Interdisciplinary Studies: Navigating Between Generosity and Rigor

An AIS Conference on “Interdisciplinary Studies: Navigating Between Generosity and Rigor”: Welcome to the University of the Parks and its Beautiful Surroundings and Attractions By Cynthia Kimball Davis, PhD. Deena Marchal, MPA and Kennedy Hunt Rosaschi Southern Utah University, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Master of Interdisciplinary Studies Program Southern Utah University (SUU), also known as the University of the Parks, is located in Cedar Sity, Utah, just two and a half hours north of Las Vegas and four hours south of Salt Lake City, and not far from Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Arches National Park, to name just a few of the sites that constitute our beautiful surroundings and attractions. Given the commitment to interdisciplinary programming that characterizes our curriculum, we rd are delighted to announce that the 43 and next face-to-face international Association for Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS) Conference will take place on the SUU campus from October 14th to October 16th, 2021. However, we want you to know that conference participants and their family and friends can experience how to “Navigate Among Generosity and Rigor” not only by exploring the academic presentations reflecting the theme of the confernece, but also by exploring the exquisite Southern Utah landscape through multiple excursions (scheduled before, during, and after the conference proper) to the three “top 20 best national parks in the world” mentioned above and other spectacular nearby sites, as well. With roughly 10,000 students who come from all over the world to study for associate of arts, bachelor’s, and graduate degrees in face-to-face, hybrid, and online formats, SUU is an interdisciplinary studies degree haven, offering degrees in general studies (AA and BGS) ranked 1 #45 by The Best Schools, and offering a bachelor’s of interdisciplinary studies (BIS) and a master’s of interdisciplinary studies (MIS) degree, as well. In fact, recently the BGS and BIS degrees produced more graduates than one large college at SUU. And just one semester after its launch, the MIS degree, the only one in the state of Utah, was ranked the third best online MIS degree in the nation by Best College Reviews. That degree can already claim the second highest number of graduate applications at the university. One MIS learning block is unique because it came to fruition from a partnership between SUU and Best Friends Animal Society; it is called Contemporary Animal Service Leadership (CASL), a first ever program of its kind. SUU President, Scott L. Wyatt, wonderfully supportive of the interdisciplinary programming at the university and of our plan to host the 2021 AIS conference, has said, If we are to produce students who are liberally trained, then we should be liberal in our methods—by this I mean less siloed and more integrated in courses among the various disciplines, using new best practices. The essential learning outcomes are not tied to any one discipline. Although SUU is the host institution for the conference, our planning committee also includes members from Brigham Young University-Idaho (BYU-I), Dixie State University (DSU), Salt Lake Community College (SLCC), Utah Valley University (UVU), and Weber State University (WSU), membership that reflects how wide-ranging commitment to interdisciplinary studies in this part of the world has come to be. And we would note that, like SUU, each of these other institutions is also committed to making conference attendance as inclusive as possible. We are particularly interested in encouraging the attendance of students, and are making arrangements for vans or busloads of students from all of the institutions partnering with us in this conference to join our own students, volunteering to assist, perhaps, but also presenting and networking right along with the faculty, administrators, and independent scholars and practitioners attending We have arranged for students who attend to earn up to 3-credits that can . 2 be applied to one of SUU’s degrees (BGS, BIS, or MIS) or to programs at their home college or university. As we all know, interdisciplinary studies is marked by collaboration and integration across disciplines; across languages, cultures, and ethnicities; across genders; across abilities; across the arts and creative endeavors. The Association for Interdisciplinary Studies is dedicated to advancing the theory and practice of the many varieties of interdisciplinarity in the academy and in society at large. In planning our conference, our committee has acted to ensure that our programming reflects the AIS mission: "To promote the interchange of ideas among scholars and administrators in all of the arts and sciences on intellectual and organizational issues related to interdisciplinary education and research.” We are encouraging proposal submissions that will explore the conference theme identified above—“Interdisciplinary Studies: Navigating Among Generosity and Rigor”—and we will welcome contributions that address different