Dean's Message

Welcome to the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS) of Lingnan University.

The School of Interdisciplinary Studies incorporates the university’s various interdisciplinary programs and offers a broad multidisciplinary educational experience. In the various programs, the knowledge, approaches and methods of different disciplines are integrated and synthesized and the faculty and students encouraged to engage in rigorous and innovative intellectual inquiry, not only to reach a deeper and nuanced understanding of a subject matter, but also how their knowledge can better serve the needs of society.   

Building on Lingnan’s rich tradition as a leading liberal arts university in Asia, SIS was established in 2021 to deepen interdisciplinary studies and scholarly collaboration.  We are committed to providing students with opportunities to explore their own interdisciplinary pathway as well as facilitating collaborations across faculties, disciplines and programs.

We live in an era of immense complexity and rapid change. Technological innovations and globalisation have brought unprecedented changes and transformation to the economy, polity, society, indeed in all aspects of human existence -- as well as a myriad of complex challenges that are beyond the scope of single disciplines. Interdisciplinarity is particularly important as it helps us to better understand our complex world.  Interdisciplinary studies allow us to integrate insights across disciplines into a richer and holistic understanding, including providing us tools to more effectively navigate and tackle challenges.

In SIS, we aim to nurture students to develop a forward-looking global vision in various disciplines. The School comprises the Core Curriculum and General Education Office, Science Unit and Wong Bing Lai Music and Performing Arts Unit (WBLMP), which provide a wide range of interdisciplinary and general education courses, activities of different forms, and many other innovative interdisciplinary initiatives.  

SIS currently offers 3 interdisciplinary undergraduate programmes, namely Bachelor of Liberal Arts (Hons) in Global Development and Sustainability (GDS), Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) in Sports Coaching and Event Management (SCEM) and Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) in Public Management and Smart Governance (PMSG). All these programmes have strong interdisciplinary components and combine the niche areas of different faculties at Lingnan. We will continue to support the development of new interdisciplinary programmes and provide students with opportunities to pursue knowledge deriving from the interaction of different subject areas.

Prof. Shalendra SHARMA

Associate Vice-President (Academic Quality Assurance and Internationalisation) and
Dean, School of Interdisciplinary Studies