"Universities and organizations that fund research are increasingly interested in interdisciplinary topics". This was stated at the University of Navarra by Amy Jo Coffey, professor at the University of Florida (USA). The expert, who is at the campus in Pamplona as a visiting researcher at the Center for Internet Studies and Digital Life of the School of Communication, has offered a lecture at the Institute for Culture and Society.

Amy Jo Coffey pointed out that this way of working "is essential to solve the world's complex problems, because most problems are not just one discipline" and that it is an increasingly valued trend. "It is not only something of the future, but also of the present," she emphasized.

He recognizes that this subject of research costs more effort because "staying in our own corner is more comfortable", but emphasizes that this attitude does not allow "solving new things". In addition, he has admitted that it also costs more time because each field has very different routines and methods, and even a different language. "Each discipline has its own words; it took me about four months to adapt to the engineers' language ," he said.

As he explained, despite these difficulties, it is worthwhile to develop interdisciplinary research because it allows the same topic to be approached from different perspectives and knowledge.

partnership between different fields of knowledge

As an example, he mentioned the lack of information in some countries about the need to wash hands to improve public health. "We need to link the medical data with effective communication so that people can overcome mental or cultural obstacles," he said. For this, he mentioned that experts from both fields, medicine and communication, are needed.

He also recalled a partnership between a team of doctors and computer engineers that made it possible to know how the flu was going to spread that year. "To do this, they compared the different searches that had been made on the Internet that coincided with the symptoms of the disease," he added.

Along these lines, he alluded to a very positive experience staff working in an interdisciplinary team with engineers. His project consisted of designing a virtual reality place that simulated a country, with its culture, architecture, design, character... This recreation prepared users for differences in behavior and increased their intercultural sensitivity.

He noted that it was aimed at military professionals and government workers who, before traveling, want to understand the culture and values of the people of the destination they are going to. "This finding teaches that it is a very useful way to learn and teach," he said.