DOCSLIB.ORG

Bibliometric Analysis of Interdisciplinary Research

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bibliometric Analysis of Interdisciplinary Research Report to the Higher Education Funding Council for England Bibliometric analysis of interdisciplinary research Jonathan Adams, Louise Jackson, Stuart Marshall November 2007 Contact details The reporting organisation is: Evidence Ltd 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds LS2 9DF T/ 0113 384 5680 F/ 0113 384 5874 E/ [email protected] Evidence Ltd is registered in England, Company no 4036650, VAT registration 758467185 http://www.evidence.co.uk Bibliometric analysis of interdisciplinary research Contents Executive summary ………………………………………………………………………………………...1 1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................3 2 Defining and indexing interdisciplinarity ..............................................................................4 3 Differential citation impact .................................................................................................15 4 Presumed interdisciplinarity...............................................................................................23 5 Implications for bibliometric assessment and suggestions for further work ......................26 6 Subject category assignment ............................................................................................28 Annex A Units of Assessment clustered on journal frequency.......................................................31 Bibliometric analysis of interdisciplinary research Executive summary The research community has from time to time argued for separate assessment of interdisciplinary research, but has not found an objective definition of such work. The notion is that interdisciplinary work is treated and valued differently from other work. It is hypothesised that, being marginal to core subjects, it would be systematically cited less often. If so, this might be a problem for a metrics-based system of assessment where peer judgments that distinguish work of this nature would be absent. In this study, we have explored this notion further by: • developing an objective description of research output according to an index of its interdisciplinarity; • testing whether there is differential citation impact across the range of interdisciplinarity; • evaluating our findings against presumed interdisciplinary outputs submitted to the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and outputs assigned to Thomson Scientific® Inc’s ‘Multidisciplinary’ category; • considering options for handling interdisciplinary work within the proposed system of bibliometric- based indicators. We collated article records supplied by Thomson Scientific to create databases of publications – source articles – for two large research-intensive UK universities. We analysed the work (other publication references) that cites and is cited by these source articles. To define whether a citation link to or from a source article was within or external to the article’s discipline, we used the Thomson journal categorisation. We developed measures of interdisciplinarity by indexing the subject spread of the references cited by the source articles. We found that: • there was a continuum of interdisciplinarity at article level within journal categories; • the categories themselves fitted a broad but not categorical typology ranging from mono- disciplinary to multidisciplinary. 1 Using the citing references, within each journal subject category we analysed the citation count (impact) of each source article. We then compared the interdisciplinarity of each article against its rebased citation impact (normalised for year of publication and subject category). We found: • no tendency for the most interdisciplinary articles to be less frequently cited on any consistent basis within or across categories; • a weak tendency for the articles with highest citation impact to be neither very monodisciplinary nor very multidisciplinary in terms of their cited references. Our comparative analysis of presumptive interdisciplinary datasets provided only limited further information. Our findings have implications for the assessment of interdisciplinary research: • There is no evidence to support an explicit intervention regarding articles that refer to work across a broader range of disciplines. They do not receive systematically fewer citations than more monodisciplinary publications. • If impact is to be normalised at any categorical level, there is evidence that careful attention must be paid to the choice of baseline category, especially for articles in journals that are assigned to multiple categories. The Multidisciplinary category used by Thomson does not, however, necessarily contain articles that cross more subject boundaries than research in other Thomson categories. • Since our index of interdisciplinarity may not satisfy all parties, the methodology should ideally be evaluated in due course through consultation with informed researchers. In summary, there is no strong case on the basis of this analysis for research outputs to be treated differently for the purposes of bibliometric assessment on the grounds of interdisciplinarity. It is important, however, to exercise care in choosing the appropriate field against which to normalise the citation rates of more interdisciplinary outputs. 