or interdisciplinarity, as they all come from knowledge-seeking inquiry.

What the ATS is

• An incubator for transdisciplinary curricular offerings and research ideas
  
• A connector from CLAHS units to university institutes, centers, and other colleges
• A hub of administrative support for the development, management, and update of transdisciplinary initiatives
• A partner for experiential learning opportunities involving diverse VT units and the community outside the university
• A facilitator of interdisciplinary collaboration and teaching within CLAHS and across Virginia Tech.