Creating Interdisciplinary Campus Cultures

Praise for Creating Interdisciplinary Campus Cultures "Klein's analysis shows convincingly that from research in the sciences to new graduate-level programs and departments, to new designs for general education, interdisciplinarity is now prevalent throughout American colleges and universities. . . . Klein documents trends, traces historical patterns and precedents, and provides practical advice. Going directly to the heart of our institutional realities, she focuses attention on some of the more challenging aspects of bringing together ambitious goals for interdisciplinary vitality with institutional, budgetary, and governance systems. A singular strength of this book, then, is the practical advice it provides about such nitty-gritty issues as program review, faculty development, tenure and promotion, hiring, and the political economy of interdisciplinarity. . . . We know that readers everywhere will find [this book] simultaneously richly illuminating and intensively useful." from the foreword by Carol Geary Schneider, president, Association of American Colleges and Universities "Klein reveals how universities can move beyond glib rhetoric about being interdisciplinary toward pervasive full interdisciplinarity. Institutions that heed her call for restructured intellectual environments are most likely to thrive in the new millennium." William H. Newell, professor, Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University, and executive director, Association for Integrative Studies "In true interdisciplinary fashion, Julie Klein integrates a tremendous amount of material into this book to tell the story of interdisciplinarity across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. And she does so both from the theoretical perspective of 'understanding' interdisciplinarity and from the practical vantage of 'doing' interdisciplinarity. This book is a must-read for faculty and administrators thinking about how to maximize the opportunities and minimize the challenges of interdisciplinary programming on their campuses." Diana Rhoten, director, Knowledge Institutions Program, and director, Digital Media and Learning Project, Social Science Research Counsel

"Many colleges and universities have not engaged in a critical self-examination and transformation of the cultures of their campuses that can lead to most effectively serving racially diverse student populations. This timely edited collection provides insights into how campus cultures can and do shape the experiences and outcomes of their increasingly diverse college student populations. By cultivating values, beliefs, and assumptions that focus on including, validating, and creating equitable outcomes among diverse undergraduate students, an institution can increase their success. Moving beyond previous explorations of campus racial climates, Creating Campus Cultures addresses the considerable obstacles practitioners face as they attempt to transform entrenched institutional cultures to meet the needs of diverse student bodies. A broad range of chapters include voices of students, new research, practical experiences, and application of frameworks that are conducive to success. This book will help student affairs and higher education administrators navigate this increasingly difficult terrain by providing practical advice on how to foster success among racial minority students and enact long-term, holistic change at any institution"--Provided by publisher

As one of the most successful educational enterprises in American history, the residential liberal arts college has long been emulated across all spectrums of undergraduate education in the United States and increasingly around the world. These schools are characterized by broad-based curricula, small class size, and interaction between students and faculty. Aimed at developing students’ intellectual literacy and critical-thinking skills rather than specific professional preparation, the value proposition made by these colleges has recently come under intense pressure. Remaking College brings together a distinguished group of higher education leaders to define the American liberal arts model, to describe the challenges these institutions face, and to propose sustainable solutions. These essays elucidate the shifting economic and financial models for liberal arts colleges and consider the opportunities afforded by technology, globalism, and intercollegiate cooperative models. By exploring new ideas, offering bold proposals, and identifying emerging lessons, the authors consider the unique position these schools can play in their communities and in the larger world. "This collection of essays by presidents and other leaders in higher education is both clear sighted about challenges facing small, liberal arts colleges and inspiring for the ways in which it clearly illustrates both the great flexibility of the sector and the deeply held values that fuel its continuing creativity."—S. Georgia Nugent, Interim President, The College of Wooster Rebecca Chopp is the chancellor of the University of Denver, where she is leading a comprehensive effort to transform the student experience, expand the design of knowledge, and engage with the liberal arts in new ways. Previously she served as the president of Swarthmore College and Colgate University. Susan Frost is a consultant and researcher who works with college and university leaders to help them form and execute strategic plans, engage faculty in shaping their institutions' futures, and develop academic programs as major fundraising targets. Daniel H. Weiss is the president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For over a decade, he led liberal arts institutions, serving as the president of Haverford College and Lafayette College.

Interdisciplinarity has become a buzzword in academia, as research universities funnel their financial resources toward collaborations between faculty in different disciplines. In theory, interdisciplinary collaboration breaks down artificial divisions between different departments, allowing more innovative and sophisticated research to flourish. But does it actually work this way in practice? Investigating Interdisciplinary Collaboration puts the common beliefs about such research to the test, using empirical data gathered by scholars from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. The book’s contributors critically interrogate the assumptions underlying the fervor for interdisciplinarity. Their attentive scholarship reveals how, for all its potential benefits, interdisciplinary collaboration is neither immune to academia’s status hierarchies, nor a simple antidote to the alleged shortcomings of disciplinary study. Chapter 10 is available Open Access here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK395883)

This title provides a synoptic overview of the current state of interdisciplinary research, education, administration and management, and problem solving - knowledge that spans the disciplines and interdisciplinary fields and crosses the space between the academic community and society at large.

The Second Edition provides a comprehensive introduction to interdisciplinary studies with an approach that is succinct, conceptual, and practical. Completely updated to reflect advances in the literature on research, learning, and assessment, the book describes the role of both disciplines and interdisciplinarity within the academy, and how these have evolved. Authors Allen F. Repko, Rick Szostak, and Michelle Phillips Buchberger effectively show students how to think like interdisciplinarians in order to facilitate their working with topics, complex problems, or themes that span multiple disciplines.

Enhancing Communication & Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Research, edited by Michael O'Rourke, Stephen Crowley, Sanford D. Eigenbrode, and J. D. Wulfhorst, is a volume of previously unpublished, state-of-the-art chapters on interdisciplinary communication and collaboration written by leading figures and promising junior scholars in the world of interdisciplinary research, education, and administration. Designed to inform both teaching and research, this innovative book covers the spectrum of interdisciplinary activity, offering a timely emphasis on collaborative interdisciplinary work. The book’s four main parts focus on theoretical perspectives, case studies, communication tools, and institutional perspectives, while a final chapter ties together the various strands that emerge in the book and defines trend-lines and future research questions for those conducting work on interdisciplinary communication.

This book explores how everyday life within educational institutions changes in response to ideas of interdisciplinarity at policy level. It provides new insights into different configurations of interdisciplinarity, which traverses all levels of the Danish educational system. Offering a novel perspective to interdisciplinarity in terms of its configurations, the book discusses the Danish educational system and its current transformations, showing how progressive ideas are entangled with new forms of accountability and complex responsibilities. It identifies the concrete challenges that interdisciplinarity is expected to solve, and the organizational changes resulting from the solutions introduced, arguing that interdisciplinarity in education is neither a uniform or consistent process, nor are the kinds of disciplining it may yield. This book will appeal to academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the fields of interdisciplinary education, pedagogy, comparative education and northern European educational and welfare systems.