2 1 Introduction This study has provided a preliminary exploration of the notion that interdisciplinary work might be at a disadvantage in research evaluation because it is systematically judged in different terms to core disciplinary activity. Specifically, the project considered whether published work which is more or less interdisciplinary might receive consistently different rates of citations from other publications. Our approach was, first, to develop an objective methodology for indexing interdisciplinarity. Secondly, we tested for differential citation impact among articles with higher and lower levels of indexed interdisciplinarity. The interdisciplinary nature of an article was indexed by analysing the diversity of the subject categories from which it drew its cited references. Within each subject category, we found that articles varied across a continuum from monodisciplinary to multidisciplinary, with no obvious discontinuities or clustering. Across subject categories, we found that some tended to be more generally multidisciplinary than others. Thus it was possible to characterise the subject categories as low, medium or high diversity. When we compared interdisciplinarity with citation impact, we found no evidence that interdisciplinary work had consistently lower citation impact. Indeed, there was a tendency for many highly cited articles to be mid-range in terms of interdisciplinarity, and in most subjects there was a weak or very weak positive correlation between interdisciplinarity and citation impact. That is to say, publications which referred to articles across a broad range of subject categories were (marginally) more likely to attract a higher number of citations. While our approach to indexing interdisciplinarity has been based on widely accepted methodologies, we suggest that their validity should be further tested against the perceptions of researchers. The remainder of this report is split into four sections: Section 2 Defining and indexing interdisciplinarity Section 3 Differential citation impact Section 4 Presumed interdisciplinarity Section 5 Implications for bibliometric assessment and suggestions for further work. 3 2 Defining and indexing interdisciplinarity This section describes how we indexed the interdisciplinarity of research outputs. There is no clear or generally accepted definition of interdisciplinarity; it is a subjective term. Many researchers believe that they are working in an interdisciplinary area. This seems possible, given that it is widely agreed that good and innovative research often draws on discoveries at the margins of more than one discipline.1 But there are no criteria for judging whether this is true. This is problematic because some researchers also believe that interdisciplinary research, working outside the core of established disciplines, is at risk of being marginalised in research evaluation and assessment. A desirable outcome might therefore be lost if the best researchers were to shun interdisciplinarity because of this perception. How can we determine whether such a risk exists and take steps to avoid it? Rather than relying on the opinion of the researcher or an expert group, it is preferable for assessment purposes to identify an objective (measurable) characteristic that marks out interdisciplinary research. Our study began, therefore, by developing an index of interdisciplinarity. 2.1 Methodology Research outputs can be characterised at different levels of aggregation, from individual outputs to researchers and research groups or departments. For this study, we focused on the article level. Our aim was to characterise the (relative) interdisciplinarity of an individual article so that this could be compared against the article’s citation impact. What characteristics of an article might define its interdisciplinary nature? One approach is to look at the previous work referred to by the article in question. Arguably, work claiming interdisciplinary influence would draw on, or cite, work from a greater than average range of fields. Similarly, it would be expected that work claiming interdisciplinary utility would be cited by journals in a greater than average range of fields. 1 See for example the Government’s Science and innovation investment framework,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Interdisciplinarity in Social Sciences: Does It Provide Answers to Current Challenges in Higher Education and Research?
    Interdisciplinarity in Social Sciences: Does It Provide Answers to Current Challenges in Higher Education and Research? Edited by Tatjana Muravska, Žaneta Ozoliņa Contributing authors: Alexandre Berlin, Zane Cunska, Manfred J. Holler, Guna Japiņa, Sylvain Jouhette, Roswitha M. King, Juris Krūmiņš, Ilona Kunda, Iasonas Lamprianou, Kristīne Medne, Indriķis Muižnieks, Nils Muižnieks, Tatjana Muravska, Žaneta Ozoliņa, Romāns Putāns, Fernando Reis, Inna Šteinbuka, Anete Vītola, Zane Zeibote University of Latvia Press UDK 378.4 In 720 Contributing authors: Alexandre Berlin, Zane Cunska, Manfred J. Holler, Guna Japiņa, Sylvain Jouhette, Roswitha M. King, Juris Krūmiņš, Ilona Kunda, Iasonas Lamprianou, Kristīne Medne, Indriķis Muižnieks, Nils Muižnieks, Tatjana Muravska, Žaneta Ozoliņa, Romāns Putāns, Fernando Reis, Inna Šteinbuka, Anete Vītola, Zane Zeibote. Interdisciplinarity in Social Sciences: Does it Provide Answers to Current Challenges in Higher Education and Research? Riga, University of Latvia Press, 2011, p. 232, il. Editors Tatjana Muravska, Žaneta Ozoliņa Reviewers Professor Dr. habil. Rainer Arnold, Chair of Public and Comparative Law, Jean Monnet Chair ad Personam, University of Regensburg, Germany Professor Dr. habil. Kęstutis Kriščiūnas, Jean Monnet Professor, Director, Institute of Europe, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania Professor Dr. Tiiu Paas, Chair of Economic Modeling, Faculty of Economics and Management, Tartu University, Estonia Professor Dr. habil. Baiba Rivža, Full Member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences,
    [Show full text]
