Carl Gombrich is a British

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

educator, academic, former

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer and co-founder of the

London Interdisciplinary School The London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) is a private university in Whitechapel, London. LIS was founded in 2017 and was the first new institution in the United Kingdom since the 1960s to hold degree-awarding powers from its opening. The ...

Early life and education

Carl Gombrich was born in 1965, to Dorothea Amanda Friedrich and to renowned British

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

and scholar,

Richard Gombrich Richard Francis Gombrich (; born 17 July 1937) is a British Indologist and scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli, and Buddhist studies. He was the Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 1976 to 2004. He is currently Founder-Preside ...

. He is the grandson of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n-born

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

Ernst Gombrich Sir Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich (; ; 30 March 1909 – 3 November 2001) was an Austrian-born art historian who, after settling in England in 1936, became a naturalised British citizen in 1947 and spent most of his working life in the United Ki ...

. Gombrich has degrees in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Career

Opera

From 2000 to 2001, Gombrich was the Royal Opera House Scholar at the

National Opera Studio The National Opera Studio in London, England was established in 1977 by the Arts Council of Great Britain, Arts Council as a link between the music colleges and the six main UK opera companies. It was resident at Morley College in Lambeth until ...

, where he sang

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. He has performed in various operatic roles, such as Masetto in

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

with the

Garsington Opera Garsington Opera is an annual summer opera festival founded in 1989 by Leonard Ingrams. The Philharmonia Orchestra and The English Concert are its two resident orchestras. For 21 years it was held in the gardens of Ingrams's home at Garsingto ...

, as Gianettino in Fiesque, and as Macduff in

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (; ; July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. Several of his most no ...

's ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' at the

University College Opera University College Opera, or UCOpera, is the student opera company of University College London. The operas are staged by professional singers, directors and designers, with the orchestra, chorus and some singers drawn from the student body. Fou ...

Academic & Program director at University College London

Gombrich joined

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL) in 2002 as a lecturer. The following year, he became a Teaching Fellow in Physics. He then became Principal of the University Preparatory Certificates, directing UCL's international foundation courses, which aid students coming from abroad to gain the skills to study at UK universities. In 2010, Gombrich was appointed Programme Director of UCL Arts and Sciences, leading the design, development and implementation of the degree, which began accepting students in 2012. This program was one of the first of its kind in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to offer a

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

degree. He directed the program until 2019. He was a member of the British Academy Working Group on Interdisciplinarity, led by

David Soskice David William Soskice, FBA (born 6 July 1942) is a British political economist and academic. He is currently the LSE School Professor of Political Science and Economics at the London School of Economics. Early life and education Soskice was b ...

, which in 2016 published a report titled 'Crossing paths: interdisciplinary institutions, careers, education and applications', alongside other notable academics such as Colette Fagan, Tom McLeish, Professor Georgina Born,

Julia Black Dame Julia Mary Black (born 29 January 1967) is the strategic director of innovation and a professor of law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

, Barry C. Smith and Graeme Reid. Gombrich was also a core member of the NVAO accreditation panel for the Liberal Arts and Sciences Colleges of the Netherlands. Gombrich is a regular speaker at events on interdisciplinary and liberals arts and sciences, both in the UK and abroad. Gombrich also writes academic papers on interdisciplinarity and the philosophy of education, as well as music.

Foundation of the London Interdisciplinary School

In 2017, Gombrich founded the London Interdisciplinary School alongside Chris Persson and Ed Fidoe, where he is the Academic Lead and Head of Teaching and Learning. This university aims to provide students with an interdisciplinary, practical education, and admitted its first undergraduate cohort in 2021.

Publications

* ''Expressions of Inexpressible Truths: Attempts at Descriptions of Mystical and Musical Experiences''. The World of Music, 2008. * ''Polymathy, New Generalism, and the Future of Work: A Little Theory and Some Practice from UCL’s Arts and Sciences Degree''. In book: Experiences in Liberal Arts and Science Education from America, Europe, and Asia, pp. 75–89, 2016. * ''What Sort of Interdisciplinary Research Can Undergraduates Do?''. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 2016 * ''Interdisciplinarity and the Student Voice'' In book: The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity (2nd Edition) , 2017 * ''Integrating Sciences and Engineering in the Liberal Arts Curriculum'' In book: Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory, pp. 1–6, 2017 * ''The academic Caesar: university leadership is hard'' Comparative Education, 2017 * ''Academic Blogging in The Digitally Agile Researcher http://www.digitallyagile.com/''. University College London, 2017. * Gombrich, Carl and Navarro, Virginia and Blackmore, Isabelle and Blumberg, Jacopo and Cox, Emily and Hodges-Smikle, Graham and Lin, Jiaqi and Orr, Charles. ''Challenges of interdisciplinary courses containing research-based learning components: Ways to Connect Research and Teaching.'' In book: , pp. 270–274, 2018. * ''Implementing Interdisciplinary Curricula: Some Philosophical and Practical Remarks''. European Review, 2018.

Academic appointments

* Teaching Fellow in Physics at UCL * Professorial Teaching Fellow in Interdisciplinary Education at UCL * Principal Fellow of the

Higher Education Academy Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recogniti ...

Personal life

Gombrich is married and has two children. In interviews, he references his pastimes as singing, reading, and watching

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

References

External links

Gombrich, Carl
on

ResearchGate ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education' ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gombrich, Carl Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the University of London 21st-century British male opera singers Academics of University College London University and college founders Living people British mathematics educators Physics educators British philosophy academics Education writers 21st-century British educators 1965 births