Scientists-cum-philosophers for companies and the digital economy – a new programme offered by the universities of Bergamo and Pavia
Here they are, philosophers about to enter the corporate world and tackle issues related to the economy, innovation and productivity, environmental and social sustainability, technological evolution and the quality of life and work. Collaborating with engineers and mathematicians, financial managers and cyber technicians, so as to best put to work all polytechnic knowledge tools required by the digital economy. “Philosophical knowledge: foundations, methods, applications” – this is the title of the Master’s programme launched in recent weeks by the universities in Bergamo and Pavia, in collaboration with IUSS (University School for Advanced Studies Pavia). It’s the first programme in Italy taught entirely in English, coordinated by professor Andrea Bottani and designed to establish a dialogue between the humanities and scientific and technological subjects, and therefore open up the market to professionals able to deal with the issues that will emerge as the “knowledge economy” evolves (Corriere della Sera, 12 July).
“We are witnessing increasingly complex phenomena. And this new programme we offer represents the opportunity to pool together different disciplinary cores and train people capable of meeting the new challenges that will arise”, asserts Sergio Cavalieri, Dean of the University of Bergamo. “We want to create a structural bond between philosophical thinking and its application to technological, economic and social challenges”, explains Francesco Svelvo, Dean of the University of Pavia.
An educational decision that goes beyond the traditional juxtaposition of “two cultures” – humanities and sciences – that has marked many debates throughout the 20th century (seriously undermining, especially in Italy, the importance and values of a scientific culture: a situation that persists, with negative consequences on the country’s public opinion and competitiveness, too) and that sets us on the right path, one along which training and study programmes and changes in the employment market can be fostered.
A decision that basically entails an open-minded and a dynamic take on philosophy and knowledge, and brings to mind William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Or, the wide world of science, as well as a world encompassing economy, environment, new employment roles and high-tech progress.
What will this new “Philosophic knowledge” programme in Bergamo and Pavia will teach then? Metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, ethics, philosophy of science, of mathematics, of logics and of the mind, as well as robotics, Artificial Intelligence, neurosciences, economy and business management. Moreover, the two universities’ professors will be flanked by guest lecturers from the universities of Cambridge, Freiburg, Zurich and New York’s Columbia University. “European dimension, international target”, comments Bottani, the programme’s coordinator. Including, thanks to the collaboration with Confindustria Bergamo and a number of research labs with links to the employment market, an intense collaboration with the corporate world – another bonus feature.
For quite some time now, in Italy, cutting-edge teaching and research institutions, such as the Polytechnic Universities of Milan and of Turin, have properly integrated philosophy and other humanities disciplines in their programmes of study, resulting in a highly effective multidisciplinary approach. And a similar attitude also informs the teaching and learning decisions of the Humanitas University in Milan, which trains medical doctors-cum-engineers, thus fulfilling and enhancing our increasing need for integrated knowledge.
Italy, indeed, brings its own original view to a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum by amending it into STEAM, i.e. adding the ‘A’ of ‘Arts’ – the humanities – to the acronym. This is something that, for instance, entrepreneurial association Assolombarda, with president Gianfelice Rocca, had already worked on about ten years ago, and which continued to inspire the debate on the quality of an education geared towards the entrepreneurial world and the evolution of the economy and technologies.
It’s an extremely topical question – who plans, leads and defines the governance of processes related to development in Artificial Intelligence? Who manages its complexities, so as to guarantee the continued supremacy of human beings? Who writes and updates its algorithms (as also mentioned in our blog post from 27 June)? Not only engineers and mathematicians, but also philosophers, cyber scientists, neuropsychologists, economics, sociologists, jurists and people of letters.
All bringing different skills and knowledge, diverse perspectives for the future that must be nurtured especially through crossbreeding and collaborations, because algorithms should take into consideration multiple meanings, different shades of sense, ethical and social themes, policies and implications of rights and duties. Human hands must handle artificial intelligence, with a full human awareness concerning limits, as well as an ambition to move forward, in order to create a “clear night for science”, to paraphrase Bertolt Brecht‘s Life of Galileo – and now, such a “clear night” can be glimpsed from Bergamo and Pavia, too.
