Disentangling the different layers of interdisciplinarity

Abstract

Interdisciplinarity for complex problem solving is a rising phenomenon. Each self-respecting university is trying to realise different programmes and approaches to interdisciplinary teaching and research. The debate on what interdisciplinarity is, how it may work as a substantial part of a university, which barriers are encountered to realising interdisciplinary teaching and research and what the added value is, is addressed in this paper from a social science perspective. Based on the attendance of a conference at the Volkswagenstiftung organised by the Humboldt University of Berlin, different scholarly viewpoints and examples are explored on Interdisciplinary teaching and (researching). Collaborations across the at-times-fragmented subfields of research and education ultimately yield insightful, informative, and even educational experience that creates space for mutual understanding and new ways of thinking about seemingly-established approaches to knowledge-building and communication.

Digital humanities: Mission accomplished? An analysis of scholarly literature

“…The disciplinary status of DH has always been the object of lively debate, giving rise to a host of specific terms, such as ‘interdiscipline’ or ‘postdiscipline’, on the meanings of which not all the proposers agree. Compare, for example, the positions expressed by McCarty (1999) and Burnard (1999) to the recent analyses by Darbellay (2019) and Klaassen (2020). The launch of official curricula in DH contributes to corroborating the position, shared by many, that DH is rightfully an established discipline.…”

“…Years later, in a thorough examination of its implied meanings, McCarty (2016) defined interdisciplinarity as an ‘abstraction’, saying that much more energy has been spent to decide what it is (‘a Glasperlenspiel ’, in his view) than to investigate the how ; that is, how the DH discipline—and the DH scholar—can really become interdisciplinary. Contrary to the view of Klaassen (2020), to whom interdisciplinarity is basically ‘the ability to listen to one another, [and the] willingness to learn from one another’, in the eyes of McCarty, it is something that should be earned individually by the scholar. Klaassen's basic definition entails that the humanities have an essential role in the provision of communication ‘that is key to capturing knowledge production and the dissemination of insights towards relevant fields’.…”

Science communication as interdisciplinary training

“…Interdisciplinarity is increasingly considered a vital skill set for future researchers, managers, and decision makers, and in turn, as an important employability marker [Lyall et al, 2015]. 3 Although there is still debate over what interdisciplinarity is and how it can be taught at university [Klaassen, 2020] there is a broad consensus that universities should do more to foster it [Lyall et al, 2015;Power & Handley, 2019]. To prepare graduates for future challenges, universities are scrambling to develop interdisciplinary competencies in their students [e.g.…”

“…Thought leaders in fostering interdisciplinarity recommend creating an environment to encourage the organic development of interdisciplinary thinking and awareness. They stress the significance of 'serendipitous encounters' for bridging epistemological divides, or opportunities for individuals from different disciplines to interact and share perspectives in natural unforced settings such as common meeting spaces [Klaassen, 2020]. Discussions and group work in SC courses involving students from different disciplines, or with different viewpoints, represent a valuable opportunity to encourage such serendipitous encounters.…”

Role of Socio-economic Indicators in Development and Education

“…Interdisciplinarity has been pursued by early pedagogists and it is still being introduced in the curricula of modern countries, both at the advanced and elementary level (Må rdm 2021). A recent article discusses how learning, research and interaction promote social capital and new interdisciplinary disciplines (Klaassen 2020). A new educational approach was recently advocated that includes concepts of economy, sociology, development ethics and the historical evolution of cultures (Ciferri and Soldi 2021).…”