Rinne, Jauhiainen and Plamper (2015) noted that university similar to church is one of the oldest institutions passing and preserving cultural heritage. In addition, universities are active societal contributors and influential communal contingences also in our contemporary society. However, recently increasing number of these traditional and historical functions of universities have become hijacked by neoliberal practices and values (e.g. Biesta, 2011, Cannella & Lincoln, 2015, Davies & Hansel, 2010,  Koro-Ljungberg & Löytönen, 2016, Peters, 2010).

In this current neoliberal climate, many universities are decreasing humanities and non-industry related courses. However, Aalto University, in Helsinki, Finland, is engaging in broad university initiatives that bring art education closer to all students. These initiatives include University-Wide Art Studies (UWAS) that offers access to art-based thinking for every discipline through field-neutral courses on creativity and culture, and Co-Creating and Sharing Transdisciplinary Artworks that includes developing exhibition spaces and art events across Aalto campus as forums and platforms for transdisciplinary thinking and experience. These initiatives not only make art and art education more accessible to students and faculty across the university, but they also contribute to the task of rethinking disciplinary boundaries and societal function of higher education (see e.g. Kreber, 2009, Trowler, 2014, Trowler, Saunders & Bamber, 2012).

In this proposed paper presentation, we discuss the history, development, and implementation of these initiatives in Aalto University as well as locate them to the social, political, and economic milieu of higher education today. Firstly, we provide specific examples of how art education in higher education can function at the limits of disciplines, offering an opportunity for thinking and activities that might not (yet) be possible within the traditions of the dominant disciplines. We also discuss how these initiatives can encourage transdisciplinary experimentation and exploration of new arts-based methods and methodologies. Lastly, in order for arts-based interventions to remain critical and self-reflexive, we advocate for a dialogical approach, where our present understanding of art and design is problematized and transformed by other disciplines. This critical self-reflection is crucial especially today when art and design are increasingly utilized in rebranding, not rethinking, neoliberal academic institutions (see e.g. Aranda, Woods & Vidokle, 2011).

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