aspects of the conference theme from representatives of any of the aforesaid many varieities of interdisciplinarity. We are particularly interested in proposals for presentations addressing three sub-themes or subject strands we see as most supportive of the conference theme (and the AIS mission): Strand 1: Promoting the interchange of ideas among scholars and administrators—and students, as well; Strand 2: Utilizing intellectual and organizational tools related to interdisciplinary education and research; and Strand 3: Promoting best theories and practices in interdisciplinary teaching and learning. We would also note that our committee has identified presentation formats that will promote audience engagement, and we are particularly interested in proposals for presentations that will do just that. You can find more about the conference theme, sub-themes, and presentation formats at our conference website (https://www.suu.edu/ais/), which will be up and running on November 8, 2020. A call for proposals for papers, panels, workshops, roundtables, artistic showcases, poster presentations, and PechaKucha will be posted on December 15, 2020, with proposals due 3 on or before May 1, 2021. Information about all other aspects of the conference can be found at the website, as well, including information about the opportunities we will be offering you (and any family and friends who accompany you to the conference) to explore the extraordinary landscape of Southern Utah before, during, and after the conference proper. Because we hope these opportunities to explore our region of the world will be as appealing as the opporunities to explore the academic aspects of the conference, we would like to conclude this article on the conference with some comments from experts representing the sites of our before-during-and-after conference-sponsored excursions--and some pictures of the sites you may choose to visit, as well. On the website for the conference, you will find many more comments and pictures than we cannot provide here in Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies, but we think these will serve to whet your appetite for more. Enjoy. 1.Why your organization/park name? Used with permission by Best Friends Animal Society 4 Best Friends Animal Society CEO, Julie Castle When I first started here and I actually started volunteering in1994 and then joined the organization shortly thereafter, our name used to be Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. At that point in time, we had a national magazine that was being sent all over the country. And we started to discover that the topics that we were writing about were really inspiring people all over the country and all over the world, actually. As we did more and more work beyond the boundaries of the sanctuary, that name “sanctuary,” which implies a specific location of operation, just didn't cut it anymore. And so that's when we decided to go through a rebranding and changed our name from “Sanctuary to Society” because, not only did we have Best Friends Magazine, but we were starting to do programming all across the country. And of course, today we now have three centers in Los Angeles [CA}, one in Salt Lake City [UT], one in New York, and one in Atlanta [GA]. And we're about to build one, in conjunction with the Walton Family Foundation, in Bentonville, Arkansas, which is the home of Walmart. So, we really wanted the name “Society” to reflect the national reach we have. Bryce Canyon National Park Superintendent, Linda Mazzu A group of pioneer families moved to this area in 1874. Ebenezer Bryce and his family were part of that group. Ebenezer helped to complete a seven-mile irrigation ditch from Paria Creek to their community. Bryce also built a road into the pink cliffs to make timber more accessible. People started to call the amphitheater where the road terminated “Bryce’s Canyon.” Ebenezer Bryce and his family moved to Arizona in 1880, but the Bryce’s Canyon name stuck. Used with permission by the National Park Services Capitol Reef National Park Superintendent, Sue Fritzke It's kind of an interesting thing. First, we have the Waterpocket Fold – a one-hundred-mile-long fold (monocline) in the earth's crust. It creates a significant topographic barrier, and early Euro-Americans, when they encountered it, felt that it was like an ocean reef—something that was preventing them from going from one side to another. That is where that part of the name comes from. 5 Used with permission by the National Park Services Second, we have Navajo sandstone rock - one of the 19 geologic layers in the park. Navajo sandstone creates these really wonderful white domes, and early Euro-Americans felt that one of them in particular, Capitol Dome, looks like a capitol building such as what you would see in Washington, D.C. Used with permission by the National Park Services And so, it's a combination of those two things: “Capitol” for the Navajo domes and “Reef” for what was considered to be a barrier by the most recent people who came 6 through here, our Euro-American ancestors.

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