Teaching Beyond Boundaries: Reflections on AI, Multidisciplinarity, and Institutional Change in Higher Education

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered major shifts in higher education, especially in the content, organizational structures, and methodological approaches of multidisciplinary programs. This study examines how scholarly discourse on multidisciplinary higher education evolved between the pre-pandemic (2015–2020) and post-pandemic (2020–2025) periods. Using a two-phase thematic content analysis — first inductive (100 peer-reviewed articles) and then deductive (33 targeted articles) — the study identifies key transformations in the field.The results show that barriers related to disciplinary dominance, institutional rigidity, career identity uncertainty, technological access, and student motivation have converged into a more coherent and integrated obstacle system. This homogenization offers new possibilities for targeted institutional and pedagogical interventions — but also raises urgent questions about how universities will adapt to the next wave of systemic change, including AI-driven educational technologies and sustainability-driven curricular transformation.The study contributes to the methodological foundations of research on multidisciplinary education and provides a framework for future collaborative reflection and innovation.