Abstract

The article deals with the evolving features and development trends of universities in the 21st century. They are described as characterized by institutional complexity, since they come to terms with the multiple, often conflicting roles and aims of education and training, often reflecting contradictory attitudes, both conservatory and critical - which seems to point out the growing need for interdisciplinary perspectives. The concept of interdisciplinarity is then teased out and explained, by contrasting it with related concepts involving a plurality of disciplines. The key function of interdisciplinarity as related to new, strategic roles of universities in the global knowledge economy is then underlined, considering implications linked to the ‘post-media’ network age and the systems theory, involving a perspective of shared knowledge as ‘fuzzy’ and ‘fluid’. The consequences for teaching and research from an interdisciplinary perspective are then enlarged upon, as related to disciplinary areas and clusters. Some reflections are finally made, about the desirable role of the University of the future as an open, value-generating net of interwoven communities of learning