  • Complexity and Interdiciplinarity - W
    KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING, AND COMPLEXITY - Vol. II - Complexity and Interdiciplinarity - W. H. Newell COMPLEXITY AND INTERDISCIPLINARITY W. H. Newell School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio USA Keywords: autopoiesis, boundary, chaos, complex, connect, cybernetic, emergent, fractal, holism, integrate, interact, interdisciplinary, interrelate, multidisciplinary, nonlinear, pattern, self-organize, system, team, transdisciplinary Contents 1. Introduction—Holism and Fragmentation, Order and Disorder 2. Interdisciplinarity Defined 3. The Organization of Interdisciplinarity 4. Complexity Defined 5. Simple, Complicated, and Complex Systems 6. Characteristics of Complex Systems 7. Other Forms of Complexity 8. Integrating Complexity and Interdisciplinarity 9. The Promise of Complexity and Interdisciplinarity Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketch “The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this.” John Stuart Mill. Summary Together, theories of complexity and interdisciplinarity offer a way of thinking about our world that creates meaning and order while embracing fragmentation and recognizing the very real disorder all around us. The dichotomies of holism and fragmentation, order and disorder, can be replaced by complex systems that reveal hidden (albeitUNESCO partial) order in apparent randomness,– EOLSS and by interdisciplinary study that integrates fragmented insights from reductionist disciplines into holistic understanding. More pragmatically, interdisciplinary study of complex problems has the potential to identify solutionsSAMPLE that are manageable (becau CHAPTERSse they are built on recognizable patterns of behavior) while they are realistic (because they take into account the complex nature of each problem).
    [Show full text]
  • Defining Terms for Integrated (Multi-Inter-Trans-Disciplinary) Sustainability Research
    Sustainability 2011, 3, 1090-1113; doi:10.3390/su3081090 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Review Defining Terms for Integrated (Multi-Inter-Trans-Disciplinary) Sustainability Research Paul Stock 1,* and Rob J.F. Burton 2 1 Centre for the Study of Agriculture, Food and Environment and Department of Sociology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand 2 Centre for Rural Research, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway; E-Mail: [email protected] * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +64-03-479-9242; Fax: +64-03-479-5266. Received: 19 May 2011; in revised form: 11 July 2011 / Accepted: 18 July 2011 / Published: 26 July 2011 Abstract: Our contemporary social and ecological problems, including climate change, peak oil and food security, necessitate solutions informed by multiple backgrounds that singular disciplines seem unable to provide, and possibly, are even incapable of providing. The increasing occurrence of multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary (MIT) research projects speak to the recognition of that necessity. But as the literature and our own experiences bear out, just calling a project “beyond disciplinary” or integrated does not necessarily yield the intended outcomes or make progress toward alleviating the hurdles of bridging disciplines. Here we examine the distinctions between three categories (multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary) of integrated research and offer reflections on how sustainability researchers can categorize their research to improve common understandings. Keywords: transdisciplinary; sustainability; multidisciplinary; interdisciplinary; integrated research; research project; methods 1. Introduction Traditional disciplinary approaches to research have had a considerable and overwhelmingly positive impact on the development of scientific method in the modern world.
    [Show full text]
  • Interactive Agenda Setting in the Social Sciences – Interdisciplinarity Elizabeth Shove & Paul Wouters
    Interactive agenda setting in the social sciences – Interdisciplinarity Elizabeth Shove & Paul Wouters Introduction In this background paper we review a selection of reports and documents written about interdisciplinarity in the social sciences. We do so with the aim of provoking and informing discussion about how interdisciplinary research agendas emerge, stabilise and disappear. The concept of interdisciplinary is particularly relevant when thinking about research agenda setting in the social sciences. For example, in our workshop about research centres, the wish to promote interdisciplinarity seemed to be a key motivation for the creation of new teams and groups. Science policy makers and research managers around the world routinely see interdisciplinarity as a progressive force that helps break the shackles of narrow-minded academic specialisation. This is a core theme in Mode II knowledge production as characterised by Gibbons with reference to the UK research system in particular (Gibbons 1994; Nowotny 2001). Interdisciplinarity is important for many research centres and the ESRC is clearly not the only science agency to invest in teams that span several disciplines. New grand funding schemes such as the UK e-science programme (Hey 2002) and the US initiative in creating new cyberinfrastructures for science and education revolve around an intuition about the value of being interdisciplinary (Nentwich 2003). In the first part of this paper we take stock of claims made about interdisciplinary research: why is it needed, whose agendas it engages with, what is special about it, and how might it be organised and evaluated. The second part offers a critique of the reasoning on which many of these claims rest.
