interdisciplinary

by Kenneth Rudich

What does interdisciplinary studies actually mean, why have these programs become so pervasive in academia, and what is their connection to the real world?
 
Academic programs constructed around the concept of interdisciplinary studies have recently gained considerable traction in higher education.  Nor does the trend end there.  Similarly new and equally afoot are terms like multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies, with each striving to carve out a niche in its own right.  All three appear poised to have a substantial impact on what we study, how we learn, and how we work.
 
This does not mean to suggest the age-old practice of engaging in disciplinary
studies will go away anytime soon, however.  To be sure, it almost certainly
never will.  Instead, it will remain intact and continue to function much as it
always has, right alongside these newer approaches.  The underlying expectation
is that each form of academic inquiry will make its own unique contribution
to our overall understanding of, and knowledge about, the contemporary world
in which we live.   

what’s the difference between disciplinary and interdisciplinary?

A discipline focuses on burrowing deeper and deeper into a specific area of
study, ever trying to extract more information about it, usually while paying
little attention to its relationship with anything else.  Like snowflakes, no two
disciplines are exactly alike in design.  Each represents a small fragment
of the bigger reality that surrounds it.  The goal is to develop a large degree
of expertise about a very very small area of specialization.
 
Harvard Professor Howard Gardner couches it this way: “…disciplines are separate
for a reason; traditionally, at least, one did not need the same skills to study
physics that he or she needed to study biology, for example, because the two
disciplines were geared to ask and answer different questions, and used
different methods.”
 
As one enters the realm of interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and
transdisciplinary studies, almost the exact opposite occurs.  In this case, the
goal is to actively seek out and explore interrelationships among the
disciplines as a way of better understanding the world-at-large .  This trend,
reports Robert M. Diamond, President of The National Academy for Academic
Leadership, responds to the desirability for “integrating knowledge:
synthesizing and reintegrating knowledge, revealing new patterns of meaning and
new relationships between the parts and the whole.”  Emeritus professor James
Brian Quinn characterizes it as “previously unassociated matrices of thought.”
 
Though there are some distinctions that differentiate interdisciplinary,
multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary from one another, all three share the
same objective of forging meaningful links across the disciplines, to discover
insights that otherwise might not — or probably would not –  get noticed.  They
collectively represent a significant shift from the detached thinking of
disciplinary studies to the connectedness of interdisciplinary studies.    

the why of interdisciplinary studies

 As the world marches forward into the 21st century, it faces the reality of
having to wrestle with challenges that have gone from being difficult to
downright complex and intellectually demanding.  Variously described as
multi-dimensional, non-linear, unscripted, or non-routine, these challenges
will impose themselves upon us, and they themselves will be imposing.   

Take, for instance, the present-day embodiment of the sustainability movement.
Arizona State University President Michael Crow defines sustainability as “the
intersection of environmental, economic and societal stewardship.”  The
aspiration is to create a scenario in which these three become jointly
compatible, as opposed to one doing well at the expense of another.    

Achieving true sustainability, on a global scale, will require a comprehensive
effort to reverse an already wayward progression on many fronts.  No one
area of expertise alone can possibly encompass it all.  One idea, for example,
is to stop depleting the earth of natural resources by trading the insidious effects
of extractive technologies for the kinder, gentler touch of renewable technologies.
You may recognize it as “going green.”  Sustainability expert John
Crittenden describes this challenge in even broader terms.  He advocates
the “development of technologies that are ecologically sound, economically
viable, socially just and humane.” 

The mosaic-like complexity of dilemmas such as this illustrate exactly why
interdisciplinary studies have become so prevalent in recent years: because
they provide a method for integrating diverse perspectives that otherwise tend
to stand in isolation from each other.    

Many universities have developed interdisciplinary programs expressly
for this purpose — to give experts from different disciplines a central place for
collaborating on commonly held goals.  The hope is to cover all the angles and
intricacies associated with a given challenge, and thereby take into account the
full sweep of implications that come with any given action or response.  Professor
Helga Nowotny notes, “If joint problem solving is the aim, then the means must
provide for an integration of perspectives in the identification, formulation and
resolution of what has become a shared problem.”  As Professor Francois Tadda
points out, “No discipline knows more than all disciplines.”     

how well has it been working so far? 

In part 2, I’ll share how these concepts have been embraced in both the academic
world and the real world.  You might be surprised by the influence they have already
had on indviduals and organizations alike.