Interdisciplinarity involves the coming together of two or more disciplines. Oxford Living Dictionaries (2018) define interdisciplinarity as \u2018[t]he quality or fact of involving or drawing on two or more branches of knowledge.\u2019 This is quite a broad definition and covers the range of ways in which the term is often used loosely in common parlance.\u00a0 However, it misses a key element of interdisciplinarity that is underlined by many respected scholars in the field – that concerning integration<\/em>or synergy\u00a0<\/em>(Klein, 1990; Spelt et al.<\/em>, 2009; Newell and Schultz, 2012).<\/p>\n Interdisciplinarity therefore creates something new and unique beyond the sum of its parts.\u00a0 It can thereby generate excitement as a potential means for promoting innovation and creativity in research and in learning and teaching, or beyond.<\/p>\n Interdisciplinarity can be distinguished from multidisciplinarity because multidisciplinarity does not necessarily involve synergy and is simply additive. Multidisciplinarity allows individual disciplines to remain in their particular silos.\u00a0 \u00a0For example, a multidisciplinary study on climate change might include economic, sociological or meteorological analysis, without the disciplines being integrated in any of the analysis.<\/p>\n Interdisciplinarity is also distinct from crossdisciplinarity, which is taken to involve the consideration of one discipline from the perspective of another \u2013 such as \u2018the physics of music\u2019. However, this tends to lead to the domination of the one discipline that is used to analyse the other (Davies and Devlin, 2007: 3).<\/p>\n Therefore, many programmes and modules that label themselves as interdisciplinary are actually more multidisciplinary or crossdisciplinary. \u00a0In contrast, interdisciplinarity is a genuine fusion of previously independent elements.<\/p>\n If we are to consider how interdisciplinarity generates integration, we need to ask – what constitutes an academic discipline?\u00a0 Davies and Devlin (2007:1) propose that a discipline is characterised by a particular \u2018mode of enquiry that defines how data is collected and interpreted\u2019.\u00a0 This would include both its methodological approach relating to research tools, and its epistemological approach relating to knowledge, interpretation and meaning making.<\/p>\n Davies and Devlin (2007:1) add that academic disciplines consist of a \u2018community of scholars\u2019 with a \u2018communications network\u2019.\u00a0 This could be related to the \u2018Communities of Practice\u2019 literature (Lave and Wenger, 1991).\u00a0 And following a \u2018Communities of Practice\u2019 approach, the practice, the culture, and the social construction of disciplines becomes relevant, as do the identities surrounding them.\u00a0 Recognising the transient aspects of disciplines and therefore their interrelated and fluid nature is significant. \u00a0It underlines the importance of flexibility and an openness to engage with other disciplines and new approaches. This is particularly important if disciplines are to maintain their relevancy in the fast-changing world of the 21st<\/sup>century.<\/p>\n Transdisciplinarity can be taken to mean viewing a problem with no specific disciplinary lens (Hauke and Pope, 2017). Indeed, Davies and Devlin (2007: 4) describe a transdisciplinary approach as \u2018dissolving academic boundaries\u2019 \u2013 but, they express concern about the potential for this to lead to the loss of established methods and techniques. Nonetheless, such a transdisciplinary approach can facilitate innovation and boundary crossing and even the creation of new disciplines.\u00a0Furthermore, and crucially, a transdisciplinary approach does not preclude students or scholars from returning to established academic disciplines as and when it is appropriate.<\/p>\n For more information about how education can use an interdisciplinary approach, see here for our recent contribution to a new textbook on this topic, Designing Interdisciplinary Education: A practical handbook for university teachers.<\/a><\/p>\n Davies, M. and Devlin, M. (2007) Interdisciplinary higher education: Implications for teaching and learning,<\/em>Centre for the Study of Higher Education: University of Melbourne.<\/p>\n Hauke, E. and Pope, M. (2017) Global Challenges Handbook, <\/em>URL: https:\/\/www.imperial.ac.uk\/media\/imperial-college\/administration-and-support-services\/centre-for-languages-culture-and-communications\/horizons\/public\/Global-Challenges-Handbook-2017_18.pdf<\/a>\u00a0 Accessed: 28th<\/sup>June 2018.<\/p>\n Klein, J. (2005). Integrative learning and interdisciplinary studies. Peer Review.<\/em>7(4): 8-10.<\/p>\n Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation<\/em>, Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.<\/p>\nHow is interdisciplinarity distinguished from multidisciplinarity and crossdisciplinarity?<\/h2>\n
If interdisciplinarity refers to disciplines, what is a discipline?<\/h2>\n
So what is transdisciplinarity?<\/h2>\n
Interdisciplinary education<\/h2>\n
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References<\/h2>\n