Allen F. Repko - Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies

Second Edition

To my wife, children, and grandchildren

The greatest force in the world is an idea whose time has come.

Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies

Second Edition

• Allen F. Repko
• University of Texas at Arlington (Retired)
• Rick Szostak
• University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
• Michelle Phillips Buchberger
• Miami University

FOR INFORMATION:

SAGE Publications, Inc.

2455 Teller Road

Thousand Oaks, California 91320

E-mail: order@sagepub.com

SAGE Publications Ltd.

1 Olivers Yard

55 City Road

London, EC1Y 1SP

United Kingdom

SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd.

B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area

Mathura Road, New Delhi 110 044

India

SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd.

3 Church Street

#1004 Samsung Hub

Singapore 049483

Copyright 2017 by SAGE Publications, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Repko, Allen F. | Szostak, Rick, 1959- author. | Buchberger, Michelle Phillips, author.

Title: Introduction to interdisciplinary studies / Allen F. Repko, University of Texas at Arlington (retired), Rick Szostak, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, Michelle Phillips Buchberger, Miami University.

Description: Second edition. | Los Angeles : Sage, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016023303 | ISBN 9781506346892 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Interdisciplinary approach to knowledge. | Social sciences.

Classification: LCC Q180.55.I48 R473 2017 | DDC 300dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023303

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Acquisitions Editor: Helen Salmon

Editorial Assistant: Chelsea Pearson

eLearning Editor: John Scappini

Production Editor: Bennie Clark Allen

Copy Editor: Diane Wainwright

Typesetter: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd.

Proofreader: Wendy Jo Dymond

Indexer: Jean Casalegno

Cover Designer: Michelle Kenny

Marketing Manager: Susannah Goldes

The purpose of this book is to provide instructors and students in entry-level interdisciplinary courses and thematic programs with a comprehensive introduction to interdisciplinary studies. This book introduces students to the cognitive process that interdisciplinarians use to approach complex problems and eventually arrive at more comprehensive understandings of them. Put another way, students in these courses will learn to think like interdisciplinarians. By the end of an introductory course in which this book is used, students should be able to differentiate between disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to learning and research, follow and critique interdisciplinary arguments, understand interdisciplinary process, and assess the quality of their own work.

Interdisciplinary courses and programs continue to proliferate in higher education, even during the current economic retrenchment. Bestcolleges.com, a website that ranks various university programs, had this to say about interdisciplinary studies in 2016:

Interest in integrative studies programs has risen as academics, organizations and students recognize the value of engaging in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary learning. These types of degrees equip students with a wide-range of knowledge as well as the critical and analytical skills needed to be successful in the workforce.

Rather than focusing on a single discipline, students can tailor their studies to their academic interests and professional goals. The result is an integrative learning experience that leads to personal fulfillment, a greater awareness of social responsibility and a thoughtful approach to modern issues. (Bestcolleges.com, paras. 1, 2)

This growing interest in interdisciplinary studies is reflected in the development of new programs. For example, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania established the Department of Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Studies in 2007. Franklin University created explicitly interdisciplinary core courses for its new interdisciplinary studies program in 2009. The next year, Southern Utah University announced that it was making interdisciplinarity and a first-year interdisciplinary course the centerpiece of its redefined mission as a public liberal arts and sciences institution. In 2011, Seattle University took an existing Liberal Studies program and overhauled the curriculum to become Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies. This involved adding three new required foundational courses for a total of five, which were phased in from 20112012. In Australia, the University of Melbourne is intensifying its undergraduate emphasis on interdisciplinary learning and research, believing that its graduates should be knowledgeable across disciplines and graduate with the ability to examine critically, synthesize and evaluate knowledge across a broad range of disciplines. As evidence of its commitment, it has added two theme-based courses that are explicitly interdisciplinary (Golding, 2009, p.1).

The number of interdisciplinary undergraduate programs such as global studies, environmental studies, and human ecology has more than doubled over the past 3 decadesfrom fewer than a thousand programs in 1975 to more than 2,200 in 2000 (Brint, Turk-Bicakci, Proctor, & Murphy, 2009). More than 30,000 baccalaureate degrees in interdisciplinary-oriented programs were awarded in 2005, an increase of 70% from the previous decade (National Center for Education Statistics, 2007).

Entry-level courses in interdisciplinary studies and thematic programs that include interdisciplinarity as one of their foci have undergone significant changes in recent years in terms of content coverage, orientation, and teaching practice. Unlike a traditional discipline such as sociology, which has long had a recognized core of knowledge that is common to almost all introductory courses and textbooks, the field of interdisciplinary studies is just developing consensus about the principles (i.e., concepts, theories, or method) of the field. This emerging consensus is reflected, for example, in Repko and Szostaks (2016) Interdisciplinary Research: Process and Theory (3rd ed.).