    [Show full text]
  • Interdisciplinarity: Reconfigurations of the Social and Natural Sciences Edited by Andrew Barry and Georgina Born
    Review: Interdisciplinarity: Reconfigurations of the Social and Natural Sciences Edited By Andrew Barry and Georgina Born Reviewed by Yves Laberge Centr'ERE Québec. G1V 0A6, Canada Barry, Andrew and Born, Georgina, eds. Interdisciplinarity: Reconfigurations of the Social and Natural Sciences, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2014. Xvi, 278 pp. ISBN: 9781138843349, paperback. US $42.95. Illustrated, ISBN: 9780415578929, 2013, hardback. US $140.00. Part of the CRESC: Culture, Economy and the Social Series. Now available in paperback, this edited book relies heavily on interdisciplinarity from countless perspectives and combinations. Comprising eleven commissioned chapters, it begins with an in-depth discussion about the many conceptions of interdisciplinarity (and by extension transdisciplinarity) conducted by the two co-editors (p. 9). In itself, this core chapter represents one fifth of this innovative book (pp. 1-56). Relying on pioneer thinkers like Jean Piaget and Edgar Morin who wrote extensively on interdisciplinarity from the 1970s, co-editors Andrew Barry and Georgina Born conceive three conceptions or “modes of interdisciplinarity” (p. 10). As such, they argue that “interdisciplinarity practice should not necessarily be understood additively as the sum of two or more ‘disciplinary’ components or as achieved through a synthesis of different disciplinary approaches, whether through a process of integration or negotiation” (p. 11). In their ability to link natural science to social sciences, they also explain that social scientists are expected to address some impalpable dimensions that engineers cannot master or develop: “Social scientists are expected to adopt the “correct” natural science definition of an environmental problem and devise relevant solution strategies” (Pieter Leroy, quoted in p.
    [Show full text]
  • THE EMERGENCE of INTERDISCIPLINARITY from EPISTEMOLOGICAL THOUGHT By
    ISSUES IN INTEGRATIVE STUDIES No. 29, pp. 1-39 (2011) THE EMERGENCE OF INTERDISCIPLINARITY FROM EPISTEMOLOGICAL THOUGHT by James Welch IV University of Texas Arlington Abstract: Interdisciplinary studies has positioned itself as an innovative approach to compre- hending, navigating, and transforming knowledge. The emphasis in recent scholarship upon complex systems and integration of insights from disciplinary perspectives mark decisive prog- ress toward the development of a cohesive theory of interdisciplinarity. Such a theory would entail establishing an epistemology of complexity through epistemological negotiation. I argue that the interdisciplinary approach to knowledge is a logical evolution of the history of Western thought and an innovative answer to the epistemological project. This project was surveyed in Welch (2009) who described how the Western canonical lineage from Plato to Hegel devel- oped epistemological strategies founded on the principles of duality, determinism, and abso- lute truth. The present essay carries that historical examination forward by examining the way these strategies were problematized by the more recent approaches to epistemology taken by phenomenology, post-structuralism, pluralism, and pragmatism. These schools of thought are pertinent to understanding the contrasting origins and outlooks of the critical and instrumental modes of interdisciplinarity. This essay concludes that these epistemological schools of thought are not mutually exclusive; they entwine inextricably together into interdisciplinary theory and practice. Indeed, their synthetic relationship is essential for developing interdisciplinary theory as an emergent epistemological innovation. The deep historical context provided here grounds interdisciplinary theory, and gives it a voice in ongoing debates over knowledge itself. 2 James Welch IV The Emergence of Interdisciplinarity 3 The Emergence of Interdisciplinarity from Epistemological terminism, duality, and absolute truth.
