From STEM to STEAM? Exploring the connections between Arts and Sciences

This study explores the interconnections between Arts and Sciences. It uses two different analytical approaches: first, it explores the Arts-Sciences connections by analysing the disciplinary assignment of journals in the WoS database; second, it investigates knowledge flows between Arts and Sciences at two levels of aggregation (scientific fields and disciplines) in 2000-2021. The results suggest a growing, albeit small trend towards Arts-Sciences interdisciplinarity and demonstrate that Art and Sciences increasingly rely on each other in the process of new knowledge creation. The analysis also reveals a number of specific reciprocal links between particular Arts and Sciences disciplines (e.g. between Music and Medical Sciences or Visual Arts and Engineering & Technology).