Measuring Interdisciplinarity

Abstract

Abstract The last three decades have seen a dramatic increase in the field of inquiry known as cultural studies. This field has introduced new areas of study, new methodologies of investigation, and a growing body of literature. As an interdisciplinary field, cultural studies has also been a troubling discourse for academic librarians. Cultural studies programs signify different constellations of disciplinary affiliations, and the scope of the discourse's subject matter is wide. This study uses three methods to measure and describe the network of cultural studies. First, the authors provide a short epistemological description of the field as proponents of cultural studies lay it out. Second, the authors provide three profiles of cultural studies programs, distributing the departmental affiliation of faculty holding positions in those interdisciplinary pro-grams. Third, the authors conduct a bibliometric study of author ship characteristics of books classified as “Cultural Studies” by two promi-nent academic presses. In comparing the results of the three investigations, the authors find a significant difference between U.S. and British models of cultural studies literature and programs. The authors also find, in both their profile of the affiliated faculty in cultural studies programs and their bibliometric study, the prominence and influence of Literature and English Department faculty on cultural studies, a result the authors see as a challenge to the field's claim to interdisciplinarity.