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You make the point that much of science and technology in the future will require arts graduates to capitalise on these advancements by communicating the outcomes . Can you discuss this a bit more ? The World Economic Forum study flagged that half of us will need to reskill in the next five years due to what they call the double disruption of the economic impact of the pandemic , and also increasing automation transforming jobs . And that really leads to your question . So the Swinburne next-gen Bachelor of Arts is really about bringing humans and technology together for a better world . And it ’ s pretty obvious , really , that science and technology don ’ t exist in the void of their human makers and users .
Technology is about people as much as it is about things . Technology really belongs , I think , as much to the humanities and social sciences as it does to the natural sciences . I don ’ t think we should imagine artificial intelligence , for example , which is not yet at a point where it can really carefully determine its own ethics and models .
The other example that might be worth considering is that self-driving cars are yet to demonstrate how they value one life over another . That ’ s just a couple of examples of where you can ’ t separate technology from humans . And one of the areas we talk a lot about is ethics and human rights and social justice , where people who develop the technologies will shape our future , and without a really good understanding they could make some terribly poor decisions .
In the current COVID situation , it ’ s through scientific breakthrough that we ’ ve been able to create vaccines . But getting people to actually take the jab requires a really solid understanding of human behaviour and motivation .
Swinburne ’ s new arts degree is built around themes , not disciplines . Why is that ? It ’ s a fresh approach and one that really suits life at Swinburne University of Technology , which is edgy . It ’ s small . Students can get a really good learning experience in that context . We also have a really engaged community . Our students and our staff are motivated , I think , and interested in changing the world around them for the better . And looking at the world through a multi-disciplinary perspective gets us a better picture of that world and how to act within it . So one way of thinking about this is that problems of the world are not organised according to academic disciplines .
I can paraphrase one of my colleagues , Professor Ruth Abbey , the chair of the humanities and social sciences at Swinburne , who says it in this way . “ The BA used to be the place to go when you weren ’ t sure what you wanted from the future . Now the BA is the place to go if you ’ re not sure what the future wants from you .”
I think that ’ s such a good way of describing a lot of uncertainty about where we ’ re going , but equally , I think opportunities about the kinds of jobs that we will have in the future . Of course , we actually don ’ t know what many of them they are yet . So the way that we ’ ve come at this new degree is to really put confidence , to put employability at the core , to support students to get jobs and to be part of that future , where they will be able to have that confidence and the voice to be a part of change .
And it links back to the value of having those critical thinking skills , good communication skills , and to be able to ask questions that are needed around , ‘ how can we build a good world ?’ and how can they be part of creating these new jobs of the future ?
I think the idea is of students being able to insert themselves into these conversations and situations and providing those skills and knowledges . So what we ’ ve come up with are a series of interdisciplinary majors , where we are saying that you can take a scene , you can take an issue like climate and social justice , and you will look at that through the lens of various disciplines . So we ’ re not actually doing away with or undervaluing traditional disciplines in any way . We ’ re retaining units in sociology , philosophy , history , et cetera , but rearranging them in the way that we offer knowledge and learning that helps students really engage with some of society ’ s big issues . And I ’ m really excited about this . I think it ’ s a very interesting future-looking way of organising your thinking .
Workplace experience is integral to Swinburne ’ s new arts degree . Do you think this will change the perception that an arts degree is purely an academic pursuit ? Do we actually think that students go through a university degree without
Technology really belongs as much to the humanities and social sciences as it does to the natural sciences .
having the aim of getting a job at the other end ? So although it is novel , I actually don ’ t think it should be a novel concept . Workplace experiences and focus on employability is just a core part of what we do .
I would say that all our graduates want to get a job that provides them with the opportunity to grow and support themselves and to build a good life for themselves . But equally , I would also say that studying is really good for you in the sense that there ’ s clearly a value of studying . I mean , the value of studying itself where it can contribute to greater life satisfaction , health and better citizenship . And the beauty of the way we ’ ve done the new Bachelor of Arts at Swinburne is that you don ’ t have to choose one over the other .
So it ’ s work experience , employability , opportunities to work with community organisations , MGOs , civil society industries , anything that we might think sitting outside the university environment is embedded all through the degree , but it ’ s also a compulsory part of the degree . And I guess perhaps that ’ s what we can see as novel .
I think many arts degrees at other universities also focus on work integrated learning and employability , but they don ’ t necessarily put their focus specifically on that , whereas that ’ s what we do at Swinburne . In addition to work on industry and community based projects , we ’ re going to focus a lot on students learning to articulate their skills and experiences . And I think that ’ s particularly important because so many of the jobs of the future don ’ t exist yet .
The students need to be able to really be part of creating those jobs . And in my mind , that includes having strong communication skills about what skills they have and what capabilities they have , so they can tell their own stories to future employers . ■
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