    [Show full text]
  • Comprehensiveness and Interdisciplinarity Submitted by NC State Task Force on Comprehensiveness and Interdisciplinarity
    January 2011 Comprehensiveness and Interdisciplinarity Submitted by NC State Task Force on Comprehensiveness and Interdisciplinarity A brief history of comprehensiveness and interdisciplinarity In Interdisciplinarity: History, Theory, and Practice, Julie Thompson Klein addresses the origins of academic interest in interdisciplinarity, finding support for the concept in the writings of Plato and the structure of medieval cathedral schools. The earliest efforts to define what kinds of knowledge were characteristic of an educated person were underpinned by the belief that students should specialize in their academic studies, but that the specializations could also reside within a community of general knowledge. Realizing interdisciplinary goals, however, was difficult. By the late Middle Ages, there was general acceptance of disciplines (in particular, law, medicine, and the arts) and, by the eighteenth century, the growing polarization of knowledge was evident in both the structure of university curricula and definitions of research by academic research societies. In the nineteenth century, the need for a stronger sense of disciplinarity was reinforced by the evolution of modern natural sciences, the general "scientification" of knowledge, the industrial revolution and technological advancement, and agrarian agitation (Klein 1990, p. 21). This separation of fields of knowledge was supported by the modern demand for specialists in industry and the academic recruitment of students to their ranks by faculty in colleges and universities (Klein 1990, p. 21). The modern period was also characterized by important disciplinary trends (Vosskamp): • institutional establishment of disciplines as discrete components that collectively attempted to define a larger, more comprehensive, system of knowledge; • differentiation of academic institutions for the sake of progress in individual disciplines; and • cooperation between individual disciplines, especially of the kind that focuses on solving problems within the larger system.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Disciplines and Interdisciplinarity in Research Universities Presentation at the National Research Council Meetings on Team S
    Disciplines and Interdisciplinarity in Research Universities Presentation at the National Research Council Meetings on Team Science October 24, 2013 Jerry A. Jacobs University of Pennsylvania September 2013 DRAFT I was pleased to receive the invitation to participate in this workshop, but I confess that I was concerned about responding to Henry Bienen, President Emeritus of Northwestern University. Given his stature and many accomplishments, I expected that he would be a tough act to follow. In reviewing a preliminary draft of his remarks, however, I was relieved to find that we agree on many important points, particularly with respect to the openness of disciplines and the role that university-based research centers play in promoting cross-disciplinary conversations. President Bienen reviewed his leadership positions at Northwestern and Princeton, noting efforts to promote interdisciplinarity in both settings. I plan to draw on examples from these distinguished institutions to illustrate several points discussed below. The question of how to make interdisciplinary teams work as effectively as possible quickly spills over into questions of how university degrees and departments should be organized. My view is that the disciplinary arrangements that have dominated US colleges and universities since the Second World War have been remarkably successful, and that we would embark on a wholesale reorganization of this system at our peril. My research on disciplines and interdisciplinarity is presented in my forthcoming book, In Defense of Disciplines, which will be released within the next few weeks by the University of Chicago Press (Jacobs, 2013). In the short amount of time I have today, I’d like to make six main points.
    [Show full text]
  • Interdisciplinarity As Colonization J
    Washington and Lee Law Review Volume 53 | Issue 3 Article 5 Summer 6-1-1996 Interdisciplinarity as Colonization J. B. Balkin Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr Part of the Legal Writing and Research Commons Recommended Citation J. B. Balkin, Interdisciplinarity as Colonization, 53 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 949 (1996), https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr/vol53/iss3/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington and Lee Law Review at Washington & Lee University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington and Lee Law Review by an authorized editor of Washington & Lee University School of Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Interdisciplinarity as Colonization J.M. Balkin* This Article arose out of a very enjoyable conference on interdisciplin- ary legal studies held at Washington and Lee University School of Law, and I cannot resist beginning my discussion by describing the conference bro- chure. This brochure, obviously prepared with some care, offers an interest- ing story about interdisciplinarity. It features a field of question marks of various sizes with the words "Writing Across the Margins" superimposed across them in large letters. I think it is a Courier typeface, the kind you would see on a typewriter, and it invokes the image of margins set by a typewriter. Below the title, in Times New Roman typeface, appears a ques- tion whose distinctive setting indicates its central importance: "What can go wrong," we are asked, "when a legal scholar tries to escape confinement and write about constitutional law from the perspective of the humanities?" There are several assumptions worked into this question.
