Dec 25, 2007

F E S T I V E G R E E T I N G S


-- PUBLISHED ONLINE --

JRP Special Issue: On Beyond Interdisciplinarity
http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/issue/view/6

Excerpts from the editorial article: Dalke, A., & McCormack, E.
(2007). Introduction: Centering on the edge [Editorial]. Journal of
Research Practice, 3(2), Article E2. Retrieved December 25, 2007, from
http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/122/100

As the international academic enterprise settles into the first decade
of the twenty-first century, the future of our work is in flux.
Academic specializations established a century ago no longer
adequately reflect the growing points of human thought, and the
opening of higher education to wider populations of students has
challenged the relevance of traditional disciplines for future lives
and careers. In this context, teachers and scholars have been
rethinking the academic enterprise and the functions it serves for
their students; new centers are being organized around what was once
thought to mark the edge of knowledge-making. At Bryn Mawr College in
the USA, where many of the contributors of this special issue teach,
the Center for Science in Society has been an important locus for such
restructuring.

This special issue gathers together 10 articles written by 17
teacher-scholars who have collaborated in this kind of rethinking at
Bryn Mawr and far beyond it. Their synthetic work, variously known as
trans-, multi-, or interdisciplinarity, brings together diverse
perspectives needed to address socially relevant issues. Here we draw
on the "manifesto" of Basarab Nicolescu in using the term
transdisciplinarity to describe the widest spectrum of work between,
across, and beyond all disciplines. As you will see, our contributors
employ their own lexicons and also exhibit a range of responses to the
challenges of this sort of work. Some are deeply engaged in
disciplining synthetic and integrative thinking, while others are
questioning the merit of doing so. All of them rise to the challenge
of writing across fields to reach a broad audience.

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Journal of Research Practice
Volume 3, Issue 2, 2007
http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/issue/view/6

Special Issue: On Beyond Interdisciplinarity

Introduction: Centering on the Edge
(Anne Dalke, Elizabeth McCormack)

Learning Not to Think Like an Economist
(David R. Ross)

Temporary Anchors, Impermanent Shelter: Can the Field of Education
Model a New Approach to Academic Work?
(Jody Cohen, Alice Lesnick, Darla Himeles)

Beyond the Archive: Cultural Memory in Dance and Theater
(Carol L. Bernstein)

Breaking the Rule of Discipline in Interdisciplinarity: Redefining
Professors, Students, and Staff as Faculty
(Alison Cook-Sather, Elliott Shore)

History of Science as Interdisciplinary Education in American
Colleges: Its Origins, Advantages, and Pitfalls
(Paula Viterbo)

How and Why to Teach Interdisciplinary Research Practice
(Rick Szostak)

Multidisciplinarity, Interdisciplinarity, and Bridging Disciplines: A
Matter of Process
(Dawn Youngblood)

Advancing Transdisciplinary and Translational Research Practice:
Issues and Models of Doctoral Education in Public Health
(Linda Neuhauser, Dawn Richardson, Sonja Mackenzie, Meredith Minkler)

Synecdoche and Surprise: Transdisciplinary Knowledge Production
(Anne Dalke, Elizabeth McCormack)

Interdisciplinarity, Transdisciplinarity, and Beyond: The Brain, Story
Sharing, and Social Organization
(Paul Grobstein)

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This special issue of the Journal of Research Practice (JRP) should be
relevant for researchers, scholars, and reflective practitioners
working in many different fields.

JRP is an international refereed journal with a transdisciplinary
focus, available in the open-access mode, i.e., available free of
charge to the readers. The journal is supported by a consortium of
institutions drawn from different parts of the world. It is produced
electronically and hosted on the Web by Athabasca University Press (AU
Press).

JRP is a truly global initiative, providing an online platform for
researchers and research students to collaborate in extending open and
organised inquiry in different fields. JRP is currently supported by
the following institutions:

* Center for Science in Society, USA
* Lugano Summer School of Systems Design, SWITZERLAND
* Facultad de Administración y Economía, Universidad de Santiago de
Chile, CHILE
* Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, INDIA

Yours sincerely,

DP
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