(photo Getty Images)
Here they are, philosophers about to enter the corporate world and tackle issues related to the economy, innovation and productivity, environmental and social sustainability, technological evolution and the quality of life and work. Collaborating with engineers and mathematicians, financial managers and cyber technicians, so as to best put to work all polytechnic knowledge tools required by the digital economy. “Philosophical knowledge: foundations, methods, applications” – this is the title of the Master’s programme launched in recent weeks by the universities in Bergamo and Pavia, in collaboration with IUSS (University School for Advanced Studies Pavia). It’s the first programme in Italy taught entirely in English, coordinated by professor Andrea Bottani and designed to establish a dialogue between the humanities and scientific and technological subjects, and therefore open up the market to professionals able to deal with the issues that will emerge as the “knowledge economy” evolves (Corriere della Sera, 12 July).
“We are witnessing increasingly complex phenomena. And this new programme we offer represents the opportunity to pool together different disciplinary cores and train people capable of meeting the new challenges that will arise”, asserts Sergio Cavalieri, Dean of the University of Bergamo. “We want to create a structural bond between philosophical thinking and its application to technological, economic and social challenges”, explains Francesco Svelvo, Dean of the University of Pavia.
An educational decision that goes beyond the traditional juxtaposition of “two cultures” – humanities and sciences – that has marked many debates throughout the 20th century (seriously undermining, especially in Italy, the importance and values of a scientific culture: a situation that persists, with negative consequences on the country’s public opinion and competitiveness, too) and that sets us on the right path, one along which training and study programmes and changes in the employment market can be fostered.
A decision that basically entails an open-minded and a dynamic take on philosophy and knowledge, and brings to mind William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Or, the wide world of science, as well as a world encompassing economy, environment, new employment roles and high-tech progress.
What will this new “Philosophic knowledge” programme in Bergamo and Pavia will teach then? Metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, ethics, philosophy of science, of mathematics, of logics and of the mind, as well as robotics, Artificial Intelligence, neurosciences, economy and business management. Moreover, the two universities’ professors will be flanked by guest lecturers from the universities of Cambridge, Freiburg, Zurich and New York’s Columbia University. “European dimension, international target”, comments Bottani, the programme’s coordinator. Including, thanks to the collaboration with Confindustria Bergamo and a number of research labs with links to the employment market, an intense collaboration with the corporate world – another bonus feature.
For quite some time now, in Italy, cutting-edge teaching and research institutions, such as the Polytechnic Universities of Milan and of Turin, have properly integrated philosophy and other humanities disciplines in their programmes of study, resulting in a highly effective multidisciplinary approach. And a similar attitude also informs the teaching and learning decisions of the Humanitas University in Milan, which trains medical doctors-cum-engineers, thus fulfilling and enhancing our increasing need for integrated knowledge.
Italy, indeed, brings its own original view to a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum by amending it into STEAM, i.e. adding the ‘A’ of ‘Arts’ – the humanities – to the acronym. This is something that, for instance, entrepreneurial association Assolombarda, with president Gianfelice Rocca, had already worked on about ten years ago, and which continued to inspire the debate on the quality of an education geared towards the entrepreneurial world and the evolution of the economy and technologies.
It’s an extremely topical question – who plans, leads and defines the governance of processes related to development in Artificial Intelligence? Who manages its complexities, so as to guarantee the continued supremacy of human beings? Who writes and updates its algorithms (as also mentioned in our blog post from 27 June)? Not only engineers and mathematicians, but also philosophers, cyber scientists, neuropsychologists, economics, sociologists, jurists and people of letters.
All bringing different skills and knowledge, diverse perspectives for the future that must be nurtured especially through crossbreeding and collaborations, because algorithms should take into consideration multiple meanings, different shades of sense, ethical and social themes, policies and implications of rights and duties. Human hands must handle artificial intelligence, with a full human awareness concerning limits, as well as an ambition to move forward, in order to create a “clear night for science”, to paraphrase Bertolt Brecht‘s Life of Galileo – and now, such a “clear night” can be glimpsed from Bergamo and Pavia, too.
(photo Getty Images)