Welcome To the Graduate College

The Graduate College was created to be a community of scholars united in pursuit of a common vision. That vision is based on three foundational themes: to connect, enrich, and energize the communities that it serves. These communities include the city of Calgary, the University of Calgary, and the College's community of Scholars. As you have likely already heard, the Graduate College is also becoming the academic and community home for transdisciplinary graduate programs, which means that the College will be expanding to serve the community of transdisciplinary scholars as well.

There are multiple perspectives on transdisciplinarity, but the University of Calgary uses the definition developed by the Calgary Institute for the Humanities:

Transdisciplinary scholarship is directed towards a complex issue or problem, most often one with a social dimension. Because of the complexity of the issue or problem, it is best addressed by teams of researchers from multiple disciplines. To address the social dimension of the question, transdisciplinary scholarship incorporates knowledges from outside the university, through theoretical or creative approaches to societal issues, and ideally by including societal actors who are implicated in the issue or problem in question. (Ellis, Dolata & Aydemir-Kundacki, 2024)

At the Graduate College, we recognize that your program of study may focus on a very singular discipline. Joining the College may be the first time you're thinking about how to connect with scholars outside your department or faculty. You may be ready to explore a multidisciplinary space, drawing on knowledge from other disciplines but maintaining your disciplinary boundaries; you may be considering interdisciplinarity where different disciplines are linked and harmonized into a coherent understanding; or you may be transdisciplinary, integrating disciplines to transcend into something new (Choi & Pak, 2006). Everyone interested in bringing together communities and disciplines is welcome.