Jan 06, 2009
UNT first to create center for interdisciplinarity
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
"Increasingly, the National Science Foundation and other funding agencies are requesting interdisciplinary proposals for research, and funded interdisciplinary projects help universities increase their research portfolios," Frodeman says. He says interdisciplinary approaches to research and education are becoming quite prominent nationally and internationally. Some interdisciplinary research areas, such as neuroscience, biochemistry and biomedical engineering, have become their academic fields.
Frodeman says some faculty members face some obstacles in pursuing interdisciplinary research, including barriers set by their universities.
"Promotion and tenure are awarded within academic disciplines, so if you get a research paper published in a journal other than one in your own discipline, it often doesn't count toward your tenure," he says. "Also, there's the problem of training and language. Every discipline has its own language and sees an issue through its own disciplinary lens. Faculty members must find ways to overcome differences in language and orientation."
Holbrook says the main advantage of interdisciplinary research is that faculty members are more prepared to study and solve society's problems with expertise from other academic areas.
"The world's problems can't be solved with one discipline," says Holbrook, a research assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies. "There are also societal problems that don't necessarily fit well within a certain discipline, and agencies are increasingly being pressured to fund relevant research. Interdisciplinary approaches make the research more relevant."
In addition, he says, "a mix of interdisciplinary perspectives provides a more interesting venue for teaching. It's more fun to connect with other faculty members than to teach on your own," Holbrook says.
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
UNT has opened the nation’s first center dedicated to developing the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity, which offers a resource for implementing interdisciplinary research and designing interdisciplinary courses.
Funded by UNT with a supplemental $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, it is the first center of its kind at a college or university, says Robert Frodeman, left, professor of philosophy and religion studies and center director.
The Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity — a term used in academics to describe researchers from two or more disciplines pooling and modifying approaches to solve a problem — will be located in Rooms 320C, D and E in the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building. These approaches differ by the amount of collaboration between researchers in different disciplines and by the degree of interaction between researchers and non-academics.
Frodeman says the staff of the center, known as CSID, will conduct research into the theory and practice of multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to knowledge.
As UNT’s “think tank” for interdisciplinary research, CSID will host speakers on interdisciplinarity. CSID will also publish the Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity in 2009, with Frodeman as editor-in-chief. The handbook will provide a historical survey of attempts at interdisciplinarity, review successes and failures within both research and education in the sciences and the humanities and identify a set of best practices that will serve as the launching point for future explorations of interdisciplinarity.
In addition, CSID will develop and promote the best practices for multi- and interdisciplinary activities at UNT; host a monthly seminar on interdisciplinarity and workshops on interdisciplinary teaching and research; and begin an annual competition that will provide $50,000 to fund an interdisciplinary case study for a selected researcher. The researcher will also receive $5,000 to give a weeklong series of lectures at UNT.
For more information about CSID, contact J. Britt Holbrook, associate director, at 940-565-4048 or visit www.csid.unt.edu.
Funded by UNT with a supplemental $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, it is the first center of its kind at a college or university, says Robert Frodeman, left, professor of philosophy and religion studies and center director. The Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity — a term used in academics to describe researchers from two or more disciplines pooling and modifying approaches to solve a problem — will be located in Rooms 320C, D and E in the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building. These approaches differ by the amount of collaboration between researchers in different disciplines and by the degree of interaction between researchers and non-academics.
Frodeman says the staff of the center, known as CSID, will conduct research into the theory and practice of multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to knowledge.
As UNT’s “think tank” for interdisciplinary research, CSID will host speakers on interdisciplinarity. CSID will also publish the Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity in 2009, with Frodeman as editor-in-chief. The handbook will provide a historical survey of attempts at interdisciplinarity, review successes and failures within both research and education in the sciences and the humanities and identify a set of best practices that will serve as the launching point for future explorations of interdisciplinarity.
In addition, CSID will develop and promote the best practices for multi- and interdisciplinary activities at UNT; host a monthly seminar on interdisciplinarity and workshops on interdisciplinary teaching and research; and begin an annual competition that will provide $50,000 to fund an interdisciplinary case study for a selected researcher. The researcher will also receive $5,000 to give a weeklong series of lectures at UNT.
For more information about CSID, contact J. Britt Holbrook, associate director, at 940-565-4048 or visit www.csid.unt.edu.
"Increasingly, the National Science Foundation and other funding agencies are requesting interdisciplinary proposals for research, and funded interdisciplinary projects help universities increase their research portfolios," Frodeman says. He says interdisciplinary approaches to research and education are becoming quite prominent nationally and internationally. Some interdisciplinary research areas, such as neuroscience, biochemistry and biomedical engineering, have become their academic fields.
Frodeman says some faculty members face some obstacles in pursuing interdisciplinary research, including barriers set by their universities.
"Promotion and tenure are awarded within academic disciplines, so if you get a research paper published in a journal other than one in your own discipline, it often doesn't count toward your tenure," he says. "Also, there's the problem of training and language. Every discipline has its own language and sees an issue through its own disciplinary lens. Faculty members must find ways to overcome differences in language and orientation."
Holbrook says the main advantage of interdisciplinary research is that faculty members are more prepared to study and solve society's problems with expertise from other academic areas. "The world's problems can't be solved with one discipline," says Holbrook, a research assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies. "There are also societal problems that don't necessarily fit well within a certain discipline, and agencies are increasingly being pressured to fund relevant research. Interdisciplinary approaches make the research more relevant."
In addition, he says, "a mix of interdisciplinary perspectives provides a more interesting venue for teaching. It's more fun to connect with other faculty members than to teach on your own," Holbrook says.
3:35 PM
Moderation is on, so your entries won't show up until a moderator approves them.
Continuing the discussion...
TrackBack URL for this entry is:
http://inhouse.unt.edu/_ping.cfm?blogID=3142
http://inhouse.unt.edu/_ping.cfm?blogID=3142
Comments
There are no comments at this time.
In order to post a comment, you must first login to the Inhouse site.
|
Subscribe to this thread without commenting
|
|