University and Interdisciplinarity (original) (raw)
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Towards an understanding of interdisciplinarity: The case of a British university
Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies, 2013
This study explores what academics in one major university in Great Britain (The Great Western University 2) perceive interdisciplinary research (IDR) to be, and in doing so, differentiates it from associated concepts, such as multidisciplinary research and transdisciplinary research, found in the research literature. This study is important because the university in which the study is set has undertaken a complete restructuring of colleges and departments to support interdisciplinary research. The inquiry utilized a two-phased, mixed methods, descrip-plinary and interdisciplinary research. The methods of the data collection were semi-structured 1 The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Adam Smith Foundation, University of Glasgow, UK, for the support of this research, and to our anonymous reviewers who through suggestions and encouragement substantially improved this article. 2 Pseudonym.
The paper considers the issues pertaining to interdisciplinary studies with reference to the university system in India.
Towards an understanding of interdisciplinarity: The case of a British Univerity
ISSUES IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES No. 31, pp. 149-173 , 2013
This study explores what academics in one major university in Great Britain perceive interdisciplinary research (IDR) to be, and in doing so, differentiates it from associated concepts, such as multidisciplinary research and transdisciplinary research, found in the research literature. This study is important because the university in which the study is set has undertaken a complete restructuring of colleges and departments to support interdisciplinary research. The inquiry utilized a two-phased, mixed methods, descriptive case study to examine perceptions of the nature, significance, and benefits of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research. The methods of the data collection were semi-structured interview (25 participants), survey (127 participants), and analysis of archival documents. The findings indicate that the restructuring of The Great Western University to support interdisciplinary research began on less than firm footing. While scholars seem to have clarified the definitions of interdisciplinary approaches, in practice there still is a lack of clarity in sectors which are less familiar with interdisciplinary approaches to solving major problems facing society. We identified issues of clarity of terminology and mission, flexibility of implementation, and alignment of faculty incentives as involving necessary but unmet conditions for fostering and promoting interdisciplinarity throughout the university.
The Disciplinarization of Interdisciplinarity
For a long time, it is said, we endured a disciplinary regime. All the knowledge we produced, the story goes, was boxed, limited, demarked by a sectionalist paradigm. Given the restrictive nature of these constructions, there would be no other reasonable position than to fight this tradition and defend the communication between disciplines. Such is the discourse of interdisciplinarity. There seems, however, to be something oddly similar between what interdisciplinarity intends to fight and that which it proposes; as if once again the speech about rupture was not only the perpetuation of the established order, but even its reinforcing. Where and why did interdisciplinary make its appearance?
New Directions in Interdisciplinarity: Broad, Deep, and Critical
Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 2007
Aristotle launched Western knowledge on a trajectory toward disciplinarity that continues to this day. But is the knowledge management project that began with Aristotle adequate for the age of Google? Perhaps an undisciplined discourse more evocative of Plato can help us constitute new, more relevant inter- and transdisciplinary forms of knowledge. This article explores the history of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, arguing for a new, critical form of interdisciplinarity that moves beyond the academy into dialogue with the public and private sectors. Contemporary knowledge production should involve not only a horizontal axis stretching across academia but also a vertical axis where academic research is integrated into contemporary life.
Science and Interdisciplinarity: A Treatise on the Philosophy of Interdisciplinary Research
Volume 6, Issue 1, May, 2022
There is an increasing drive towards interdisciplinarity in all fields of knowledge. The general schema is a necessary and ultimately useful one in generating new ideas and "big picture" conceptualizations of knowledge, yet an impediment to its large-scale adaptation by universities and the Academy is sometimes found within interdisciplinarians themselves. In this manuscript I outline several problems at the core of the "discipline of interdisciplinarity," many of the questionable arguments used by some proponents of the field to justify their identification and determination of what is interdisciplinary, outline numerous examples of historical interdisciplinarity, and finally propose a New Argument that seeks to encompass all fields of researchdisciplinary or otherwisein a generalized fashion. The New Argument summarized is that if human endeavours are analysable into disciplines, then so too are disciplines into their fundamental components. Observing the parallels between disciplines, they are: 1) the subject, 2) the measure, 3) the method, and 4) the cause. The work draws heavily upon Aristotle, and hopes to clarify the muddied waters of interdisciplinarian debate.
The Theoretical Foundations and Historical Development of Interdisciplinarity
Advances in Knowledge Acquisition, Transfer, and Management
The concept of interdisciplinarity has a long history but interpretations of this term and the importance of interdisciplinarity in research and education have varied over time. This chapter traces the theoretical understanding and historical development of interdisciplinarity to provide background and context for the book. First it examines the ways in which interdisciplinarity and similar phenomena have been conceptualized in the literature. A roughly chronological account of the main theoretical and empirical developments in interdisciplinarity is then set out, divided into three main periods dating from the early 20 th century to the present day.
Weingart, Peter and Nico Stehr (eds)., PRACTISING INTERDISCIPLINARITY
2000
Academic disciplines provide a framework for the transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next. Not only do they shape our education and understanding, they structure our professional lives. Interdisciplinarity, the reconfiguration of academic disciplines and the boundaries between them, has lately become a field of major interest to scholars and policy-makers. This collection brings together the latest research and analysis from this emerging field. The editors take as their central thesis the idea that the existing matrix of disciplines is dissolving, leading to fundamental changes in the traditional order of knowledge. Contributors to the volume include specialists from Canada, Australia, Europe, and the United States who focus on the actual practice of interdisciplinarity: the ways in which it is researched, organized, and taught in institutes and universities around the world. The role of funding bodies is also considered, revealing the relationship and the delineation of disciplines and their resource bases. Together, the essays offer first-hand insights into the operations and successes of some of the world's foremost interdisciplinary research centres. In acquainting us with the current state of interdisciplinary research the volume also considers the social and economic contexts that make such research possible.