In the first of a series, dive into the realm of superconcepts with Sir Alan Wilson, Director of Research at The London Interdisciplinary School. In his latest article, Sir Alan Wilson delves into the concept of superconcepts—ideas that transcend disciplines, offering boundless applications. Discover how these transformative concepts originated in specific disciplines but have evolved to become indispensable tools for interdisciplinary thinking and practice.

Join Jasmine as she reflects on the relationships and connections she has formed during her time at LIS. These connections, whether between academic disciplines, people within the programme, or one's self, are pivotal aspects of the LIS experience. These connections are fundamental, not just for academic success but also for personal development and your future careers.

Mark, one of our newest master's students writes about his experience so far after his first few weeks of the degree. Mark, a seasoned professional, is learning new methodologies to generate faster, more extensive insights into current moral systems.

We are proud and excited to announce our plan for a strategic collaboration between London Interdisciplinary School (‘LIS’) and EM Lyon business school (‘emlyon’), one of the prestigious French grandes écoles.

We tend to think of the word chaos as general disorder and confusion. Randomness, anarchy, a lack of structure. If you are a fan of Greek mythology (or play the video game Hades), you might know Chaos as a Greek primordial deity. You might have even heard this word used in connection to the famous butterfly effect, the idea that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can somehow influence the formation of weather systems.

Buzzfeed recently published a now deleted article on what AI thinks Barbies would look like from different countries around the world. The results contained extreme forms of representational bias — including colourist and racist depictions, with AI image generators currently gaining huge popularity, it’s important that we are vigilant about the forms of bias that these technologies can fuel.

The university has been subject to internal strife and external pressures throughout its 900-year history. What makes its current troubles distinctive is that they go beyond political ideology and financial security, and straight into a conceptual ambiguity at the heart of the institution since its inception. The ambiguity is neatly epitomized in the noun and verb, ‘discipline’. Resolving this ambiguity is at the heart of the LIS mission.

When I left sixth-form college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I didn’t do well in my A-Levels, further exasperating my hopelessness. After some time, I applied to a University for a Business and Entrepreneurship degree. It was the only course that appealed to me, but I was disappointed when I got there. I remember feeling alone in this big university and not knowing where or how to find places I needed to be.

When I create a high-quality piece of work I can see how it’s something that, with a little more polish, would be able to go out into the real world. I’ve put together my knowledge and experience and methods to create something that is useful to more than an academic, and that means concern for design, form, and intelligibility as well as the quality of ideas present.