    [Show full text]
  • Rules Are Not the Way to Do Interdisciplinarity 123
    Rules Are Not the Way to Do Interdisciplinarity 123 ISSUES IN INTEGRATIVE STUDIES No. 20, pp. 123-129 (2002) Rules Are Not the Way to Do Interdisciplinarity: A Response to Szostak by J. Linn Mackey Appalachian State University Department of Interdisciplinary Studies Abstract: An alternative view is offered to Szostak’s (2000) multi-step guide to doing interdisci- plinary research. Interdisciplinarity is presented as an intuitive process instead of Szostak’s step- or rule-based process. To support the view that interdisciplinarity is an intuitive process, the actual process used in a published interdisciplinary article is compared to Szostak’s steps. Only some of Szostak’s steps are found to apply, and most of these seem applicable in a post-hoc fashion rather than as guides during the process. It is argued that the choice between a step- or rule-based process and an intuitive process is more than personal preference or style. Post- positivist views of science are reviewed that show that science is largely an intuitive process. It is further proposed that if this is true for science—one of the most rational and logical discipline clusters—then it should be equally true for interdisciplinarity. Even though interdisciplinary work is intuitive, steps or rules may have some use, although a list of them would be unlimited. I WAS PLEASED TO SEE Rick Szostak’s article “How To Do Interdisciplinarity.” In my article “Another Approach to Interdisciplinary Studies” (Mackey, 2001), part of a collection of responses to William Newell’s “A Theory of Interdisciplinary Studies” (2001), I urged that interdisciplinary efforts should be more iterative.
    [Show full text]
  • The Medial Character of Interdisciplinarity: Thinking in the Middle Voice By
    ISSUES IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES No. 35, pp. 29-52 (2017) The Medial Character of Interdisciplinarity: Thinking in the Middle Voice by Wendell Kisner Associate Professor and Program Director of the Master of Arts in Integrated Studies Program Athabasca University Abstract: Little research has been done on philosophical implications of the middle voice of early Greek and certain non-Western indigenous languages. In particular, the potential of such a medial ontology has yet to be even explored, much less realized, within the context of interdisciplinary studies. As a linguistic structure indicating an ambiguous middle ground between active and passive voices, the middle voice suggests a medial ontology that I develop with reference to Plato’s late dialogues. I argue that conceiving interdisciplinarity in medial terms integrates at least some otherwise disparate interdisciplinary approaches, approaches that themselves stem from different disciplinary spheres of infuence. Rather than proposing a global theory of interdisciplinarity, this article defends the medial resolution of a tension within interdisciplinary studies between construction and discovery, thereby suggesting an ontological point of departure for the development of such a theory. Keywords: middle voice, Plato, interdisciplinary studies, interdisciplinarity, ontology, science, humanities, learning Introduction There has been scant research done on the philosophical implications found in the middle voice of early Greek and certain non-Western indigenous languages. While it is ordinarily regarded as a linguistic structure situated ambiguously between the active and the passive, some have argued that it suggests a medial ontology that facilitates understanding certain kinds of phenomena that would otherwise prove to be diffcult if not impossible to properly grasp (Bigger, 1996, 2005; Scott, 1989).
    [Show full text]
  • Barriers to Interdisciplinarity in Environmental Studies: a Case of Alarming Trends in Faculty and Programmatic Wellbeing By
    ISSUES IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES No. 35, pp. 221-247 (2017) Barriers to Interdisciplinarity in Environmental Studies: A Case of Alarming Trends in Faculty and Programmatic Wellbeing by Richard L. Wallace Professor of Environmental Studies Ursinus College and Susan G. Clark Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Professor (adjunct) of Wildlife Ecology and Policy Sciences Yale University Abstract: Multiple barriers in the structure and function of American higher education conspire to impede the success of interdisciplinary programs in environmental studies. We present an amalgamated narrative case study to illustrate how barriers operate both independently and in concert to undermine individual and programmatic goals, innovation, and operations, resulting in lost opportunities for faculty, students, and curricula, and other program elements. Barriers are illustrated stemming from a variety of sources, including academic organizational culture, structure, and leadership. An analysis of three main barriers and strategies to address them led us to produce recommendations that foster new patterns of faculty interaction and leadership. These recommendations are based on a foundation of human dignity, shared respect, and common values. In turn, they require a clear conception of interdisciplinarity and integration, and practical means to achieve them in diverse contexts. Keywords: interdisciplinarity, integration, environmental studies, higher education, barriers, leadership, administration, organization, culture, human dignity. 222 | Wallace & Clark Introduction In the feld of environmental studies, as in other professions, many challenges face faculty members who self-identify as “interdisciplinary.” Some challenges to using interdisciplinarity pose formidable barriers. Barriers take many forms, some starkly visible, others surreptitious, and others invisible, yet all have consequences for faculty productivity, morale, and sustainability (Clark et al., 2011b), and in turn for institutional outcomes (Harvey, 2008).
    [Show full text]